#self-directed-learning — Public Fediverse posts

🇬🇧 Self-directed learning vs contemporary education system

The article explores the differences between the traditional teacher-centred model of education and self-directed learning. Can these approaches coexist, and what benefits or challenges does self-directed learning bring to today's education system?

📖 Read more (EN):
https://informujte.cz/en/self-directed-learning-vs-contemporary-education-system/

#SelfDirectedLearning #Education #EducationSystem #Learning #Teaching #OnlineLearning #DigitalLearning #EdTech #Students #Teachers

🇬🇧 Self-directed learning vs contemporary education system

The article explores the differences between the traditional teacher-centred model of education and self-directed learning. Can these approaches coexist, and what benefits or challenges does self-directed learning bring to today's education system?

📖 Read more (EN):
https://informujte.cz/en/self-directed-learning-vs-contemporary-education-system/

#SelfDirectedLearning #Education #EducationSystem #Learning #Teaching #OnlineLearning #DigitalLearning #EdTech #Students #Teachers

Generative AI and metacognitive laziness

While I’m sceptical of their experiment research design*, the concept of metacognitive laziness from this paper is clearly a useful contribution to thel literature. As Fan et al define it, this refers to “earners’ dependence on AI assistance, offloading meta – cognitive load and less effectively associating responsible metacognitive processes with learning tasks”. This matters because “offloading metacognitive effort to AI tools results in less effective engagement with essential self-regulatory tasks,” (pg 506). The risk is not just the offloading itself, it is increased passivity in the wider process of which the offloaded tasks are part.

This can undermine self-regulated learning because the metacognitive requirements for doing this effectively (e.g. goal setting, self-monitoring, self-evaluative etc) can be eroded over time by a reliance on the AI to negotiate difficulty. As they summarise the risk on pg 492:

the tendency of learners to become over-reliant on AI poses challenges for hybrid intelligence. This issue aligns with the concept of cognitive offloading, as proposed by Risko and Gilbert (2016), where learners delegate cognitive tasks to external tools to reduce cognitive effort. Although cognitive offloading can be beneficial in managing cognitive load, it may lead to decreased internal cognitive engage- ment over time, ultimately impacting learners’ ability to self-regulate and critically engage with learning material (Risko & Gilbert, 2016). Such cognitive offloading can lead to habitual avoidance of deliberate cognitive effort, a phenomenon echoing the emergence of what we term metacognitive laziness. From a more theoretical perspective, Alter et al. (2007) demonstrated that metacognitive experiences of difficulty or disfluency activate more analytical reasoning processes. When learners encounter situations that challenge their intuition, they are more likely to engage in deliberate analytical thinking (i.e., System 2 processes) (Alter et al., 2007). In the context of GenAI, if learners rely excessively on AI-generated outputs or facilitation, they might not experience the necessary disfluency or cognitive difficulty to trigger these deeper metacognitive processes.

The experience of difficulty activates metacognition. If the students cognitively outsource in increasingly habitual ways, it doesn’t just mean they lose the learning involved in what they are outsourcing. It means they lose their capacity to tolerate difficulty, as well to respond metacognitively to that difficulty. This points to the assumption which many educators have that there is something fundamentally corrosive in how students relate to AI which carries a threat exceeding the particular risks for any one assignment. This is a really sharp conceptualisation of the epistemic risk for learning involved in generative AI which gets beyond some of the limits of the ‘cognitive offloading’ concept.

*It seems fundamentally implausible to operationalise intrinsic motivation in the context of an experimental study. If you reduce motivation into the student’s expressed engagement with discrete tasks then it’s been quite dramatically circumscribed to fit the experimental constructs. Furthermore, we urgently need longitudinal studies in order to make meaningful claims about things like ‘cognitive off-loading’, ‘skill atrophy’ and ‘metacognitive laziness’. These just aren’t things which can be studied adequately at the level of discrete tasks, particularly ones that have been designed by a research team and have no real stakes for participants.

Generative AI and metacognitive laziness

While I’m sceptical of their experiment research design*, the concept of metacognitive laziness from this paper is clearly a useful contribution to thel literature. As Fan et al define it, this refers to “earners’ dependence on AI assistance, offloading meta – cognitive load and less effectively associating responsible metacognitive processes with learning tasks”. This matters because “offloading metacognitive effort to AI tools results in less effective engagement with essential self-regulatory tasks,” (pg 506). The risk is not just the offloading itself, it is increased passivity in the wider process of which the offloaded tasks are part.

