The traditional way of learning has started to go through some major
reforms. This is happening both in the field of education and in
enterprises. Instead of traditional course based learning where users
are memorizing ready-given information, today more emphasis is put on
finding, understanding and applying information in practice in real
world scenarios.
Phenomenon-based learning
The education
system in Finland is said to be one of the best in the world. Yet, last
week e.g. Huffington Post
(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/28/finland-education-overhaul_n_6958786.html)
and Independent
(http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/finland-schools-subjects-are-out-and-topics-are-in-as-country-reforms-its-education-system-10123911.html)
wrote about the upcoming educational changes in Finland. Then what is
it that has resulted in this transition? The changes are related to a
phenomenon-based learning, which as a topic has raised a lot of global
discussion recently.
The ideology of phenomenon-based learning is
to bring learning and teaching closer to practice, rather than focusing
on single, disconnected subjects that do not relate to everyday life, or
to each other, at all. In the phenomenon-based learning the learners
are taught broader topics instead of subjects. The topics can be related
to any real life events, which may help the learner in applying the
novel know-how better in modern society.
Phenomenon-based learning in online education and learning
Arcusys
is at the forefront of applying the phenomenon-based learning in online
education. Valamis offers a platform for phenomenon-based learning in
online learning and implements it into a modular and flexible
environment using Experience API (xAPI) and Learning Record Store (LRS).
In Valamis, the learners approach learning in a form of a story, which
is related to real life working scenarios. While going through the
story, the learners themselves do not necessarily recognize which
subject each topic of the story is covering. They can e.g. cover
subjects such as physics, mathematics and finance within a form of a
story about buying a car.
In Valamis the learners are not given
any particular order for approaching the phenomenon-based learning
story. In stead, the learners can proceed in the story depending on
which order they find the most interesting for themselves. Always when
the learners finish a task, they receive an automated evaluation as well
as an evaluation from their teacher. Also, the learners are given a
chance for self-evaluation. All the data is saved into a Learning Record
Store and the final feedback is formed on the basis of all the recorded
data.
Measuring impact of phenomenon-based learning
Receiving
constructive feedback is a crucial part of learning and development
process. Without feedback it is impossible to process and evaluate what
has been learned. At the moment, one of the major issues with the
phenomenon-based learning is the difficulty of receiving trustworthy
analytics of the learning processes. Valamis offers powerful Learning
Analytics engine for phenomenon-based learning using the Valamis
Learning Record Store. The analytics engine provides a special advantage
e.g. when evaluating which sections of the studies should be improved
or in which areas particularly the learners need more guidance.
Experience
API allows tracking the atomic learner experiences and interactions
into Learning Record Store. Phenomenon-based learning model creates a
structure and solid foundation for this information. The Experience API
gives organizations powerful tools for analyzing impact of learning and
organization capabilities. By combining xAPI with Valamis, it is
possible to receive accurate analytics of the phenomenon-based learning
process of individuals as well as of the group of learners. The
analytics are in a form of an exquisite concept map, which enables the
visual analysis of the learning challenges. The received analytics imply
clearly which parts of the study content needs to be improved for
future learners.
About Arcusys & Valamis
Arcusys Ltd. is
an internationally growing Liferay developer company with the best open
source experts in Finland. The company has years of experience in
Liferay technology and their expertise as a Liferay supplier has also
made them an official Liferay Platinum partner. Currently Arcusys
employs 100 professionals and has operations in Finland, Russia and US.
Arcusys
is at the forefront of applying phenomenon-based learning in online
education. Arcusys has developed the award winning open source learning
solution Valamis, which brings you state-of-the-art learning
technologies and methods within the reach of organizations in a cost
effective and flexible way. With its collection of eLearning tools, any
Liferay user is able to build a flexible and user-friendly learning
environment to respond to their organization's needs.
At the
moment the Valamis Learning Experience Solution is being used in
different types of learning environments from massive online courses
into large scale enterprise learning and capability management. The
Valamis Learning Experience Solution is device independent working fully
on tablets and in mobile.
For more information: www.arcusys.fi
Media Contact
Company Name: Arcusys Ltd
Contact Person: Janne Hietala
Phone: +358 40 831 4245
City: Joensuu
Country: Finland
Email: janne.hietala@arcusys.com
Twitter url: twitter.com/arcusys
Website: http://valamis.arcusys.com