New Learning Environments and Constructivism: The Students' perspective

PBL is one good example of a new learning environment. PBL has 6 fundamental characteristics :
a) learning needs to be student-centred
b) learning has to occur in small student groups, under the guidance of a tutor
c) tutor acts as a facilitator
d) authentic problems are encountered in the learning sequence
e) the problems encountered are used as a tool to achieve the required knowledge and the problem-solving skills are necessary to eventually solve the problem
f) new information is acquired through self-directed

Reading: The online learning environment - A new model using social constructivism and the concept of 'Ba' as a theoretical framework by Kim Bryceson

The first word that strikes me is 'Ba'. The concept of 'Ba' was introduced by Nonaka and Konno (1998) where it means 'place'; that is describing where and how knowledge is created. There are 4 types of Ba described in this article:
* Originating or Existential Ba - a place where individuals share feelings, experiences and mental models.

* Interacting or Reflective Ba - a more consciously constructed 'place' where individuals share mental models but reflect and analyse their own.

* Cyber or Virtual Ba - a place of interaction in a virtual world instead of real place and time

* Exercising Ba - a 'place' that facilitates the conversion of tacit to explicit knowledge.

This whole concept of place brings me back to the idea of a classroom where learning takes place. However with revolution in technology, learning goes beyond the physical classroom itself. With Facebook and Blogs, anybody can share their thoughts, feelings and experiences. Cool! The interesting thing is that you may invite others to comment and share their own feelings and thoughts too.