Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

Nice discussion of Rogers (1969) five defining elements of significant or experiential learning (quoted):

  1. It has a quality of personal involvement – Significant learning has a quality of personal involvement in which "the whole person in both his feeling and cognitive aspects [is] in the learning event" (p. 5).
  2. It is self-initiated – "Even when the impetus or stimulus comes from the outside, the sense of discovery, of reaching out, of grasping and comprehending, comes from within" (p. 5).
  3. It is pervasive – Significant learning "makes a difference in the behavior, the attitudes, perhaps even the personality of the learner" (p. 5).
  4. It is evaluated by the learner – The learner knows "whether it is meeting his need, whether it leads toward what he wants to know, whether it illuminates the dark area of ignorance he is experiencing" (p. 5).
  5. Its essence is meaning – "When such learning takes place, the element of meaning to the learner is built into the whole experience" (p. 5).

Jackie Gerstein comments, "So the push towards self-directed learning – helping learners develop skills for directing their own learning really isn't new BUT the Internet, social media, and open-source content just make it easier for the educator actually implement these practices especially when working with groups of students."

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Mar 28, 2024 08:33 a.m.

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