The Evolution of Digital Learning Systems Through Customization

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The Evolution of Digital Learning Systems Through Customization

7/23/2008

By Ruth Reynard

The changes and challenges that new technology has brought to teaching and learning are well documented. New technology has changed how people receive, understand, and apply new information and ultimately has changed student expectations and thinking skills. Educators often refer to 21st Century thinking skills, technology skills, and knowledge skills to describe both the current changes and future changes resulting from new and immediate technology-rich or mediated learning environments.

21stcenturyskills.org in a 2007 publication has emerged with a "Framework for 21st Century Learning." The partnership has titled it, "...a vision for 21st century student success in the new global economy." While core subjects are still in the framework, what those comprise is changing as is the necessity for global relevance both in learning and application; the latter being described as "Life and Career," "Learning and Innovation," and "Information, Media, and Technology Skills."

In order to attain these outcomes, there is a need, according to the framework, for a combination of standards and assessment, curriculum and instruction, professional development, and learning environments, all facilitating the learning process within which the desired skills are to be developed. While these skills do reflect changes in learner needs that have been both as an evolved result of technology generally in society and a result of its increasing use specifically within instruction, the framework reflects changes in method and delivery of learning that also must take place. For example, students are more likely now to require relevant applications to their learning simply because the global implications are no longer marginalized but very much front and center in the minds of students. The problem is, however, that while the wider uses of technology have increased student awareness of what is possible, within teaching and learning technology use often remains quite stagnant and out of date based on notions of what good teaching looks like and how standards must drive the process rather than the process itself. This is most clearly seen in current course delivery software platforms, which remain supportive of teacher-driven instructional design and content production and delivery. Also, they most commonly reflect a linear progression and limited student choice and customization in the learning process. Central to this discussion, then, is the tension that now exists between the potential for individual customization that threatens the very essence of conventional wisdom in course design and delivery. This tension does not exist by chance but is a direct result of the tension between the potential of the technology itself and the demands of the users.