E-learning Curve Blog at Edublogs

I guess it’s now time to move on to some of the “big picture” stuff and begin to outline how I characterise terms like “learning” and “e-learning.”

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In the field of organisational development, the terms ‘training’ and ‘learning’ are often used interchangeably: both broadly refer to the acquisition of new or enhanced knowledge, skills, attitudes or behaviour through the medium of instruction whether delivered by a source of information such as a text or a computer application, a teacher, or a mentor. In my opinion, the key difference between the two terms is in the reflexive nature of learning, resulting in the integration of the knowledge, skill, attitude or behaviour into the individual’s cognitive constructs – a process Lev Vygotsky called “internalisation,” which he elegantly described as “an internal reconstruction of an external operation (1978, p.56). The Information Sessions non-formal learning initiative (which I’ll be discussing in future blog entries). If you’ve read my recent posts, you’ll understand that the theoretical and methodological framework for this initiative was developed within the Constructivist pedagogical model using techniques derived from the Social- and Cognitive schools of thought, with a focus on experiential learning as defined by Kolb, Vygotsky’s social development theory as it is applied in instructional design and Donald Schön’s and Chris Argyris’s views on professional knowledge and social learning systems.

References:

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978) Mind in society. Edited by Cole, M. John-Steiner, V. Scribner, Souberman, E. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press