Ten Core Principles for Designing Effective Learning Environments: Insights from Brain Research and Pedagogical Theory
It is suggested that there are ten different principles that one should remember when one is either taking an online course or is the instructor in an online course. However, there are not just specific principles for online or distance courses, they can be applied to any educational situation.
The ten principles are: 1 – every structures learning experience has four elements with the learner at the center, 2 – every learning experience includes the environment in which the learner interacts, 3 – we shape our tools and our tools shape us, 4 – faculty are the directors of the learning experience, 5 – learners bring their own personalized knowledge, skills, and attitudes to the learning experience, 6 – every learner has a zone of proximal development that defines the space that the learner is ready to develop into useful knowledge, 7 – concepts are not words; concepts are organized and intricate knowledge clusters, 8 – all learners do not need to learn all course content; all learners do need to learn the core concepts; 9 – different instruction is required for different learning outcomes, and 10 – everything else being equal, more time-on-task equals more learning. (Boettcher)
The emphasis of this article is that by keeping these principles in mind, we can help guide the design of the learning environments to be more efficient and effective for all the participants. It is also suggested that one must always remember that each person is unique and the structure of each person brain is unique so what one student learns and retains will be different than another student. We must all keep this in mind as not only students but also as educators when working with any type of course.
Boettcher, J (2007). Ten core principles for designing effective learning environments: Insights from brain research and pedagogical theory. Retrieved September 10, 2008, from Innovate 3 Web site: http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article