Transforming Learning Environments for Anytime, Anywhere Learning for All

26 Pages·2014·1.13 MB·English

Transforming Learning
Environments for
Anytime, Anywhere
Learning for All

Transformation Framework

MicrosMoicftro isno fEt idnu Ecduactaiotionn 1 www.microsoft.com/education/
©2014 Microsoft Corporation
About this series

The Microsoft in Education Transformation Framework is a

guide for educators and leaders engaged in holistic
education transformation. The critical conversations

needed for effective transformation of education systems

are the focus of this paper series. Each expert author

presents a global perspective on the topic through the
current thinking and evidence from research and practice,
as well as showcase examples. Specifically, the papers
document the contributions of anytime anywhere
approaches to K-12 learning and explore the potential of
new technology for transforming learning outcomes for
students and their communities.
Microsoft in Education 2 www.microsoft.com/education/
©2014 Microsoft Corporation
Microsoft in Education Transformation Framework Papers
 Transforming Learning Environments for Anytime, Anywhere Learning for All
 Vision for Anytime Anywhere Learning for All
 Enabling Transformation with Strategic Planning, Organizational Capacity, and Sustainability
 Quality Assurance: Monitoring and Evaluation to Inform Practice and Leadership
 Inclusion: Equitable Access and Accessibility
 Public, Private, and Community Partnerships for Employability
 Curriculum, Content, and Assessment for the Real World
 Personalized Learning for Global Citizens
 Learning Communities and Support
 Building Leader and Educator Capacity for Transformation
 Designing Technology for Efficient and Effective Schools

Microsoft in Education 3 www.microsoft.com/education/
©2014 Microsoft Corporation
Table of Contents

About this series.............................................................................................. 2

Microsoft in Education Transformation Framework Papers ................... 3

Summary ........................................................................................................... 5

Introduction ..................................................................................................... 7

The 21st Century Digital Learning Environment...................................... 9

Learning Theory .......................................................................................... 9

Personalized Learning Environments ........................................................ 13

Mobile Learning ............................................................................................ 14

Learning Spaces: From Classrooms to Learning Spaces................. 14

A Smart Learning Classroom .................................................................. 15

The 7Es of Adaptive Anytime Anywhere Learning

Communities (ALCs) ..................................................................................... 19

Engage ........................................................................................................ 19

Experience .................................................................................................. 20

Empower ..................................................................................................... 20

Effect ............................................................................................................ 20

Emote .......................................................................................................... 21

Evolve .......................................................................................................... 21

Efficacy ........................................................................................................ 22

References ...................................................................................................... 23

Author Bio....................................................................................................... 25

Acknowledgements ...................................................................................... 25

Microsoft in Education 4 www.microsoft.com/education/
©2014 Microsoft Corporation
Summary
School transformation requires a synergy of the entire community –
educators, government and ministry leaders, students, faculty, private
Dr. Don Olcott, Jr. FRSA
providers, social service organizations, religious leaders, parents, and
more. Indeed, what we should be developing with ALCs are Professor of Educational Leadership
and Open and Distance Learning
‘communities for innovation’ that collectively embrace innovation in
University of Maryland University
all its guises and creative capacities (Olcott, 2014).
College, United States

As we reflect, critical conversations to innovate with Learning
Environments may include:
 How will Learning Spaces be redesigned to enable 21st Century Learning?
 How does access to technology impact decision making and design
of spaces?
 What does a smart classroom look like? What does it “feel” like?
 How do the devices prepare students for their next steps in learning
and life?
 What technologies do teachers require in classroom, the school grounds,
at home, on camp?
 What are the implications of curriculum design to make effective use of
1:1 learning and new learning spaces?
 What training is needed for teachers?
 To provide Personalised Learning systems and environments, what
Administration Systems are needed?
 What internal and external communication systems are required to
enable 24/7 anytime, anywhere collaboration?
 What Content Management and Distribution systems are required to
enable 24/7 anytime, anywhere collaboration?
 What implications occur on student data management and Personalised
Learning Systems in 21st Century learning environments?
 What safety, security, and privacy of people, property and data is needed?
 What support is needed to support such environments?