This can undermine self-regulated learning because the metacognitive requirements for doing this effectively (e.g. goal setting, self-monitoring, self-evaluative etc) can be eroded over time by a reliance on the AI to negotiate difficulty. As they summarise the risk on pg 492:

the tendency of learners to become over-reliant on AI poses challenges for hybrid intelligence. This issue aligns with the concept of cognitive offloading, as proposed by Risko and Gilbert (2016), where learners delegate cognitive tasks to external tools to reduce cognitive effort. Although cognitive offloading can be beneficial in managing cognitive load, it may lead to decreased internal cognitive engage- ment over time, ultimately impacting learners’ ability to self-regulate and critically engage with learning material (Risko & Gilbert, 2016). Such cognitive offloading can lead to habitual avoidance of deliberate cognitive effort, a phenomenon echoing the emergence of what we term metacognitive laziness. From a more theoretical perspective, Alter et al. (2007) demonstrated that metacognitive experiences of difficulty or disfluency activate more analytical reasoning processes. When learners encounter situations that challenge their intuition, they are more likely to engage in deliberate analytical thinking (i.e., System 2 processes) (Alter et al., 2007). In the context of GenAI, if learners rely excessively on AI-generated outputs or facilitation, they might not experience the necessary disfluency or cognitive difficulty to trigger these deeper metacognitive processes.

The experience of difficulty activates metacognition. If the students cognitively outsource in increasingly habitual ways, it doesn’t just mean they lose the learning involved in what they are outsourcing. It means they lose their capacity to tolerate difficulty, as well to respond metacognitively to that difficulty. This points to the assumption which many educators have that there is something fundamentally corrosive in how students relate to AI which carries a threat exceeding the particular risks for any one assignment. This is a really sharp conceptualisation of the epistemic risk for learning involved in generative AI which gets beyond some of the limits of the ‘cognitive offloading’ concept.

*It seems fundamentally implausible to operationalise intrinsic motivation in the context of an experimental study. If you reduce motivation into the student’s expressed engagement with discrete tasks then it’s been quite dramatically circumscribed to fit the experimental constructs. Furthermore, we urgently need longitudinal studies in order to make meaningful claims about things like ‘cognitive off-loading’, ‘skill atrophy’ and ‘metacognitive laziness’. These just aren’t things which can be studied adequately at the level of discrete tasks, particularly ones that have been designed by a research team and have no real stakes for participants.

“Patience was the #KillerApp of the 80’s” — Dave Plummer

the 70s?

Getting alligator clips to cleanly attach from the computer to the TV; Loading software from tape; Reading and deciphering software.

#Computing / #8Bit / #languages / #SelfDirectedLearning <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEAjtOI-Oaw

“Patience was the #KillerApp of the 80’s” — Dave Plummer

the 70s?

Getting alligator clips to cleanly attach from the computer to the TV; Loading software from tape; Reading and deciphering software.

#Computing / #8Bit / #languages / #SelfDirectedLearning <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEAjtOI-Oaw

The areas I want to study are community resilience, community building/development, food systems and sovereignty (both the ecology & economics side of things).

Formal learning options with this combination are not exactly common, so the program I'm studying 'Community Resilience and Leadership' was the best fit. And I've been able to focus my assessments towards food systems/sovereignty).

Moving to more self-directed learning I think I'll need a mentor working in this space.

#CommunityResilience #CommunityBuilding #FoodSovereignty #LocalFoodSystems #FediCareer #SelfDirectedLearning #CareerAdvice #CareerChange

Ah, the eternal quest for self-directed learners! 🚀 Who knew that with a billion internet users and limitless access to online courses, we'd still struggle to find anyone who can answer a simple question or tackle a real-world challenge? 🤔 Maybe they're all too busy binge-watching cat videos on YouTube! 🐱
https://saigaddam.medium.com/where-are-all-the-self-directed-learners-ccfb2421e52c #selfDirectedLearning #onlineCourses #internetUsers #realWorldChallenges #catVideos #HackerNews #ngated

