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Heather A Ochmane-Learning Ecologies MOOC’s Updates
Situated Cognition - shifting from face-to-face to e-learning ecologies
"Situated cognition is the theory that people’s knowledge is embedded in the activity, context, and culture in which it was learned. It is also referred to as “situated learning.” https://www.learning-theories.com/situated-cognition-brown-collins-duguid.html
That is, the knowledge and understandings created by learners cannot be divorced from the rituals and activities of learning. These elements of the process are deeply formative.
Currently there is an enormous pedagogical experiment going on - possibly the largest in history - with education now being completed online due to COVID-19. This is something that has impacted my role as an educator, with all of my classes now being delivered entirely online.
Formerly there were many physical affordances for situated cognition to occur. Classrooms are rich in the learning that is characterised by dialectical relationships and cognition shared in communities (Mousley, 2002). Educators can draw upon many opportunities for classes to be active communities of learning.
However, there is a danger that Pluto's Cave, shown below may be more of the type of environment learners find themselves in amid the COVID-19 crisis.
Alone. Isolated. Stuck. This creates an important need for educators to shift from face-to-face learning environments to new digital spaces. Yet, this methodological shift does not guarantee effective pedagogical outcomes as many of the artefacts and functions of the face-to-face classroom do not automatically tranfer to a new e-learning environment.
It is the role of educators to create e-learning ecologies that do not merely replicate older models of education (the digital textbook for example), with the central node to learning being the LMS, with each learner operating in isolation. Rather, it is the role of the educator to curate the type of digital learning environment where there can be genuine social learning to provide situated cognition in ways that can replicate and potentially transcend the affordances for situated cognition provided in the face-to-face classroom.
Canvas is on such LMS which, if used carefully, can provide the affordance of collaborative intelligence. Through the use of discussions, students can engage in a dialectical conversation and learn from others. This is not always easy though and some have provided some good guidance about how to make discussion happen. Essentially, a lot of this involves providing a sense that this type of learning is valued - to provide a why - so that this type of learning is not seen as busy work but the very process of developing a deeper understanding. To provide a why and also to ensure educators are active in managing these spaces.
While situated cognition can occur just about anywhere (Naidu & Bedgood, 2012) this type of learning needs to be intentionally orchestrated by the educator otherwise, in competition of other learning tasks and the alluring world of online gaming and social interaction, the level of engagement may be superficial. Canvas provides affordances through being able to track who has posted and also being able to assign a certain number of peer reviews so that feedback is provided by peers. This is a powerful form of formative assessment and an exciting way to see some of the potential of e-learning realised. Situated Cognition posits an approach to learning that can be summarised with 'let me do and I understand'. This involves a type of cognitive apprenticeship in the context of a social environment where there is a learning community that the learner can turn to to share in their journey. (see below).
Mousley, J. Theories of learning : what now? : from activity theory to situated cognition [online]. Vinculum; v.39 n.1 p.11-17; March 2002. Availability: <https://search-informit-com-au.ezproxy.sl.nsw.gov.au/fullText;dn=117418;res=AEIPT> ISSN: 0157-759X. [cited 11 Apr 20].
Naidu S., Bedgood D.R. (2012) Learning in the Social Context. In: Seel N.M. (eds) Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning. Springer, Boston, MA
@Andrew Beitsch, an article after my own concerns!
Your discussion seems to ask questions about how to control the nature of the environment; I'm thinking about the 'module structure' described in our week 1 reading.
Now I have left my assignments to the last minute, but I have completed them- because there is a deadline and structure: a to-do list (with embedded questions in the videos, sneaky!), success criteria and certification dependent on my progressing.
@Andrew Beitsch, thanks so much for your post!
Indeed, our situated cognition has made a great shift from classroom environments to social isolation over the past month. Without a shift in pedagogical thinking, online learning will not provide the platform for collaborative intelligence that we hope for as educators.
I very much appreciated that you framed the role of the educator as the facilitator, curator, and orchestrator of online ecologies. I also appreciated your example of Canvas as a tool to this end.
Nice work, thank you!
Hello Andrew,
I really admire your writing, but I'm unclear on how it related to Situated Cognition, as your title suggests. Can you elaborate more on what Covid-19 means for students who's embodied sense of self and belonging is now being challenged by the virtual classroom?