Making Sense of Complexity in Open Information Environments

Abstract

In the pursuit of openness, the cognitive experience of the learners and educators are often overlooked. Open educational resources present fragmented views of topics: a TedTalk video here, an Open Yale lecture there, an OCW lesson plan here, and an open online course there. This fragmentary experience can be taxing for individual learners as they try to make sense of various concepts in order to form a reasonably coherent view of the topic. This presentation will present new research on the sensemaking and wayfinding activities of learners in complex online information environments. Needed skills and strategies of learners will be reviewed. Implications for educational design will also be explored, particularly in the formation of participatory pedagogical models in course development.