Ashley Chiasson, M.Ed

This week is one of the first wherein Terminology Tuesday hasn’t been prompted by a specific event or discussion the previous week. Instead, I considered some of the challenges new faculty member struggle with when attempting to convert their traditional face-to-face courses to distance or blended learning.

A primary challenge is how to ditch the concept of chalk-and-talk and allow students ample opportunity to interact with one another and construct knowledge together, in close facilitation with the faculty member. Because not everyone is well-versed in learning technologies, this can seem like a daunting task. Some faculty members struggle with understanding that their students don’t need to be in the same physical location to participate in group work or to collaborate with one another (and/or the faculty member), but once they see their distance course in action, they have context with which to change their tune. You can teach an old (or young) dog new tricks!

Collaborative Learning

Collaborative learning is an instructional approach that requires students to work closely with one another, often participating in group work. The educator is responsible for providing the information to the students, but the students must work collaboratively to apply the learned information when completing activities, assignments, or projects. The educator will monitor the students to ensure that the learned information is being applied correctly, but they typically act as an observer within a collaborative learning environment and less of an enforcer.

When you think about it, collaborative learning feeds on the concept of constructivism in that multiple individuals are pooling their experiences and ‘resources’ (e.g. prior learning) to learn the subject matter together.

If you really want to get specific, collaborative learning is deep-seated in Lev Vygotsky’s concept of ‘zone of proximal development’, which indicates that individuals will learn information from one another (in Vygotsky’s case, he was specifically talking about children modelling their behaviours after adults) simply by learning like information near one another.

With the emergence of Web 2.0 (more on that in another week), education is bursting at the seams with technologies that enhance collaborative approaches (e.g. wikis, blogs, social media, etc.), and this doesn’t apply to just the education sector.

Technology examples, please!

Off the top of my head, I can think of several technologies that are used to enhance learning: Blackboard Collaborate (used for real-time VOIP classes), Twitter, Adobe Connect.

As for examples that don’t specifically pertain to the education sector (but which can also be used), I’m drawn to technologies such as: Google Hangouts, Google Drive, Dropbox, and any Webinar application.

Resources

Still confused? Aching for more information? Perhaps you want to write your thesis on Collaborative Learning. Here you go:

– What is Collaborative Learning and Why is it Important?

– Collaborative Learning 

– Group Work and Collaborative Learning (Ryerson University)

– 20 Collaborative Learning Tips and Strategies for Teachers

– Zone of Proximal Development

– Zone of Proximal Development and Scaffolding in the Classroom

Now, I wouldn’t necessarily classify this as an e-learning term…it’s really more of a User Interface (UI) term, but because the e-learning industry works within a plethora of UIs, I thought it fitting. Also – I met a fantastic lady, Tracy Parish, who developed a presentation on Flat Design, and I really appreciated some of the visuals used within her presentation. Long story short, I’m defining flat design for you folks – hooray!

Flat Design, you say? 

Contrary to what you might be thinking, flat design doesn’t equate to boring or stale design (think flat soda – not the tastiest). Instead, flat design is an aesthetic approach which highlights two dimensional, minimalist design, using sharp edges, bright colours, and flattened (2D) icons or imagery. Moving with the minimalist approach, flat design does not include text, instead letting the icons or imagery used speak for itself, creating a sleek and clean design. The flat design approach to UI is really a shining example of the Keep It Simple, Stupid (KISS) principle! Why overcomplicate things?

I really dislike the functionality of Windows 8, so if you want to google their interface, do so at your leisure – I won’t be linking it here. However, their main navigation interface can be considered flat design, and it’s likely one of the more recognizable examples of flat design in practice.

Some other examples can be found on the Articulate Community’s Download section, for example: Flat Desktop Exploration Interaction by Tom Kuhlmann or Flat Design Portfolio by Paul Alders.

As for my original inspiration for this post, here is a sample from Tracy’s presentation on flat design.

Tracy Parish, Used with Permission

Resources

If you’re interested in checking out some tutorials or additional information about flat design, here are a few resources:

– Design a Flat Website Mockup in Photoshop

– Flat UI Tutorials

– How to Nail the Coveted Flat Design Look (9 Actionable Tips) 

– Flat Dropdown Menu Tutorial

– Principles of Flat Design