Linking real and virtual spces in learning

Found an interesting Futurelab power point presentation in Slideshare. Got some intersting ideas about the spatial aspects of blended approaches to learning.

Blending Learning Spaces

Having developed a blended learning approach to the PGCE course, the next step is to begin to consider the spaces in which we learn. Two obvious spaces are classrooms and cyberspace (in the form of the virtual learning environment). However, learning is far more ubiquitous than this, and therefore I've spent a week taking photos of all the spaces I think I have learned in during that time. Some are very much linked to personal, reflective spaces, such as my office at home. Here, there is varied technology, including a laptop, desktop PC, both of which can acces the internet, plus my mobile and an e-reader. Therefore, there has been learning in the form of reading, writing and course development.

However, there are other, very different spaces where learning has also occurred but in a very different sense. Classrooms have been used, and the type of learning has been far more social, but also reflective in terms of considering the learning students are achiving, and how they are achieving it. Once again, technology is central but serves a different purpose.

The types of learning which are occurring are different in different spaces, but are in many ways linked. This then suggests that as the recognition of the mutiplicity of spaces in which we learn becomes more explicit, the theories we use to explain the learning which occurs within them, and how they connect to each other must be more complex. Hence, the notion of linking blended leanring, and learning spaces, i.e. blended spaces which need new pedagogic theories to support their understanding.

Some initial results and reflections on the blended course

The students in my group have now gone off into school placements for a couple of months, but before going, we captured some of their ideas and thoughts about the course they have been following. Two immediate ideas have become apparent in their views:

1. They enjoyed keeping the blogs on geographical concepts, and in several interviews carried out with students, they commented on the essentially liminal nature of the exercise. They saw the blogs as being a positive medium for playing around with ideas and developing a deeper understanding which not only allowed them to feel more confident in their own consideration of the concepts, but which also helped them cross a cognitive threshold in relation to teaching others about their concept. Interestingly, one student actually described their blog as a 'safe' space for carrying out this liminal transition, even though it was open to the world.

2. The use of pre-session lectures online, led to a strong belief that better use was made of the face-to-face sessions. Students have also remarked that these were positive not only due to the social constructivist nature of the exercises, but that these were supported by a physically flexible learning space which allowed them to stamp their own preferences on the use of the space.

As such, very much preliminary consideration of the rich seam of data collected suggests that the blended approach has helped to transform the nature and benefits of the course thus far.