EL7001+Meaningful+Learning+Experiences


 * ** EL7001-8 ** ||  ||
 * ** Principals and Practices in e-Learning ** || ** 4 Meaningful Learning Experiences ** ||
 * Excellent job Stephen! Well organized and very well documented. **
 * Excellent job Stephen! Well organized and very well documented. **

=Meaningful Learning Experiences= Learning is a ubiquitous experience. Learning occurs all of the time. With so much learning why are there so few remarkable teachers? As I reflect on my lifetime of learning, I realize that the teachers who taught me the most were my parents, whose teachings erupt in the most unobvious places, and the dear teacher called experience, who through pain has taught me more than I care to acknowledge. I have had hundreds to teachers in my life, and less than a handful are remembered, and only one truly revered. Our experience together began in a less than auspicious way – he is the only professor who has failed any of my work, in this case five times – but he thought enough about me and my potential to encourage me to become the writer that only he could see. So, this paper is dedicated to his memory, and to describing the characteristics that the literature indicates creates rich, positive, and meaningful learning experiences.

Positive Learning Experiences
According to the literature there are several characteristics that contribute to an optimal learning experience. Some of the characteristics noted in the literature for online learning include creating a safe environment for discussion and the making of mistakes ( Baskas, 2011b; Zemke, 1995 ), generating high levels of interest in the topic ( Bye, Pushkar, & Conway, 2007 ), conveying meaningful and interesting content ( Chyung & Vachon, 2005; Gunawardena, Linder-VanBerschot, LaPointe, & Rao, 2010 ), encouraging reflection and integration of the material ( Baskas, 2011a; Baskas, 2011b; Kenner & Weinerman, 2011 ), ensuring that a clear structure for the class (objectives, assignments, deadlines) is expressed ( Ferguson & DeFelice, 2010; Stein, 2004; Zemke & Zemke, 1995 ), and encouraging competence, autonomy, and self-discovery within the learner ( Baskas, 2011b; Blanchard, Hinchey, & Bennett, 2011; Chen & Lien, 2011 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Several research studies identify three characteristics of teaching that facilitate learning for the student as the most essential. These characteristics are that for adults the learning needs to be problem centered, or useful for everyday life, increased and rich interaction between learner and learner, and increased and connected interaction between learner and teacher.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Focused on Real World Usage
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">According to Knowles, Holton, and Swanson (1998) adult learners are assumed to be motivated, and they are more likely to “ <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">integrate new learning with various life roles in more multidimensional ways <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">” ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Baskas, 2011b, p. 3 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">) if that learning “ <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">can be used in real life <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">” ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">p. 3, see also Bye, Pushkar, & Conway, 2007 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">). Adult learning focuses on “ <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">teachers as facilitators of learning <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">” ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Blanchard, 2011, p. 4 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">) to draw on the experiences of their students and nurture new knowledge by encouraging self-efficacy, independence, and motivation in their learners ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Gunawardena et al., 2010; Ismail, Gunasegaran, & Idrus, 2010 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">). By focusing learning on the practical ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Cabrera-Lozoya, Cerdan, Cano, Garcia-Sanchez, & Lujan, 2012 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">) and motivating learners to be autonomous ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Bye, Pushkar, & Conway, 2007; Chen & Lien, 2011; Ferguson & DeFelice, 2010 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">) learner satisfaction increases, as does perceived learning, enabling the student to “ <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">reason from their own experience <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">” ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Sharples, Taylor, & Vavoula, 2007, p. 223; see also Lorge, 1956; Zemke & Zemke, 1995 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">) which has “ <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">been shown to impact achievement <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">” ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Gunawardena et al., 2010, p. 209 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Learner to Learner Collaboration
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">In the literature for adult online learning one major factor that appears in multiple studies is the importance of collaboration between learners in the virtual classroom. Ferguson and DeFelice (2010) found that interactions between learners were significantly more related to learner satisfaction than was the amount of interaction between the learner and the instructor. Gunawardena et al. (2010) found that higher levels of student satisfaction results in more participation and “ <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">greater learning gains <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">” ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">p. 209 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">) which is confirmed in Cabrera-Lozoya et al. (2012) who found that “ <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">collaboration among learners has a significant impact on learning outcome <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">” ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">p. 618; see also Allen, Crosky, McAlpine, Hoffman, & Munroe, 2009; Chen & Lien, 2011; Hurtado & Guerrero, 2009 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">). This means that teachers need to encourage participation and interaction of learners in order for them to have an optimal learning experience ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Watkins, 2005 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Teacher to Learner Interaction
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">In addition to the interaction between learner and learner, interaction between the learner and the teacher is essential for successful learning. According to Martinez-Caro (2011) “ <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">interaction is key to effective e-learning <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">” ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">p. 578 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">) who found that the “ <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">strongest predictor of learning <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">” ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">p. 578 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">) is the amount of interaction between teacher and learner. In a study conducted by Chyung and Vachon (2005), four of the seven most significant factors contributing to a learner’s satisfaction were directly related to an instructor’s skills or their interaction with the student, while Donovant (2009) identified that the lack of face-to-face interactions were the single most significant contributor to learner dissatisfaction with online education. To maximize the learning environment for the learner the teacher should validate “ <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">the student as an active partner in a shared learning experience <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">” ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Bye et al., 2007, p. 155 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">), while understanding “ <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">that the degree of teacher involvement is a significant distinguishing quality of effectiveness <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">” ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Martinez-Caro, 2011, p. 578 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">). =<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Conclusion = <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">There are many factors related to rich online learning experiences including (a) creation of a safe environment, (b) generating high levels of interest, (c) transmitting meaningful content, (d) encouraging reflection by the learner, (e) defining a clear structure, and (f) encouraging competence and self-discovery within the learner. The three characteristics most mentioned in the literature for providing the highest satisfaction and learning outcomes are focusing of learning on real-world problems, increasing collaboration between learner and learner, and ensuring a good quality, attentive, and highly interactive relationship between learner and teacher.


 * = References ||
 * * Allen, B., Crosky, A., McAlpine, I., Hoffman, M., & Munroe, P. (2009). A blended approach to collaborative learning: Making large group teaching more student-centered. //International Journal of Engineering Education, 25(3)//, 569-576. Retrieved from EBSCOhost
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 * Note from much later:** The EBSCOhost references and the references to proquest are incorrect retrieval information and should have (in order) either a doi, the actual url to the article - not going through a database, or the journal home page per APA guidelines. ||