Supporting Everyday Learning
(Workshop)
Stephen Downes, National Research Council Canada (workshop)
Description: When we think of supporting learning, even everyday learning, most of us think in terms of supporting traditional students in online or in-person class environments, where the work being supported consists of subject matter acquisition, projects and labwork, discussions, assignments, and exam preparation.
Yet for most of us, this mode of learning ceases the day we are handed our diplomas. And all of us, whether traditional students or not, engage in a much more casual everyday sort of learning, sometimes called informal learning, and sometimes called self-managed learning. Based on two decades' experience supporting everyday learning for professionals and practitioners, this workshop focuses on the thinking behind providing learning on an everyday basis where there are no classes, projects or assignments.
Based on an actual and active online learning initiative that includes occasional courses, newsletters, videos and presentations, this workshop will outline the thinking behind the design of an everyday learning experience, describe the technology used to acquire learning materials, organize them, and provide them in such a way as to offer day-to-day value for learners.
Learning Objectives: The objective of this workshop is two-fold: first, to provide participants with the chance to look at the tools needed to support everyday learning, and second, to provide participants with a sufficient insight into the thinking and model behind everyday learning so they can help subject matter experts at their own institution put it into practice.
The tools to be explored include:
- Content acquisition tools such as RSS readers, discussion boards, and IFTTT
- Authoring and presenting tools such as WordPress, SoundCloud and YouTube
- Dissemination tools such as RSS, MailChimp, social media and IFTTT
By the end of the workshop participants will have experienced at least one tool from each category
Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca
Last Updated: Oct 12, 2024 6:39 p.m.