Learning pathway

Learning pathway is described as the chosen route, taken by a learner through a range of (commonly) e-learning activities, which allows them to build knowledge progressively. With learning pathways, the control of choice moves away from the tutor to the learner. "The sequence of intermediate steps from preconceptions to target model form what Scott (1991) and Niedderer and Goldberg (1995) have called a learning pathway. For any particular topic, such a pathway would provide both a theory of instruction and a guideline for teachers and curriculum developers" (Clement 2000).

"Interactive courseware aids learners to access information and tools by which they can construct personalized transitions between the information to be accessed and their own cognitive structures. The process of navigation enables learners to experience the content of interactive courseware. Learning pathways also reveal the learning trails while learners traverse any interactive environment. Since learners have unique knowledge structures based upon their experiences and abilities, the ways that they choose to access, interact, and interrelate messages in interactive courseware also vary. Studies on pathways help us to explore and explain human behaviors during learning processes" (Jih 1996).

One definition of a learning pathway or learning path was to describe a route to learn software or to navigate through e-learning. Another definition of a learning path is as an approach and methodology for employee training developed by Jim Williams and Steve Rosenbaum, where a learning path is defined as the ideal sequence of learning activities that lead to proficiency in the shortest possible time. By looking at learning as a complete process rather than a single event, it enables finding new ways to drive out time, waste and variability in training leading to improved results and reduced costs (Williams & Rosenbaum 2004).

See also

• Learning management system

References

• Clement, J. (2000). "Model based learning as a key research area for science education". International Journal of Science Education 22 (9): 1041–1053. 
• Jih, H. J. (1996). "The impact of learners pathways on learning performance in multimedia Computer Aided Learning". Journal of Network and Computer Applications 19 (4). 
• Williams, Jim; Rosenbaum, Steve (2004). Learning Paths Increase Profits by Reducing the Time it Takes Employees to Get Up-To-Speed. San Francisco: Pfeiffer. 

External links

• "Learning Paths", E-Learning Engineering