The intended learning outcomes associated with this topic are for participants:
3.4	To describe and evaluate a range of situations in which learning can be effectively facilitated for a given subject.
5.4	To produce and justify a plan for learning that utilises more than two different learning contexts.

Learning Environments

Teachers cannot usually make large changes to the environment in which students learn as this is often structural:

Centralised Campus
Resources concentrated in a single location where teachers teach, monitor, assess and lead students who learn, perform, attain and follow. Can b e difficult for students to “anchor” their learning in real life experiences but easy for them to focus and engage.

Dispersed Campus
No central campus or single location. Specialised faculty centres are clustered together with technology allowing efficient organisation without contact. Specialist functions may sahred with the community use, especially outside of conventional working hours.

Extended Campus
A substantial campus that also houses other public service functions, and may offer small scale start-up enterprise support. Forms the heart of that community which benefits from the capital investment and social interaction.

Network Campus
Has no buildings other than an administrative suite. The approach is reliant upon equal access to an online network of experts using a substantial technology infrastructure that students can readily engage with wherever they may be. Learning is entirely on-line: peer to peer, expert to learner, learner to expert. External organisations (for example museums) may also have a role in this learning community.

Work-Based
Part or all of a learning programme happens in a work environment in a programme designed to meet the learning needs of the employees and the aims of the host organisation.
May be regarded as Learning for work in which students have a work-experience placement (for example sandwich course or teacher training placement) and are involved, albeit very superficially, in the processes of the workplace. Students collate a portfolio of evidence reporting on how they developed over their time and observing their theoretical knowledge in a working environment. Learning at work provides a means of upskilling the existing workforce via on-site company training schemes and programmes. This is regarded as Learning through work when on-site training courses are formally assessed (for example accredited day-release programmes).

Session Aims

Whatever the learning environment may be, planned learning sessions must have a purpose, the session aim. There are three main types of session aim:

To mostly deliver large quantities of information to a large number of students	Didactic
To mostly develop the depth of knowledge in a small group of students	Socratic
To mostly practice practical skills or the application of knowledge	Facilitative

Activity 4.a - Exploring Learning Environments

Consider a group of students that you teach (or may be about to teach), and the programme of study.

Describe the learning environment for students using the above categories.
For the programme learning outcomes, evaluate the suitability of this learning environment and the scope it offers for you to plan appropriate session aims.
Identify any ideas from other learning environments that you could usefully incorporate

Learning Settings and Formats

Whatever the learning environment and session aims may be, there is a larger number of learning settings and formats for learning. A selection of the most common is described below, some of which can operate together (for example independent study may be an online task):

Setting	Format
Face-to-Face	Lecture	…the teacher talks to the students about the subject who take notes
	Seminar	…students in small groups teach each other under supervision
	Tutorial	...the teacher focuses on the needs of an individual or small group of students
	Direct Instruction	...the teacher explains and demonstrates concepts which students then practice.

Independent study	Workshop/Laboratory	…students work in a simulated situation and link theory with practice
	Field Work	...practical work conducted at an external site
	External Visits	…students taken out of their learning environment into a ‘real-life’ situation
	Reading/Research	...students learn autonomously finding and engaging with resources in journals or elsewhere

Online	Webcasts	…information transmission is one way without interaction between the presenter and the audience
	Webinars	…a presentation, lecture, workshop or seminar that is transmitted allowing real-time exchange of information
	Learning Objects	…online content and activities that focus on a single learning or performance objective
	Open/Distance Courses	…learning is IT resource-based and student and teacher meet infrequently

Group work	Collaborative Learning	…aims to develop skill for dealing with people in group learning situations which respects and highlights the abilities and contributions of all individuals.
	Cooperative Learning	…aims to help people interact together in order to accomplish a specific goal or develop an end product which is usually content specific.
	Problem-based Learning	…students learn by resolving problems in small group sessions, through self-study and group learning facilitated by a teacher
	Team-based Learning	…students learn by working on problems in small self-managed teams following mandatory pre-class preparation and individual and team tests to determine students’ readiness for dealing with complex decision-based

Blended learning	Students experience variation in aspects of what they are studying	A combination of pedagogic approaches A combination of traditional learning and e-learning A combination of web-based technologies A combination of independent learning with actual tasks
	'Flipped' Classrooms	a particular style of blended learning in which students undertake preparatory work before a face-to-face session.

A summary handout with exercises for Blended Learning is here (pdf download)

A summary handout with exercises for 'Flipped Classrooms' is here (pdf download)

Activity 4.b - Matching Session Aims with Session Formats

Carry out the activity in this handout (pdf download) which is a reflective and developmental worksheet.

References

Heppell, S., Chapman, C., Millwood, R., Constable, M., Furness, J. (2004) 21st Century Schools: Learning Environments Of The Future. London: Building Futures

Lemanski,T., Mewis, R., Overton, T. (2011) An Introduction to Work-Based Learning. York: The Higher Education Academy [Online: www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/work_based_learning.pdf]

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