Summary: Intrinsically motivating instruction takes place in computer gaming software when it provides players with choice around three key categories: challenge, curiosity, and fantasy.
Digital citizenship
Digital citizenship is the state of having access to Internet and Communication Technologies (ICTs) that help promote equal opportunity, democracy, technology skills, and human rights.
21st Century Skills (P21 and others)
Summary: Skills necessary for students to master in order for them to experience school and life success in an increasingly digital and connected age; includes digital literacy, traditional literacy, content knowledge, media literacy, and learning/innovation skills. Originators & Proponents: Groups – United States Department of Education, Partnership for 21st Century Skills, MacArthur Foundation; Individuals – Henry […]
Multimodality (Kress)
Summary: Multimodality is a theory which looks at how people communicate and interact with each other, not just through writing (which is one mode) but also through speaking, gesture, gaze, and visual forms (which are many modes). Originators & Proponents: Gunther Kress[1] Keywords: communication, design literacy, expression, gesture, linguistics, medium, mode, multimedia, semiotic resources, sign, […]
Situated Cognition (Brown, Collins, & Duguid)
Summary: Situated cognition is the theory that people’s knowledge is embedded in the activity, context, and culture in which it was learned. It is also referred to as “situated learning.” Originators & proponents: John Seely Brown, Allan Collins, Paul Duguid Keywords: activity, authentic domain activity, authentic learning, cognitive apprenticeship, content-specific learning, context, culture, everyday learning, […]
Learner-centered design
Summary: Learner centered design focuses on creating software for heterogeneous groups of learners who need scaffolding as they learn while completing constructivist activities.
Originators and Key Contributors: Elliot Soloway, Mark Guzdian, Kenneth E. Hay
Keywords: constructivism, learner-centered design, learners, scaffolding, software
Learner-centered Design
Learner-centered design (LCD) theory emphasizes the importance of supporting the learners’ growth and motivational needs in designing software. In addition, since learners have different learning needs and learn in different ways, the software must be designed for the specific learner-audience.
The concept of scaffolds is central to learner-centered design. In order to support learners optimally, software should be designed with scaffolds that will support the learners as they need it. Examples of scaffolds in software are hints, explanation and encouragement to help learners understand a process, and questions to help learners reflect on what they are learning.
Software scaffolds that support learners best are adaptive, meaning that they change according to what the learner needs in any learning moment. When a learner needs more support, the software provides an increase in feedback to help the learner grow, stay engaged, and progress in mastering a skill. When the learner is reaching mastery, the software will provide reduced scaffolds in response to the learner’s increased skill level.
In focusing on learner-centered design, four elements must be addressed in designing the software. They are:
Connectivism (Siemens, Downes)
Summary: Connectivism is a learning theory that explains how Internet technologies have created new opportunities for people to learn and share information across the World Wide Web and among themselves. Originators & Proponents: George Siemens, Stephen Downes Keywords: communication, connection, distributed cognition, distributed learning, information, Internet, knowledge sharing, links, massive open online course (MOOC), nodes, […]
Anchored Instruction (Bransford, Cognition & Technology Group at Vanderbilt)
Summary: Anchored Instruction involves the use of an “anchor” material or media, often a video, to create a shared experience among learners and a beginning point for further learning on a topic. Originators & Proponents: Cognition & Technology Group at Vanderbilt (CTGV), John D. Bransford Keywords: anchor, case-based learning, case study, curriculum, discussion, shared experience, […]
Semiotics (de Saussure, Barthes, Bakhtin)
Summary: Semiotics is the study of how people make meaning through both linguistic and non-linguistic ways. It is a philosophical theory concerned with understanding how people use signs and symbols in meaning-making. Originators & Proponents: Ferdinand de Saussure[1], Roland Barthes, Mikhail Bakhtin Keywords: communication, connotation, culture, denotation, icon, index, lexicon, linguistics, logic, meaning, mode, rules, […]
Social Network Analysis (Scott, Prell)
Summary: Social Network Analysis looks at how people within social networks (for example: families, clubs, Facebook groups) relate to each other and what these interactions say about both the individual actors and the entire social network. Originators & Proponents: John Scott, Christina Prell, Stephen P. Borgatti, Martin G. Everett, Jeffrey C. Johnson Keywords: actors, bonds, […]