Interactive and Connected Learning

What is Connected Learning?

Connected learning is based on active participation of students, teachers and trainers, other collaborators, offering the possibility to connect courses, people, and resources to develop unique personalized learning pathways. This vision of education is of particular interest to those concerned with learner success and the growing role that collaboration.  

Connected learning is an approach to education. This is not a theory of learning. It is not a specific set of teaching methods and is not related to a particular learning environment or context. Connected learning is a collection of powerful design principles that incorporate, and empower students to study effectively, purposefully and permanently throughout their lives[1].

Main principles of connected learning are:

• Interest-Powered. Students become more involved and learn more deeply when they can link content with their short-term and long-term goals - academic, professional or personal.
  
• Peer-Supported. Connected learning encourages students to develop and experience the benefits of collective intelligence. As effective collective intelligence education requires skills, the learning environment provides students with the opportunity to engage in learning led by peers, get support and feedback on learning from them.
  
• Shared Purpose. A shared purpose is a key aspect of community-based practices or groups of people who share a common goal and achieve it.
  
• Academically-Oriented. The best learning experience encourages students to use their personal interests in a way that promotes academic success, citizenship or professional development.
  
• Production-Centered. New digital media are a particularly effective tool for creating meaningful products that can be shared across the broader audience. Connected learning uses new digital media to enable experiential learning in interesting and meaningful contexts.
  
• Openly Networked. Provides students with the opportunity to link the classroom with other aspects of life, work, or "making" across space, time or community areas. The use of digital technologies often allows open networking, as it offers unmatched access to learners both in space and time[2].