Lawrence Tomie's "A Theoretical Model for Designing Online Education" Summary
Throughout this article, Tomie gives way and opens the discussion to the rapid growth of technology which now enables the delivery of lifelong learning in ways that increase access and overcome traditional barriers of geography and time normally associated with conventional classroom instruction (Tomie, 2007, p.123). Here he explained that online learning is requiring a shift in traditional styles of learning (from the industrialized classroom) that just doesn’t quite work with an online learner setting. In an attempt to explain the shifting pedagogy, Tomie references many other scholars who have published work on the subject, and quotes Van Dusen who explains the changing paradigm best: “The emergence of video and Web-based courses has thrust educational institutions into newer and more complex distance learning environments in order to link their students and instructors in cyberspace. The potential for sharing information, engaging in collective learning, and participating in reflective thinking has provided, according to Van Dusen, opportunities for supporting “collaborative learning, heterogeneous groupings, problem-solving and higher order thinking skills—educational processes that a lecture format cannot facilitate.” (p. 123).
Tomie then continues to deconstruct of the system of instructional design, by explaining its history. He focused on several over the past 200 years, and how they differ from one another, and how they are connected to different learning theories like Behaviourism, Essentialism, and Cognitivism. By deconstructing the various models Tomie is able to conclude that all instructional system designs involve three stages, each with a focused concept on page 127. Stage one: answering the question of what is worthy and requirement of understanding? Where teachers focus on the learning goal/concept/ outcome that they are trying to teach. Stage two: examining the evidence to check for understanding, and what the evidence is going to look like. Stage three: would be actually designing the learning experience, or the sequence of events. Essentially, here Tomie speaks of the Backwards by Design model taught in most universities to teachers.
Once Tomie has ironed out all the most historically successful models of instructional design, which boil down to Backwards by design, he then dives into his new theory of Online Learners and how we should apply this historically advantageous model to it. He explains “the new engine for designing online education changes the way we design, develop, implement, and assess learning in this emerging virtual world of lifelong learning. We begin with learning theories and the many contributions of educational psychology to the design of traditional, adult, and distance-based lessons" (128). There is no one theory, as there are various kinds of learners in the cyber environment; there are three (p.129). Learning Theory for the traditional learner, where what we would call a traditional learner would continue to learn based on a mixture of Behaviourism and Cognitivism. “The behaviour of [the] student is a response to their past and present experiences and that all behaviour is learned. Cognitive teachers, on the other hand, focus more on the learner as an active participant in the teaching-learning process" (p. 129). Learning Theory for the Adult Learner, created by Knowles which redefines the perception of child-only learning and explains that “Adult learning is typically characterized as experiential, problem-based, immediate, and self-directed. Unlike children, adults learn experientially using their considerable practice, knowledge base, and problem-solving skills. They must know why they need to learn something and they learn best when that topic is of immediate value” (p.130). And finally, Tomie speaks of the Learning Theory for the Distance Learner by drawing in Lev Vygotsky theories and how they, along with other theorists in the Distance Learning Field, will drive the ever-changing online theory of learning (p. 131). Vygotsky theories stress the fundamental role of social interactions, and the importance of a sense of community when making meaning. Today’s online learning systems have been used in distance learning settings to facilitate and guide students through the learning process using Vygotsky's theory. Tomie then pulls on theorists Moore and Campbell Gibson and how they examined the success rates of distance learning students, and how they along with Vygotsky have discovered "A Theoretical Model for Designing Online Education in Support of Lifelong Learning" leaving the readers with the following conclusion on how to build a model for successful online learning (p. 131):
“As the first component of the engine, learning theories encourage designers to consider developing lessons that combine principles from pedagogical, andragogical, and allagegogical learning theory to produce a lesson that truly targets the widest possible audience of distance learners. Lessons designed for the online environment should take into account that some of their target learners anticipate content that must be mastered (behavioural) as well as those who expect exposure to problem-based, real-world experiences. The first component of our engine produces lessons that consider these initial competencies while moving towards true online education designed with a set of prejudged skills, namely, the ability to learn either independently or in a cohort, writing and time management skills, and technology literate. Focus on the learner is the first stage of our engine for designing online education.”
Work Cited:
Tomei, L. A. (2007). A Theoretical Model for Designing Online Education in Support of Lifelong Learning. In Y. Inoue (Ed.), Online Education for Lifelong Learning (pp. 122-145). Hershey, PA: IGI Global. doi:10.4018/978-1-59904-319-7.ch006
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