The Principles

Our Learning Charter outlines the teaching and learning approaches we've committed to as a campus community. The 8 Learning Technology Ecosystem principles are research supported characteristics of effective digital learning spaces that prepare students for work and life, and they are aligned to our charter.  We used the 8 principles to help us select Canvas and other major learning technologies, and they will help us consider how to support faculty in using it to improve the student learning experience. Technologies are only as effective as their ability to support effective learning activities, and they must be designed with ease of use and integrations in mind. 

1. Accessible
   Learning must be found easily at any time, and all learners and teachers have equitable access, regardless of culture, language, ability etc. 
2. Active and social
   Learning is a process of meaning-making, constructed through learning with others, and as a part of an intentional, deliberate system within a course and across experiences. 
3. Designed for reflection and growth
   Learning is refined and extended through prompted and supported opportunities to focus on understanding and next steps.  
4. Designed for students who are remixing and/or creating
   Learning is most effective when systems are designed to help learners find, create, and/or repurpose significant content for the value of themselves and others. 
5. Designed for student control and ownership of learning
   Learners create and control spaces for learning, understanding and retaining ownership, and purposefully choosing how and when they share.
6. Efficient and easy to use
   Learners need to work in a system that is fluid and requires a minimum number of steps in systems that are intuitive and integrated.  
7. Designed to enable connection
   Learners exist in accessible networks, and connect to the experiences, concepts, people, and ideas that they need.  
8. Inclusive of learning-centered assessment
   Learning and feedback are iterative, and assessment comes from multiple sources, including self, peers, teachers, and outside experts.

For each the Learning Technology Ecosystem Principles, you will find options for how to use learning technologies to Enhance, Extend, and Empower student learning. The 3E Framework assists instructors with the practical implementation of technology in their classes. It is based on a continuum which includes the following elements:

1. Enhance - Adopting technology in simple and effective ways to actively support students and increase their activity and self-responsibility.
2. Extend - Further use of technology that facilitates key aspects of student’s individual and collaborative learning and assessment through increasing their choice and control.
3. Empower - Developed use of technology that requires higher order individual and collaborative learning that reflects how knowledge is created and used in the professional environment.

 

See illustrative examples of using learning technologies with the 3E framework: