Instructional Context: Traditional

The instructional (or learning) context refers to learning environment where your learners will interact with their instructors, instruction, and others. Most adults have personal familiarity with traditional instructional contexts where teachers and students meet face-to-face and teachers generally consider the following:

• Physical setting: Layout of furniture, positioning of seats, resources, lighting, display, etc.
• Social structure: The groupings of students, the patterns of working together, rationales given, etc.
• Psychological setting: The environment as defined by type of activities in the classroom and the way they are conducted in relationship to learners affect (feelings).

 Before we move on …

Think back to the learner personas we reviewed from Part 1. Pick one persona and consider the following:

• What part of the traditional learning context might have been a barrier for your learner when s/he was in school?
• What might be different in this learner’s instructional context today engaging in instruction as an adult?
• How would these differences affect your learner’s motivations to engage in your instruction?

Instructional Context: Contemporary

The availability of high-speed relatively affordable Internet access has changed the contemporary instructional context. Many learners, especially adult learners, now complete continuing instruction or training in a variety of contexts including traditional face-to-face instruction, online instruction, or a combination of the two sometimes known as hybrid or blended learning.

Many non-traditional learners may find that job and family time commitments prevent them from realizing their educational goals. Having the option of taking online classes and studying on their own time is critically important to these learners. However, online, blended, and hybrid instruction changes the instructional context in that these environments require more consideration on the part of the designer or instructor as to the delivery of instruction.

 Your Design Analysis

What aspects of the learning environment do you need to consider as a designer or instructor? Think back to the personas of Part 1 and review the following questions. How would the instructional context of a learner that is currently incarcerated be different from an individual that is balancing family and work life?

• What are the implications if I decide to create an online/blended lesson?
• Will my lessons be live (synchronous), or can the students take them at their own pace (asynchronous)?
• Do my learners have access to Internet, computers, mobile technology, headphones, webcams, or software?
• Where will my learners be physically located when they are learning?
• What pre-requisite technical skills are necessary to be successful in this lesson?
• If my lessons are asynchronous, how will I support independent learning in the absence of other learners or an instructor?
• If the instruction is blended or hybrid, how much time will dedicated to face-to-face, asynchronous, or synchronous instruction?