Ah, the eternal quest for self-directed learners! 🚀 Who knew that with a billion internet users and limitless access to online courses, we'd still struggle to find anyone who can answer a simple question or tackle a real-world challenge? 🤔 Maybe they're all too busy binge-watching cat videos on YouTube! 🐱
https://saigaddam.medium.com/where-are-all-the-self-directed-learners-ccfb2421e52c #selfDirectedLearning #onlineCourses #internetUsers #realWorldChallenges #catVideos #HackerNews #ngated

Where are all the self-directed learners? — https://saigaddam.medium.com/where-are-all-the-self-directed-learners-ccfb2421e52c
#HackerNews #selfDirectedLearning #learners #education #lifelongLearning #skillsDevelopment

Where are all the self-directed learners? — https://saigaddam.medium.com/where-are-all-the-self-directed-learners-ccfb2421e52c
#HackerNews #selfDirectedLearning #learners #education #lifelongLearning #skillsDevelopment

The Reggio Emilia approach emphasizes natural development and deep environmental connections. One Community integrates this into an open-source, evolving Education for Life Program, blending curriculum, teaching strategies, tools, and classroom design for adaptable, lifelong learning.

https://onecommunityglobal.org/reggio/

#Education #LifelongLearning #OpenSourceEducation #AlternativeEducation #ChildDevelopment #SelfDirectedLearning #SustainableEducation #HolisticLearning #ProjectBasedLearning

The Reggio Emilia approach emphasizes natural development and deep environmental connections. One Community integrates this into an open-source, evolving Education for Life Program, blending curriculum, teaching strategies, tools, and classroom design for adaptable, lifelong learning.

https://onecommunityglobal.org/reggio/

#Education #LifelongLearning #OpenSourceEducation #AlternativeEducation #ChildDevelopment #SelfDirectedLearning #SustainableEducation #HolisticLearning #ProjectBasedLearning

'Self-directed learning for higher education' MOOC opens for registration

For more information: https://www.col.org/news/self-directed-learning-for-higher-education-mooc-opens-for-registration/

#SDL #SelfDirectedLearning

Good Sunday, #homeschool, #HomeEducation, #unschooling, & #SelfDirectedLearning families. Week 2 slow #HSchat is all about history and science curriculum. Tell us your favorite. What did you like most about it? How did your kids engage with it? OR, flip the questions and tell us about your least favorite curriculum & why you feel like you wasted $$ on it.

Remember: Use the hashtag #HSchat in replies & check back throughout the week for replies so you can keep the convo going.

Good Sunday, #homeschool, #HomeEducation, #unschooling, & #SelfDirectedLearning families. Week 2 slow #HSchat is all about history and science curriculum. Tell us your favorite. What did you like most about it? How did your kids engage with it? OR, flip the questions and tell us about your least favorite curriculum & why you feel like you wasted $$ on it.

Remember: Use the hashtag #HSchat in replies & check back throughout the week for replies so you can keep the convo going.

@shaninthewoods Taking the ego out of #unschooling and the parent side of #SDL #SelfDirectedLearning << yes to this. I think the hardest part is having faith that the #learning lulls will eventually lead to learning leaps. #HSchat

@shaninthewoods Taking the ego out of #unschooling and the parent side of #SDL #SelfDirectedLearning << yes to this. I think the hardest part is having faith that the #learning lulls will eventually lead to learning leaps. #HSchat

Hey #HomeEducation, #unschooling, and #SelfDirectedLearning #SDL families: Today’s a good day to start that slow chat we talked about before the new year - where we pose a question and folks take time to repsond to the thread throughout the coming days? The goal is to create a supportive community for those who chose to educate their kids at home.

Wk 1 #HSchat: Briefly intro yourself & describe your #homeschool philosophy. What's the most challenging part of educating your own kids?

Hey #HomeEducation, #unschooling, and #SelfDirectedLearning #SDL families: Today’s a good day to start that slow chat we talked about before the new year - where we pose a question and folks take time to repsond to the thread throughout the coming days? The goal is to create a supportive community for those who chose to educate their kids at home.

Wk 1 #HSchat: Briefly intro yourself & describe your #homeschool philosophy. What's the most challenging part of educating your own kids?

