Linda Sellou: Modes of Learning

Linda Sellou

Modes of Learning Framework from Professor Richard Elmore. Source Knowledge One ([article by **Catherine Meilleur**](https://knowledgeone.ca/elmores-4-learning-modes/))

Figure 1: Modes of Learning Framework from Professor Richard Elmore. Source Knowledge One (article by Catherine Meilleur)

This is the end of the ONL journey, or maybe just the beginning!

For the last topic, we discussed the Modes of learning framework developed by Professor Elmore. Professor Elmore defines four modes of learning;

Hierarchical individual: individuals learn on their own and follow the teaching of a person/persons. It is the traditional classroom.
Hierarchical collective: individuals learn in groups and follow the teaching of a person/persons. It can still be found in the traditional classroom with group activities.
Distributed individual: individuals decide what to learn and how to learn. They learn from anyone. An example is learners enrolled in MOOCs.
Distributed collective: Individuals learn from a community or network with the same interests and goals. They take both roles of learners and teachers.

While searching, I came across https://www.cef-see.org/blog/leaders-of-learning written by Urska Zrinski. As explained in this article, it is essential to know what kind of learners we are and what kind of learners others are. This is directly connected to the type of learning environment we want for our students. We discussed a lot during this ONL journey about designing the best learning environment for our students.

We might prefer one mode or another, but we all go through all modes of learning at one moment or another. I am not sure if we should explicitly tell our students to be confident in all the learning modes, but at least we should strive to make them confident for their professional careers.

This ONL experience was very enriching. Content-wise, learning about Open education was relatively new, and it is something I would like to learn further. Especially using OER might be a solution to spend less time writing lecture notes and more time designing effective learning activities and an appropriate learning environment. The other topic I found useful for my teaching is collaborative learning. It is something I have been working on. I will use more educational research to inform my practice. A group mate shared a very useful resource for class discussion strategies.

Of course, the most important aspect of the ONL experience is the process and meeting great people. This is priceless. Going through what students experience is so valuable and beneficial for our teaching. I am glad I got the chance to start my first Personal Learning Network! I am grateful to my PBL group: Anna, Joanna, Juho, Martin, and Tim and our guides Alan and Luis. Thanks to all the ONL community.

We can learn anything, anywhere, anytime, and choose who to learn with. Life is much better in good company.

Corrections

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Citation

For attribution, please cite this work as

Sellou (2021, Dec. 16). Linda Sellou: Modes of Learning. Retrieved from https://linda-sellou.github.io/posts/2021-12-16_modes-of-learning/

BibTeX citation

@misc{sellou2021modes,
  author = {Sellou, Linda},
  title = {Linda Sellou: Modes of Learning},
  url = {https://linda-sellou.github.io/posts/2021-12-16_modes-of-learning/},
  year = {2021}
}