In LRNT523 – Foundations of Learning and Technologies, we have been asked to share a resource that will deepen our understanding of the material presented in the course. I have chosen to share the website for the School in the Cloud as an example of pedagogy that assumes an abundance of resources and applies complexity theory to instructional design.
In a Pedagogy of Abundance, Weller (2011) suggests that the most significant question facing educators is how to equip learners to make use of abundant information. For the founder of the School in the Clouds, Sugata Mitra, this is the central focus. He suggests that knowing has become obsolete and that fostering curiosity and the ability to find answers should be the goal of education (Mitra, 2013). One of the theories summarized by Weller is Problem-Based Learning (PBL) in which “students are given an ill-structured, or open-ended problem. They work often in small collaborative groups to a solution, but often there is no definite answer.” The School in the Cloud uses this approach in Self-Organised Learning Environments (SOLEs). Students are asked Big Question by a friendly facilitator and allowed to explore answers. What distinguishes a SOLE is the freedom the learners have and the minimal role of the facilitator.
Complexity Theory teaches educators and researchers to look for emergent behaviours that arise while autonomous yet interdependent organisms interact.” McElroy (2000) noted that “the point at which emergent behaviours inexplicably arise, lies somewhere between order and chaos” (as cited by Anderson, 2016). Mitra suggests that the school in the clouds is “what learning at the Edge of chaos looks like” (n.d.). The SOLE gives students the freedom to create, leave, and recreate groups, and is open to discovery and spontaneity (n.d.). Complexity theory “highlights the social structures created to manage learning” (Anderson, 2016). Along with access to abundant resources via broadband, the foundation of a SOLE is a structure based on an encouraging adult and peer collaboration (Mitra, 2013).
The School in the Cloud illustrates some core principles of PBL and Complexity Theory for instructional designers looking for an example of more recent learning theories in action.
References
Anderson, T., (2016). Chapter 3: Theories for Learning with Emerging Technologies. In Veletsianos, G. (Ed). Emergence and innovation in digital learning: foundations and applications. Edmonton, AB: Athabasca University Press.
McElroy, M., (2000). Integrating complexity theory, knowledge management and organizational learning. Journal of Knowledge Management, 4(3),195–203. Retrieved from 10.1108/13673270010377652
Mitra, S., (2013) Sugata Mitra: Build a school in the cloud TED2013, Long Beach, CA February 25–March 1, 2013. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3jYVe1RGaU
School in the cloud, About (n.d.) retrieved from https://www.theschoolinthecloud.org/about/
Weller, M., (2011). A pedagogy of abundance. Spanish Journal of Pedagogy, 249 pp. 223–236.
October 12, 2017 at 10:40 am
This is a great example of how how the idea of wanting to learn more hasn’t changed, just the approach. To explore knowledge based on curiosity and asking questions, as opposed to just being told. Yet, in some ways this is something many of us do every day (Google). I am a very curious person and ask Google way too many questions.
January 8, 2018 at 1:55 pm
Yes, human nature remains the same, but the tools and context change. I believe the subtext to learning by “being told” is that authority is more important than truth, and this can extinguish something natural to everyone.
I have to apologize for not approving your comment sooner! I thought I had unchecked the approval requirement but there was another box to uncheck for comments from people who had not yet been approved. Go figure! Sorry about that.