This book is part of a series: Connecting with e-Learning.
The book explains how when e-learning is designed to reflect realistic and authentic situations to explain often complex activities the learner achieves a much higher level of understanding, maximising their learning potential.
One of the most interesting principals of authentic learning is that knowledge gained from authentic e-learning is more likely to be accessible when confronted with problem-solving situations. The book challenges learning that is de-contextualised and presented in an abstract way, based on the principle that contextualising details can interfere with key facts. The authors demonstrate anecdotal examples where relevant learning has failed to be retrieved at critical moments a problem has occurred.
Although aimed at FE and HE professionals it struck me that the concept of authentic e-learning based around realistic tasks would be a welcome approach to all levels of learners, and not only in the educational sphere, but equally important and useful in the corporate world.
An interesting read that gets the creative juices going particularly as learning technologies continue to enhance learning opportunities.