Microsoft in Education 5 www.microsoft.com/education/
©2014 Microsoft Corporation
Digital technologies are not simply for use in the schools by teachers
and students; nor simply a showcase for Open House and parent
briefings on an ad hoc basis. They are a collective community
resource. ALCs explore how students and teachers adapt to these
new innovations, how geographic communities play an integral role
in the deployment of these innovations, and how ‘flipped
communities’ may serve as a catalyst for schools to leverage outputs
by assuming new roles to create optimum educational, social and
cultural impacts for community development. We have moved
beyond flipped classrooms. ALCs are about enabling learning
environments that support and drive ‘flipped communities.’

Microsoft in Education 6 www.microsoft.com/education/
©2014 Microsoft Corporation
Introduction

Today, digital technologies provide ubiquitous and instantaneous
access to unlimited information resources that are transforming Ubiquitous access services and
schools and the educative process. At the same time, there is an resources
increasing realization that information is not synonymous with
Direct Access in Windows.
knowledge; and access to this infinite virtual repository is only as
Enterprise Mobility Suite
valuable as one’s capacity to assess, analyse, decipher, disaggregate,

and apply knowledge in practical, real-world situations (Cavanaugh,
McCarthy & East, 2014; EDUCAUSE, 2009).

The 21st century student must learn how to ‘connect’ these isolated
pieces of information with the guidance of 21st Century teachers
who can show the student the art of ‘collection, orchestration,
remixing and integration of data into knowledge building’
(EDUCAUSE, 2009, p. 2). Knowledge building will also depend on
students thinking about their own metacognition and reflecting on
how they learn best.

Learning is about making connections. This range of teaching-
learning connections permeates the teaching and learning Read about how teachers are using
environment, a learning space that can be physical or virtual. We Skype to create an activity centered
connect new knowledge to existing knowledge; we connect the around real-world applications. The
digital world with the real world; we connect students to content, concept is simple: classrooms Skype
call each other and try to guess
students to students, and students to teachers. We connect the
where the other classroom is located
learning space to the world, competencies to skills, individuals to
either in the United States or in the
groups, and groups to communities. And, most importantly, we
world
connect technology to information – information to knowledge and
knowledge to application in the real world. We connect students to Take part in the lesson!

life (Olcott, 2014).

This paper explores innovative new learning environments, seeks out
new digital applications among teachers and students, and helps
define 21st Century smart learning environments that are
increasingly mobile and cloud based. This is a formidable challenge
for education systems and institutions all over the world. It requires
us to think differently about how we think, how we teach, and how
we learn; and to resist a fundamental tendency of human nature – to
retreat to the status quo where we feel comfortable and safe from
ambiguity and the unknown.

Microsoft in Education 7 www.microsoft.com/education/
©2014 Microsoft Corporation
Adaptive Anytime Anywhere Learning Communities (ALCs) look
“What is an Adaptive
at digital learning through a broader lens than personal or digital
learning environments. Adaptive Anytime Anywhere Learning Anytime Anywhere
Communities (ALCs) can be defined as: Learning Community?

The mobilization of digital
The mobilization of digital technologies to transform Schools
technologies to transform
through personal and community learning environments which serve
as the catalyst for creating new relationships through a ‘community Schools through personal
for innovation’ that connects all stakeholders to a common and community learning
community action agenda.
environments which serve

as the catalyst for creating
Digital technologies are not simply for use in the schools by teachers
new relationships through a
and students; nor simply a showcase for Open House and parent
briefings on an ad hoc basis. They are a collective community ‘community for innovation’
resource. ALCs explore how students and teachers adapt to these
that connects all
new innovations, how geographic communities play an integral role
stakeholders to a common
in the deployment of these innovations, and how ‘flipped
community action agenda.”
communities’ may serve as a catalyst for schools to leverage outputs
by assuming new roles to create optimum educational, social and
cultural impacts for community development.

The term adaptive learning has been applied to adapting technology

to meet individual student learning needs. This approach is

consistent with student expectations that experiences, services and

products can be aligned with their individual learning needs and

preferences (Boyd, 2014). Conversely, we must broaden the dialogue

to explore how individuals and communities can adapt to digital

technologies.

The paper will provide a brief synopsis of learning theory,

personalized learning environments, mobile digital devices, and

cloud based digital learning spaces as a gateway to the concept of

Adaptive Anytime Anywhere Learning Communities (ALCs).

We will also look at the 7Es of Adaptive Anytime Anywhere

Learning Communities (ALCs) – engage, experience, elicit,

empower, effect, emote, evolve, and efficacy; and how the 7Es

provide a roadmap for creating ALCs that are reciprocally

transformative across the broader community landscape.

