Authentic learning is a process involving the dynamic interactions between the learner, the task and the environment (Herrington, 2006). This section describes the key features of the draft framework (Figure 9) for designing an authentic learning environment as illustrated in Figure 11 below.
Figure 11: Draft framework - Authentic learning environment
Key features for designing authentic online learning
environments
Herrington, Reeves and Oliver’s (2010) nine elements of authentic learning, shown in Figure 11, were used to guide the overall design of the learning environment. Many of these
principles are also incorporated in the two key concepts that support the framework: meaningful learning with technology and using open educational resources.
Key components of meaningful learning with technology identified by Jonassen, Howland, Marra and Crismond (2008) include:
• Cooperative (Collaborative / Conversational): social mediums to support learning by conversing
• Constructive (Articulative / Reflective): tools to support knowledge construction • Authentic (Complex / Contextualized): authentic context to support learning by
doing
• Active (Manipulative / Observant): tools to support learning by doing • Intentional (Goal directed / Regulatory): Information vehicles for exploring
knowledge to support learning by reflecting.
An overview of the roles of technology in education and how they can be used as cognitive tools to support meaningful learning is provided in Appendix 19.
Hylen (2006) suggests open educational resources can be used for the following areas:
• Learning content: full courses, content modules, learning objects, collections and journals
• Tools: development software, content development tools, content and learning management systems and online learning communities
• Implementation resources: publishing licences, design principles and localization of content.
How elements of authentic learning were instantiated in the
course design
A description of the authentic learning context and the authentic online learning
environment developed for the course is provided below, using the design questions listed above in Table 1. Evidence of how the elements of authentic learning were analysed and applied to the course design is shown in detail below in Table 1.
Table 1: Elements of authentic learning and how they were applied to the course
Authentic learning
elements Evidence of how they are implemented in the course
Provide authentic contexts that reflect the way knowledge will be used in real life
Learning context: A realistic scenario was provided to engage students in the creation of an authentic learning environment (Course information & learning guide, Context, p. 5).
Authentic learning
elements Evidence of how they are implemented in the course
Provide authentic
tasks Overall task: An authentic task that would be performed in the workplace was selected so that the final products participants produced could be used after the course in their own teaching programs (Course information & learning guide, Task, p. 5). Provide access to
expert performances and the modelling of processes
Guiding questions (analysis template) and examples of
completed products (course outline and video) were provided to model the processes involved in analysing and designing an authentic course outline and demonstrate the expected level of performance. (Course information & learning guide, Support resources, p. 6).
Provide multiple roles
and perspectives Recommended readings provided different perspectives about the concepts. Participants were encouraged to source their own information, reflect on it and share their perspective with their peers via their blogs, discussion forums, Diigo comments and Skype chat. They also had access to a range of different
completed examples that provided different perspectives about the end product they were expected to produce.
Support collaborative
learning Participants were required to review each other’s work and provide feedback for improvements. They were also encouraged to read and comment on each other’s blogs.
Promote reflection to enable abstractions to be formed
Participants were asked to also create a personal blog to record their reflections about their learning during the online PD course (Course information & learning guide, Specific requirements, p. 5).
Promote articulation to enable tacit
knowledge to be made explicit
Analysis document, written course outline, 5-minute video presentation describing the course outline (Course information & learning guide, Specific requirements, p. 5).
Provide coaching and scaffolding by the teacher at critical times
The facilitator scaffolded the tasks as follows: 1/ Analyse your course requirements, 2/ Develop a written learning &
assessment course outline & 3/ review a colleague’s authentic course outline and provide them with feedback (Course
information & learning guide, p. 5). Coaching included: Access to templates and examples of completed documents (analysis & course outline), links to tutorials (Course information & learning guide, Support resources, p. 6).
Provide for authentic assessment of learning within the tasks
Participants received feedback from the facilitator and their peers on the products they produced: analysis summary and course outline (Course information & learning guide, pp. 5-6).
What context might be possible and appropriate in an e-learning course to
enable students to learn the knowledge, skills and attitudes of the course?
The context for this learning opportunity was in fact a real life situation where higher education educators were attending a professional development course to enhance their knowledge and skills for designing an online course. A detailed scenario for the learning context was included in the course information and learning guide (Appendix 20, CILG, p.5). It was thought that the target audience would readily be able to identify with the proposed scenario and recognise it as an authentic context within which to learn new approaches to online learning.
What type of learning spaces would be most suitable for the authentic
environment?
An independent Moodle LMS was selected as the hub of the learning environment as most universities use an LMS to deliver their online courses. An independent installation, rather than an institutionally based LMS, also enabled participants from different institutions to work together and access supports and resources from a central location. Two key concepts underpinning the draft framework are learning with technology and using open educational resources (OERs). Therefore, it was also important to include open web spaces to
demonstrate how new web technologies and open educational resources could facilitate student learning.
In the initial iteration of the course a public website, called the companion website, was created using Google Sites to provide an open environment to house content, supports and resources that did not need to be protected. Using an open website also enabled participants to have access to content, resources and supports after the course was completed.
During the 2nd and 3rd iterations of the course the companion website was redeveloped into a
Technology Toolbox for Educators and licensed under a Creative Commons license to avoid
having to re-create a new website for each iteration of the course. It also provided the
broader educational community with open access to a vast array of information, technologies and resources that could assist them to learn about: authentic learning, using technologies as cognitive tools and open educational resources.
Figure 12 illustrates the key features of the LMS and the open companion website for the 1st
iteration of the course. Participants, shown in the centre of the diagram, first logged into the Moodle course, known as the Authentic eDesign course, using a participant ID and password provided by the facilitator. On first access they were prompted to change their password and were then taken to the online course. From the LMS they were able to access the Authentic
eDesign companion website and a range of online social spaces on the World Wide Web, as
Figure 12: Iteration 1 - Course structure
Online social spaces included a Skype chat group, a Diigo social bookmarking group, student created blogs and a Google Drive folder. These were created to encourage participants to: connect, communicate and collaborate; explore new technologies; and discover how open educational resources could be used to support student learning. How these open spaces were used to support participant learning is described in Components 4 and 5 later in the chapter. The thin arrows in Figure 12 indicate participants could access these resources directly, if they wished to, after they had accessed the Moodle LMS.
What content, supports and resources need to be accommodated in a secure
protected environment?
The LMS provided a secure space to store content of a private and confidential nature for the
Authentic eDesign course. It acted as the central hub for course announcements, discussions
and confidential feedback from the facilitator. It also acted as a launching pad for participants to access the open companion website.
What public websites could be used to store content and provide open access
to learning supports and resources?
The Authentic eDesign companion website housed most of the course content and provided links to supports and resources. It included task instructions, timelines, sample completed tasks and links to suggested articles, resources, technologies and tutorials. Figure 13 shows the home page and navigation structure for the open companion website for the 1st iteration
of the course.
Figure 13: Iteration 1 - Authentic eDesign companion website
After the learning context and learning spaces had been selected, the next step was to identify an overall complex task that would enable participants to demonstrate the use of higher-level cognitive skills to achieve the intended learning outcomes.