Education is sometimes an individual process in which a person acquires certain knowledge and skills on their own; however, it is much more common that other people participate in the education of an individual. First of all, we should mention the authors of educational content as sources of information on a certain medium (such as expert or scientific magazines, books, educational videos, multimedia CD-ROMs and the Internet or web). Furthermore, lecturer, coaches, mentors and other people also often participate in the information transfer towards the participants of a course. Finally, knowledge transfer also takes place between two or more participants based on mutual help and cooperation as well as the exchange of opinions, evaluations and recommendation.
Apart from knowledge transfer, different participants in the educational process help the students master the skill of independent learning and using educational materials (such as exercises, case studies, projects etc.) as well as provide them with feedback about their progress and the accuracy of the learning method they are using for specific educational materials.
The memory process is important for knowledge acquisition. It can be on the recognition or reproduction level. In both cases feedback from the LMS or other people about the completeness, accuracy and understanding of the memorized content is important.
Part of the knowledge acquisition takes place by the method of trial and error . With this type of knowledge acquisition it is important to provide fast, frequent, complete and correct feedback about the results of the trials , which will typically be most efficiently provided by the instructor or a mentor, as well as other more successful participants. When doing so it is useful to provide support to participants after a less successful trial and to compliment or reward the more successful ones. Part of the mastering of the process of working with a LMS also uses trial and error method, so once again communication of a participant with the other participants in the process is important.
Imitation is one of the most efficient ways to acquire different skills , taking place mostly based on observation of another person’s behaviour and by repeating their activities. When learning computer skills, imitation is an effective way to overcome obstacles without the need for a deeper understanding of a problem and painstaking sequences of trials and errors. In distance education systems it is hard to ensure the possibility to learn through imitation, as the participants are most often not in the position to observe the instructor or the other participants. However, if video records and videoconferences were used , the participants would be able to imitate successful behaviour patterns of the instructor and other participants to a greater degree.
Role model learning is a form of the so-called social learning , and is related to the observation of a person’s behaviour in a complex situation, as well as often identifying with that person. The observer spontaneously and intuitively relates the behaviour of a certain person to what happens to that person in a certain situation, and sometimes even identifies with the observed person and takes into consideration different situations in which this person participated. The behaviour of this “role model” of a kind is then internalized and the observer not only imitates such a role model, but also “internally” adapts and behaves according to similar “patterns” or “system” in analogue situations, as if they have "adopted" or are "playing" a similar role. Apart from social behaviour, role model learning also transfers attitudes and values to the other people. Role model learning in distance education is possible even without audiovisual records, as information on the role model behaviour can be acceptable in the text form.
A significant part of learning is related to developing abilities to understand, judge and make conclusions and decisions about complex issues . In many situations individuals will develop and apply such abilities in groups and jointly, with the support and in cooperation with others, as well as by imitating others or learning from them as a model, master complex analysis, evaluation and problem solving methods. In distance education it is especially difficult to encourage such types of learning if there is no possibility for a two-way communication with the instructor, as well as between online participants.
Encouraging different types of learning by appropriate design of communication interaction in a group is possible in application of the following instructional methods: case study analysis, categorization exercises, flow diagram or organizational diagrams, elaboration of problem-solving method, designing a strategic plan, building models, debating, developing a research program, creating and application of questionnaires and surveys, writing essays or critiques etc .
Tips & tricks: Analyze all the sources from which the participants on different levels of independence, foreknowledge and abilities can receive knowledge and in what ways they can transfer it to the others or acquire it in a group. Plan how you will use appropriate teaching methods and tasks to design appropriate ways of communication between the participants of the educational process, make it easier, better and faster for them to acquire different levels of knowledge and skills, as well as to encourage the development of their abilities for independent learning, understanding and evaluation of phenomena, as well as problem solving.
