Authentic Learning Instruction and Design is definitely where I feel most "at home" as an educator and homeschooling parent. It's one of the luxuries I can immerse my children into throughout their schooling, as well as my students as pre-service educators.
I really appreciated the Authentic Learning Design Principles that Dr. Tom Reeves shared. I think these nine principles are helpful in determining what exactly does authentic learning entail and how can one make their teaching for authentic for their learners. Although it does take a lot of dedication and time to switch to authentic learning design, I appreciated Dr. Reeves suggested that educators can start with individual tasks at first to work their way to creating whole authentic courses. "Learning about it by doing it" should be authentic learning's motto! How else can we expect students to truly master a subject or content without experiencing first-hand how to do it?!
I found Herrington's (2006) article and discussion regarding authentic learning online to be beneficial for my current role as lecturer, just having moved remotely from my place of employment. Although my students still meet in-person weekly, I am projected on a screen virtually throughout class time. I do have a facilitator in the room, which I think helps enable authentic experiences, but I still feel there is some disconnect. The article gave some useful resources, to include the breakdown of the characteristics of authentic tasks, which is helpful for planning. I had not heard the term 'cognitive realism' (Herrington, 2006), so that was an interesting piece of the authentic learning puzzle. While authentic learning online is the goal, since it "supports immersion in self-directed and independent learning" (Herrington, 2006, p. 3170), I do feel students' motivation and drive do play a role in the experience and success, as well. Even with educators creating engaging, real-world, authentic learning, it lies in students hands how involved they want to be and how much effort they want to put in, especially in an online environment.
Dr. Curtis Bonk's article regarding using video resources, specifically Legends and Legacies, was fun to read because I kept nodding along as I experience so much of the flexibility and authentic learning in our course. Dr. Bonk (2018) "want[ing] more" (p. 538) was a perfect example of an educator who strived for authentic learning experiences for his students, started with a few tasks, just to create a course of authentic engagement.
Dr. Tom Reeves Interview with Dr. Curtis Bonk, September 26, 2021
Bonk, C.J. (2018). Tapping into history via video: Enlisting the legends and legacies of our field. TechTrends, 62(6), 538-540. DOI: 10.1007/s11528-018-0332-3
Herrington, J. (2006) Authentic E-Learning in higher education: Design principles for authentic learning environments and tasks. In: World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education (ELEARN) 2006, 13-17 October 2006, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA pp. 3164-3173.
Hey Rebecca, thank you for sharing your experiences with authentic learning as an instructor. You mention that you are projected on the screen while students attend class. I was wondering what the purpose of this may be. Why not just have zoom classes in that case? I am assuming it may have something to do with logistics of having schools back open so that some students do not have to worry about visas and other things like that. Either way, the presence of a facilitator can definitely make the instruction feel more authentic as they may be able to scan the room for confused faces and suggest that some points be reiterated.
I also agree that it was fun reading…
Hi Rebecca,
Thank you for sharing. Since I ran out of time last weekend, I did not read Herrington’s article even though I was quite interested in how authentic learning proceeds online. As you mentioned in the reflection, there is likely to be some disconnect between the instructors and the students during online learning, so I think it would be very helpful if the instructors could apply some skills to incorporate some authentic tasks or elements into the online environment. I also agree with you that although instructors create authentic learning online, students' motivation and drive do play a role in the experience and success. Designing and creating an attractive learning environment for students is always the greatest challenge.
P.S.…
Hi Rebecca,
I like your Jeopardy reference. I was trying to find a catchy title for my post on Authentic Learning - you win! I can wholeheartedly concur that creating authentic learning environments remotely are HARD! During the pandemic, I have been teaching ESL to students remotely, and I'm so used to being in a classroom, simulating real conversations, using authentic props and even going outside on campus, the city or community with my student....sitting in front of Zoom is SOOOOOO hard. But we make do.
It's also very difficult in fully asynchronous online classes. The one I'm teaching at IUPUI right now is Latino Identities in US Film, so we are watching a lot of YouTube clips for weekl…
Rebecca,
Thanks for sharing your experience about teaching and trying to create an authentic learning environment remotely. I am sure it is not easy, but I am glad that the school is providing a facilitator to help enable authentic learning. I agree with you that student motivation and involvement play a huge part in the authentic learning environment. However, I would venture to guess that student involvement is higher in authentic learning environments than in other learning environments. Sometimes people might have a hard time connecting to things in the online environment, no matter how realistic the environment is.