@esnyder @JennyAnyDot I would love to see a weekly slow-chat on rotating #homeschool, #SelfDirectedLearning and #unschooling topics

@esnyder @JennyAnyDot I would love to see a weekly slow-chat on rotating #homeschool, #SelfDirectedLearning and #unschooling topics

To my #DigitalHumanities & #AI/#ML folk: As a #SelfDirectedLearning indie #CitizenScientist, I am reluctant to make a clean break and move to the m’don federation. Twitter has been an essential channel for evolving my #PLN Personal Learning Network. At 71-yo, I know how impossible it was in the pre-Internet world to engage directly with world class researchers in your domain of interest. But I increasingly feel uncomfortable with how things are evolving at Twitter. Hello from Colorado USA, 👋🤓✌️

To my #DigitalHumanities & #AI/#ML folk: As a #SelfDirectedLearning indie #CitizenScientist, I am reluctant to make a clean break and move to the m’don federation. Twitter has been an essential channel for evolving my #PLN Personal Learning Network. At 71-yo, I know how impossible it was in the pre-Internet world to engage directly with world class researchers in your domain of interest. But I increasingly feel uncomfortable with how things are evolving at Twitter. Hello from Colorado USA, 👋🤓✌️

I'm not going to talk about the actual study results because it was an online market research survey of random parents during covid19 w/ presumably have no personal frame of reference for what unschooling actually is, but let's take a look at the study's discussion of findings and how there's now quantifiable evidence that shows parents don't know enough about #SelfDirectedLearning to figure out how to #unschool on their own and it's up to the #academic "experts" to tell them how to do it. /4

I'm not going to talk about the actual study results because it was an online market research survey of random parents during covid19 w/ presumably have no personal frame of reference for what unschooling actually is, but let's take a look at the study's discussion of findings and how there's now quantifiable evidence that shows parents don't know enough about #SelfDirectedLearning to figure out how to #unschool on their own and it's up to the #academic "experts" to tell them how to do it. /4

Hi @acpresso 👋🤓✌️TY4Follow. Given your linguistic interest, you may be interested in this article: https://bit.ly/Witmores-text. I wrote this post-cancer in 2015 at start of my rebirth as a #DigitalHumanities #CitizenScientist. This helped me develop my #SelfDirectedLearning #PLN Personal Learning Network by opening communication with #digitization researchers like @patrick_sahle asking them for feedback & resource suggestions.

Hi @acpresso 👋🤓✌️TY4Follow. Given your linguistic interest, you may be interested in this article: https://bit.ly/Witmores-text. I wrote this post-cancer in 2015 at start of my rebirth as a #DigitalHumanities #CitizenScientist. This helped me develop my #SelfDirectedLearning #PLN Personal Learning Network by opening communication with #digitization researchers like @patrick_sahle asking them for feedback & resource suggestions.

#Introduction (again), since I changed instances **and** lost all my followers and following. I'm a K to college #homeschool mom. For 10+ years, I led a secular statewide advocacy group & helped write @HomeEducation regulations in #Maryland. I like to toot about serendipitous learning opps, #SelfDirectedLearning, & #unschooling. I offer critical analysis of #homeschool research because if we want respect as a valid #SchoolChoice, we can't push BS statistics.

#Introduction (again), since I changed instances **and** lost all my followers and following. I'm a K to college #homeschool mom. For 10+ years, I led a secular statewide advocacy group & helped write @HomeEducation regulations in #Maryland. I like to toot about serendipitous learning opps, #SelfDirectedLearning, & #unschooling. I offer critical analysis of #homeschool research because if we want respect as a valid #SchoolChoice, we can't push BS statistics.

@ct_bergstrom - As an unfunded #DigitalHumanities & #AI/#ML #CitizenScientist and #DisabledDeveloper, the move to online & hybrid events has been a pandemic-accelerated helpful side-effect for us #SelfDirectedLearning folk. Combined with #OpenAccess publishing and #AcademicTwitter for my #PLN Personal Learning Network, I hope many of these trends become the #NewNormal.

@ct_bergstrom - As an unfunded #DigitalHumanities & #AI/#ML #CitizenScientist and #DisabledDeveloper, the move to online & hybrid events has been a pandemic-accelerated helpful side-effect for us #SelfDirectedLearning folk. Combined with #OpenAccess publishing and #AcademicTwitter for my #PLN Personal Learning Network, I hope many of these trends become the #NewNormal.