Digital Learning 2.0: Entering the age of participatory mobile, micro-learning
DUCATION and learning has started to undergo its own digital disruption with the advent of MOOCs (massive open online course), almost eight years ago. Digital Learning 1.0 ( the age of the MOOCs) has really started to democratize learning through digital access to content that was traditionally limited to face-to-face. Coursera, Udemy and Udacity have really been among the early pioneers to digitize content and make it accessible to millions around the world. ily on andragogy, the science of adult learning, and transformative learning theory which says that adults learn application. Project-based work and hands-on experiences are all ways of bringing these principles to life. When adults practice what they have learned, retention and ownership of the content environment, this is the holy grail of learning – encouraging people to own, retain and apply what they have learned.
So, if Digital Learning 1.0 was focused on of content, I believe Digital Learning 2.0 is about the of content. Digital Learning 2.0 is about mobile, micro-learning in participatory ways. It’s about engaging the learner anytime, anywhere. Learners who experience Digital Learning 2.0 will need to rethink how they learn from a passive experience of primarily reading, watching or listening to experts to a more active, participatory role in asking questions, points of view with other learners.
According to the World Economic Forum, the top skills required are around soft skills which I will refer to as the 4C’s of critical thinking, creativity, collaboration and communication skills. These skills will need to be developed on scale and at speed
Digital Learning 2.0 solutions will need to be designed to not just deliver content, but to catalyze people to think critically and collaborate. It will need to embrace the ‘many to many’ philosophy of learning where there is not one single expert but a community of people who can learn from one another’s experiences and knowledge. It will need to foster creative expressions of learning from visualization to role-playing to sharing new ideas. And most importantly, it will have to embrace a strong mobile strategy responsive) to meet the growing needs of over 1 billion mobile workers.
This is a new emerging space so it’s time to redefine how we learn and reteach how we teach to embrace the participatory, mobile, micro-learning era to enable us to reach billions.