Important elements of digitally supported learning
Our society is developing into a knowledge society in which lifelong learning and the optimal design of learning processes are becoming increasingly relevant [1]. The non-profit organization TechLabs (www.techlabs.org) aims to close some of the gaps, by being the most effective learning accelerator for technology skills. The pioneering Digital Shaper program offers a free possibility to learn Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Web Development and User Experience in a stunningly effective way.
The rapidly evolving digitalization is not only increasing the demand for such programs, but is also offering completely new possibilities for the construction of learning processes and access to information [2–4]. The euphoria around the turn of the millennium — that digitally supported learning would be the solution to all educational challenges — has decreased. [5]. Nevertheless, increasingly multi-faceted learning scenarios can be anticipated for the future, in which newly emerging possibilities can be explored and utilized. For example, learning paths can be better adapted to the individual or learning can take place effectively from home [3, 6].
The question of whether digitalization should support teaching and learning processes is hardly an issue anymore. Now the challenge is to figure out how new opportunities can be integrated and which aspects play a decisive role in the design of modern learning journeys [3, 6]. This is also very relevant in TechLabs’ program design.
Therefore, this article tries to give an overview of relevant implications for everyone, who is engaged in the design of (their owns or others) digitally supported learning journey.
A pedagogical and psychological consideration
In order to find out which aspects play an important role, didactic design is a relevant point of reference. To capture important dimensions of the psychological approach to learning, learners can be considered within the framework of a simplified model for virtual learning [7]:
- Cognition includes the construction of knowledge and the engagement of learners with the learning object.
- Communication involves the social interaction of learners, which is important for knowledge to become conventional and habitual.
- Collaboration includes the co-construction of knowledge and thus learning through cooperation. An establishment of knowledge is most likely to be achieved here “when learners can cooperate directly with each other regarding learning objects”.
In the field of virtual learning, learners also depend heavily on the learning object, which is why it has a more central relevance than in face-to-face learning.
Figure 1: The didactic triangle of virtual learning. Source: [7].
Basic psychological needs
To understand important dimensions is not enough to change learning processes. To identify applicable implications, it is useful to take a closer look at the internal structures of individuals and the conditions of environmental factors.
This view of the learning process is fundamental because development and learning are strongly influenced by emotions and emotional processes [4, p. 16].
A good starting point is the emotion-based control system (as proposed by Deci and Ryan). According to this, the influencing of behavior and development is based on three basic psychological needs [8, 9]:
- Competence manifests itself in the striving for the feeling of being able to master the challenges by one’s own creative power. Thus, the individual must be able to master the challenges or acquire the missing competences to do so. The underlying desire is to experience oneself as capable and effective.
- Autonomy manifests itself in the desire to determine one’s own goals and procedures independently. This does not imply the desire for complete independence from other people, but the wish to experience oneself as an autonomous center of action. Freedom of action is only desired where there is a positive feeling of accomplishment.
- Relatedness manifests itself in the striving for social contacts as well as social recognition and acceptance. This desire is based on the wish for identification with groups of people who can align one’s own values. The orientation towards reference persons is strongly present especially in childhood, but also carries great significance in adulthood.
Considering this view, it becomes clearer how emotions can affect the learning experience. This refers not to individual mood, but rather to complex emotional processes that can be described with scientific categories.
The satisfaction of these basic psychological needs can be used as a basis for the consideration of the development of motivation [10, pp. 110–112] and its maintenance [8, pp. 15–17].
So, how can this be used to design more efficient learning processes?
Implications for the design of digitally supported learning
1. The feeling of competence
The feeling of experiencing competence has a positive effect on the emotions and the learning success. Therefore, it is very important to consider that learners should have the feeling that they can acquire all competences in order to master their challenges [8, 9]. At TechLabs, for example, questions can be asked to mentors, who have a lot of experience in the specific field.
In order to avoid overstraining cognitive processing, the learning content should be strongly modularized, whereby the context-promoting processing should only be addressed after the acquisition of background knowledge [12, 13]. For the acquisition of this background knowledge, instruction and comprehensible support should be provided [14].
In order to promote independent problem-solving skills, the aim should be the networking of knowledge. Furthermore, this helps to make the knowledge easier accessible [14–16]. Contextual categorization, application and promotion of transfer knowledge come to play a decisive role here [17]. In the Digital Shaper program, this is addressed by practical projects in small teams. Feedback on learners’ performance is important for experiencing competence in the application-oriented approaches [4, p. 15]. The assessment of learning success should aim to promote further learning and provide feedback on learning processes and competence levels [2, p. 295].
Very interesting is, that the subjective sense of control also has a relevance for experiencing competence. As an obvious consequence, learning activities should always be clearly understandable, minimalistic and well-structured [4, 11, 18, 19]. The digital competences of learners must also be taken into account [11].
The task design is one of the greatest challenges. On the one hand, the tasks must be difficult and novel enough to avoid that the learner is underchallenged or bored. On the other hand, they must not be too complex to overburden learners [4]. The right balance varies greatly from person to person, as the perceived complexity of a task depends largely on the individual’s level of knowledge [4].
Therefore, the consideration of the individualization of learning paths can also provide promising insights [4, p. 13].
Due to the highly individual learning needs, even the meaningfulness of individual mediums and formats is strongly dependent on the learning goal of the target group [5].
2. Flexibility in learning
A further aspect resulting from this, is enabling of flexibility in learning. This aspect results from the psychological need to independently determine one’s own goals and procedures [8, 9]. Constructivism arrives at similar conclusions and requires the creation of learning environments that promote self-organized and flexible learning. Accordingly, knowledge is actively constructed by individuals and not merely passively absorbed [14].
In this aspect, computer-based learning offers various possibilities to significantly add value. Compared to conventional learning, there are way more possibilities to actively work with learning materials [7, p. 158].
This is an advantage that learners can experience for themselves.
The use of interactive content is therefore advisable. In this case, interactivity does not mean interaction with each other, but interaction with the learning object. A highly interactive exercise is characterized by learners being able to modify the content, receive intelligent feedback and vary the form of representation of the exercise [7]. This construction of proactive exercises promotes constructive and explorative learning as well as the motivation of learners [7, 14]. With a high level of interaction between learners and the system, a significant empirical influence on perceived learning success can also be observed [20].
An example from practice is Codecademy. It provides the opportunity to learn programming skills in highly interactive exercises. The learners have to revise a code excerpt on the basis of a question (modification of the content). They can execute this code and receive feedback in the event of errors to localize the error more precisely (intelligent feedback). They can choose between tasks with few and many tips, as well as visit a forum to discuss the task (varying the form of representation).
A further possibility for enabling flexibility in learning is feedback on learning success in the form of gamification. This can address the need for autonomy and promote intrinsic motivation and positive emotions in learning. [4].
The following elements, among others, may provide opportunities for gamified provision of feedback [10, 21]:
- Points: Collecting points through certain activities in the gamified environment gives learners immediate feedback on their actions (granular competence feedback).
- Performance graphs: The visualization of performance over a certain period makes the personal progress of learners visible (sustainable competence feedback).
- Badges: The granting of badges serves as recognition for a sequence of activities and can be seen permanently by the learners (cumulative competence feedback).
- Leaderboards and Team-Leaderboards: The comparison in leaderboards is another form of cumulative competence feedback in which a number of activities are assessed and a comparison with other people or groups of people is made*.*
Gamification, however, should not focus too intensively on benchmarking and should use short-term team leaderboards instead of long-term leaderboards. [4, 22]. However, it should be noted in general that the elements of the gamified environment challenge learners and give them the opportunity to demonstrate their competences [10].
3. Social Integration
One aspect that appears in various places in the literature is the relevance of social integration. This results from the psychological need for recognition, acceptance and social contacts [8, 9]. In digital learning environments, social integration and interaction between participants has a significant impact on learning outcomes [20]. It is also a prerequisite for enjoyment of learning and intrinsic motivation [4]. Since temporally and spatially independent learning significantly increases the risk of feelings of isolation, there should be the possibility of significant learning interactions [20].
One possible approach is collaboration among physically present learners [4]. This can increase motivation and retention [3, p. 9].
“Learning with digital media has the potential to support certain forms of learning, but as such it is not better than other forms of teaching and learning and will not replace traditional teaching in principle” [3, p. 8].
Blended learning is a didactic concept that aims to optimally combine the possibilities of digitally supported learning with the learning methods of conventional face-to-face learning [23, p. 29]. The organization of learning and exchange takes place predominantly online, but there is still a share of face-to-face learning. It is beneficial for the positive effect on learning success if both parts are integrated and combined instead of simply running them in parallel [7, 24]. It is also important for learners to receive feedback (e.g. through online tests) which makes them aware of their level of knowledge [23].
Nevertheless, cooperative work in the digital space does not have to be abandoned, as a positive influence on learning success and intrinsic motivation is possible [25]. Especially the exchange with peers can be a motivating factor to improve oneself [20]. For example, virtual learning partnerships can be established or mentors provided to answer questions, in order to strengthen the feeling of social interaction [4, p. 14].
Learning at TechLabs
At TechLabs, many of these implications are used to strengthen the effectiveness of the program. Initially, a learning plan consisting of online courses is designed for each participant. For this purpose, background knowledge and individual needs (e.g. the desire for more or less practical relevance) are identified in a survey and the learning journey is individually designed. After about a month, a new survey is conducted to measure satisfaction and the learning journey is adapted to suit individual needs. Learners can personally choose one of the four tracks and independently determine learning time, duration and pace, which speaks for a high degree of self-regulated learning.
The online courses are aggregated and integrated into a clearly structured platform to ensure a high level of ease of use. This also enables the evaluation of learning progress and the integration of gamified elements. For instance the top 5 learners of the week, the top 5 learners since the beginning of the semester and the average learning time per track since the beginning of the semester are published weekly. This provides competitive phases that are time-limited (weekly) and take place between groups (average learning time per track) [4].
Additional on-boarding measures have also proved to be particularly helpful. At the beginning of the semester, processes and functionalities of the platform are explained at a personal meeting. Possible problems in learning are also discussed. For example, participants from the previous semester talk about their challenges in self-organized learning and report on what helped them to achieve it.
A central aspect is social integration.
The participants meet regularly, for example for workshops, lectures or social events. The meetings usually have no direct relation to what they have learned, but the feedback on the lively exchange and the sense of community is very positive. Each participant is assigned a mentor who has an appropriate level of expertise in the subject area and can answer questions that arise during the learning process.
A practical project is planned at the end of the semester to enable flexibility in learning, as well as networking of knowledge and its application. Personal preferences and individual project ideas are taken into account in the allocation process. The project consists of an interdisciplinary team of three to five participants and is supported by mentors.
Want to learn more?
You can visit us at www.techlabs.org.
Writer:
Julian Fenten
https://www.linkedin.com/in/julian-fenten-8a13081a1/
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