In this post, I wanted to add a further aspect to learning design; that is, from the learners' perspective, how do we introduce them to new content while at the same time helping them grow in competence and confidence in engaging with the online world? The two go hand-in-hand and fortunately we have a model, created by Gilly Salmon, that explains the way that learners like to learn.
The underpinning principle of this model is one of scaffolding. Scaffolding is a concept that has been around in education for years, which is a good thing, because we know it works. It’s based on the idea that the teacher/trainer facilitates the learner to construct new knowledge, based on what they already know or can do. Thus, the learner progressively increases their understanding, in an active process, and the role of the teacher/trainer is to create a ‘scaffold’ to help them build on their current knowledge and experience.
A variety of techniques can be deployed to help the learner progress, for example, working with other learners to share information and jointly construct new knowledge. Technology and the internet are very well suited to this social sstyle of learning. Another benefit of this ‘social constructivist’ approach, is that it moves the learning process from a ‘tell’ style to a collaborative, more engaging and active style. This can be particularly attractive for adult learners in a work setting, who already have a good deal of expertise and experience.
What Gilly Salmon recognised was that when using online or blended approaches, scaffolding should was not only relevant to learning the course content, but it was also needed to help learners acclimatise to the technology too. Or to put it another way, if your learners are worried about using the technology, they are not in a good place to absorb your carefully prepared content! Learners need to be able to ease themselves into the online environment; to know what the buttons do, to make contact with other learners and to find their way around the virtual environment. This kind of understanding emerges gradually; hence the need for a scaffolded approach, and to jump too early into complex content will risk a lack of engagement and potential dropout from your course. (We covered the changing role of the trainer in the online world in earlier posts and Gilly Salmon's model shows more detail about the dual roles of 'trainer as content deliverer' and 'trainer as tech support'.)
The other important thing to mention here is that her model is formed over 25 years, from observation in naturalistic settings. That is, it is an explanation of how people actually like to learn, not the other way round (where we create a model and then test to see how it works in reality).
So what is the 5 Stage model?
In each stage there are two areas to address:
What technical support do the learners need at this stage?
What is the role of the trainer/teacher/educator at each stage? (Gilly Salmon calls this role the e-moderator).
Scaffolding works on the idea of building on firm foundations, hence at each stage think of the learner passing through a series of thresholds; requirements that they need before progressing to the next stage. For example, you cannot expect a participant to post something to a forum, if they haven’t found out how to log on. On the learning side of things, you wouldn’t set up a complex, collaborative task, if you hadn’t previously done some contracting and review on simpler tasks. As the learners progress their technical competence of the platform you are using, and their understanding of the subject matter, the role of the e-moderator changes. Generally there is a move to more social, self-managed learning, with the trainer moving from a directive to a more ‘hands-off’ style. In stage 5, there can be a return to individualised learning, because participants can reflect on their previous experiences on the course and begin to choose the next steps in their own development. Note that the e-moderator is not adding significant new content until Stage 3. By Stage 5 learners may be choosing their own avenues to explore the topic further.
This is a very quick intro and you can find out much more on her website:
or watching her explain the model on You Tube:
The point for us to remember is that our learners need to build confidence and competence in both the subject matter AND the technology they are required to use. Failure to address either or moving too quickly to content acquisition will be detrimental to engagement.
Gilly Salmon's approach works well over an extended online or blended programme, but the principles are still useful for a short, individual online session. A few things you might want to consider in your design:
What can you do to allow participants to play with the tech while they are waiting in the ‘lobby’?
How can you use introductions and objective-setting to also help participants familiarise themselves with the technology?
How can you use the technology to promote early interaction, for example, setting up the learning contract for the session?
How can you design your early activities to encourage sharing and build confidence in using the tech? What can you do to help participants build their online identity?
What is an early activity you could introduce which puts the participants more in the driving seat, with you providing support when required?
When would you feel confident moving to ‘trainer not present’ or asynchronous tasks?
Another thing that is worth considering is what you do with any pre-work. It could be a way of checking that all participants have logged on successfully prior to the course starting. You might want to return a welcome post as a way of acknowledging their entry to the course and building some early familiarity with the tech. Will you set up there login details, passwords for them, or allow them to create their own? etc.
Photo:
Chris Gray, chris-gray-qDisWJ9RLHc-unsplash on Unsplash
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