Authentic Learning for the 21st Century: An Overview

Attachment

Authentic Learning.pdf

11wkw31zl-sq/b0bsl79jx59rwtw7lr978psshbdk7tsxlb1w4wlpmfhprmt/Authentic_Learning.pdf

Description

Learning-by-doing is generally considered the most effective way to learn. The Internet and a variety of emerging communication, visualization, and simulation technologies now make it possible to offer students authentic learning experiences ranging from experimentation to real-world problem solving. This white paper explores what constitutes authentic learning, how technology supports it, what makes it effective, and why it is important.

Students say they are motivated by solving real-world problems. They often express a preference for doing rather than listening. At the same time, most educators consider learning-by-doing the most effective way to learn. Yet for decades, authentic learning has been difficult to implement. Certain experiments are too dangerous, difficult, or expensive to conduct in the classroom; many are simply impossible to perform. After all, educators cannot expect their students to set the tectonic plates in motion, summoning up an earthquake at will, or to travel back in time and replay decisive moments in the American Civil War, can they? Well, perhaps they can.

Thanks to the emergence of a new set of technological tools, we can offer students a more authentic learning experience based on experimentation and action. With the help of the Internet and a variety of communication, visualization, and simulation technologies, large numbers of undergraduates can begin to reconstruct the past, observe phenomena using remote instruments, and make valuable connections with mentors around the world. With access to online research communities, learners are able to gain a deeper sense of a discipline as a special "culture" shaped by specific ways of seeing and interpreting the world. They begin to grasp the subtle, interpersonal, and unwritten knowledge that members in a community of practice use (often unconsciously) on a daily basis. Learning becomes as much social as cognitive, as much concrete as abstract, and becomes intertwined with judgment and exploration, just as it is in an actual workplace.

Author

Marilyn M. Lombardi (2007) - EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative