Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ On the Misappropriation of Spatial Metaphors in Online Learning

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

Jon Dron argues "that the term 'environment' is a dangerously misleading metaphor for the online systems we build to support learning, that leads to poor pedagogical choices and weak digital solutions." He proposes instead "an alternative metaphor of infrastructure and services that can enable more flexible, learner-driven, and digitally native ways of designing systems (including the tools, pedagogies, and structures) to support learning." The key to the argument is the observation that there is no such thing as digital learning; from the point of view of the learner, learning happens in their own space (their own room, their own head) and the digital part is the set of services and supports that may be provided online. It's a good discussion, though I found it pretty long for the point it's making. Image: EDUCAUSE's Next Generation Digital Learning Environment.

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

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Last Updated: Dec 25, 2024 08:22 a.m.

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