Making connections is the key to redefining the school-community
dynamic for the 21st century. The goal of ALCs is to create a ‘community
for innovation’ rather than a ‘culture of technology’ (Olcott, 2014).

Microsoft in Education 8 www.microsoft.com/education/
©2014 Microsoft Corporation
The 21st Century Digital

Learning Environment

What is an effective school? Indeed, the answer to this question

King’s Academy’s Jordan campus
varies. It often depends on who is asked, the context which the
infrastructure with campus-wide
question is posed, and the role and values of the person giving the
wireless network provides every
answer. After all, where one stands is often influenced by where one
student and faculty member with
sits. Cavanaugh, Repetto & Wayer (2013) identified the 5Cs of access to learning anytime,

effective schools. These included: ‘caring communities, where anywhere. Devices provide students

students have control, quality curriculum, connection the future and with the means to engage in active

learning by using the tools that they
the world beyond the classroom, and a supportive climate’ (p. 4).
need in their current and future lives.
Digital innovations play a major role for all of the 5Cs. They key is for

digital technologies to be on all stages for all stakeholders rather Download the case study

than center stage as a panacea for school transformation. Before we

can look at the ALC environment we must briefly highlight how these

innovations are being used inside the schools.

Learning Theory
A few years ago futurists attempted to mesmerize us with
enlightened sound bites like half of the knowledge an engineering
student learns is obsolete by the time the student graduates from
college. A professional colleague reminded me, however, that even if
this were true the fundamentals of sound engineering do not “What digital technologies
change; a ‘teachable moment’ and indeed an important lesson for
actually do is leverage our
school leaders and policy makers as they soar off on a new journey
capacity to create new
into digital learning.
learning designs to apply

Good teaching is good teaching – effective learning is effective the basic concepts and
learning. The influx of 21st century digital technologies does not
constructs of sound
change this anymore than they alter the sound tenets of proven
learning theory that result
learning theories. What digital technologies actually do is leverage
in improved performance
our capacity to create new learning designs to apply the basic
concepts and constructs of sound learning theory that result in by students.”
improved performance by students. Do these digital innovations

have the power to make average teachers master teachers? Perhaps

not directly because the human dynamic of teaching that makes it an

art rather than a science remains alive and well. At the same time, it is
prudent to remember that the changing role of teacher from didactic
maestro to knowledge facilitator suggests that digital innovations
can help all teachers become better 21st century teachers.

Microsoft in Education 9 www.microsoft.com/education/
©2014 Microsoft Corporation
Learning is about making connections and learning theories help us
conceptualize these connections in cognitive, behavorial, and
affective domains that allow us to collectively relate to the physical
world. Piaget’s theory of Cognitive Adaptation provides a cognitive
roadmap for how we all connect one of the most essential building
blocks of learning: experience (Piaget & Inhelder, 1973; Satterly,
1987; Wood, 1998; Bee & Boyd, 2004).

Piaget’s theory suggests that through our cognitive schemes, we
either assimilate new knowledge with existing knowledge due to
logical connections; or we change our cognitive schemes to
accommodate new knowledge that does not fit with our pre-existing
mental schemes. A scheme is a basic set of experiences and
knowledge gained through experience that tells us how things
should be and act in the person’s environment. As adults, this makes
sense; however, for school-age children the dynamics are more
complex because their experience level is low and from early
childhood through early adulthood there is a progression of
cognitive development stages occurring.

Without oversimplifying Piaget’s stages, the school age period covers
the pre-operational, concrete operational, and formal operational
stages – roughly ages 2 – 18. During the pre-operational stage
children think primarily egocentrically as they learn to use language
and represent objects by images and words, including recognizing
the difference between an object image and the real object.
For example, a child may see a dog on television and yet be able to
distinguish a real dog running across the street.

At the concrete operational stage (ages 7-11), children begin to think
logically about objects and events. Children begin to classify objects
according to several features and/or along a single dimension (size,
color, etc.). Finally, in the formal operational stage (ages 11 and up),
teenagers begin to think logically and abstractly.

These developmental stages are important for two reasons.
First, experience is cumulative and a child’s experiential repository
increases as the child progresses through the cognitive stages. As the
child develops, he or she learns how to assimilate or accommodate
new knowledge.

Microsoft in Education 10 www.microsoft.com/education/
©2014 Microsoft Corporation