Volume 10, July 27, 2000
"The Shift from a Teaching to a Learning Paradigm"
by Judith Boettcher, executive director of the Corporation for Research and Educational Networking (CREN), Syllabus, August 1999, p. 50
"At the same time that we are shifting from the campus classroom to the Web classroom, there is significant discussion within higher education encouraging institutions to shift from a teaching paradigm to a learning paradigm." (p. 50) "The teaching processes in our institutions look very much the way they did decades, and even centuries ago. The major difference is in how we store information—whether it is stored on a slate, on a blackboard, on a book, or on a computer. The second part of my concern is that we may overlook the importance of the conditions of learning—the larger infrastructure that we now need." (p. 50) "The current push for a shift to a focus on students as learners, as consumers, and as active participants in the learning process is not only good, but essential." (p. 50) "A shift to the learning paradigm will only trip us up if it means a shift away from the teaching paradigm. Teaching and learning are essential to one another." (p. 50) "We have teachers embedded in the content resources—the book, the CD, the video, and the Web. These teachers are now captured in silicon; let’s call them ‘embedded teachers.’ We also have the ‘mentoring teacher,’ who serves as the guide through the resources, as the manager of a learner or group of learners." (p. 50)
"As we adopt the learning paradigm, let us strive for balance. Let us support the learner who is doing the work of learning—by ensuring access, tools, learning support, and the time that is needed for growing the student from wherever they are. Let us also ensure support for the teacher who is responsible for the framing of instruction, for anticipating, for adapting the content to the student. Let us support the infrastructure that provides the environment for effective learning and teaching—freeing the student and the teacher for the task and joy of learning." (p. 51)
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