Learning Models

As outlined in Learning Online: Models and Styles, "there are many different theoretical approaches to learning that inform teaching practice. These range from instructivist, tutor-centric classroom approaches, to student-centred discovery learning involving action and interaction". Learning models that are especially suited to online learning environments, and which can be combined, include:

• constructivism - where knowledge is actively constructed rather than passively received
• collaboration - sharing of a common body of knowledge and interaction with peers
• experiential - the gaining of knowledge and learning through experience
• problem based - where learners find solutions to problems, questions, cases (which they may themselves identify)
• situated cognition - learning knowledge and skills in contexts that reflect the way they will be used in real life
• cognitive apprenticeship - learning through guided experience
• situational learning - scenario-based and simulation based learning
• reflective learning - where learners think about their learning

Further resources:

Learning Models in relation to instructional design.

Learning Styles and the implications for online learning.