3.+Rationale

What //Influenced Baby Boomer's Design Elements?//

EDUCATION RATIONALE //Baby Boomers// is a community site designed for educators and trainers who are looking to develop their Web 2.0 application skills for use in the workplace. Because //Baby Boomers// targets educators and trainers born between 1946 and 1964 the design elements that underpin the site will be tailored to reflect leading adult learning theories – most notably, Knowles’ concept of ‘andragogy’, which profiles the adult learner as self-directive, life-experienced, ready to learn and oriented towards learning (Jarvis, 2004).

The learning platforms included in the design are integral to the creation of a community of common purpose that encourages social learning principles. Central to any community of common purpose is sharing and collaboration and the recognition of the contribution of others to every individual’s learning (Kilpatrick, 2003). What establishes //Baby Boomers// as a leading online learning community is that the inclusion of features such as blog-space, an easy access resource index, and a glossary page – which rely on collective effort – gives the site an emergent structure that promotes continuous learning and innovation (Wenger, 1999). This then encourages participation in the ongoing evolution of the site and a sense of being a part of something that is larger than any individual (Downes, 2004). This sense of contribution and common purpose creates the potential for learning beyond the process of information-swapping (a limitation of so many other online learning communities) and into to the realm of synthesis and shared cognition (Downes, 2004).

Social learning principles are central to the participant’s learning experience at this site. //Baby Boomers// endorses social constructivist learning theory that views knowledge as a construct resulting from collaborative effort and shared dialogue – within the context of differences in perspectives or work practice (Pea, 1993; cited in Kilpatrick, 2003). Indeed, //Baby Boomers// sees people, not technology as the key to effective collaborative learning (Burstall, 2000) and as a result the key features supporting the community are designed to endorse what Figallo (1999; cited in Burstall, 2000) refers to as the relational aspects of groups: namely interaction, focus and cohesion (p. 5). Design elements that include interactive tutorials, discussion boards, webinars and ‘best practice’ sharing ensure that modelling an integral element in the process of meaning construction, and ultimately the sense of self-efficacy experienced by the participants with regard to their ability to use internet based technologies.

Finally, the educational rationale for the design elements of //Baby Boomers// also recognises the role of the site facilitator / host in the participant’s learning experience, conscious of the distiction that Burstall (2000, p.6) draws between the host as ‘facilitator’ and the host as ‘knowledge expert’. //Baby Boomers// is all about empowering its members and as such promotes a learning pathway that is horizontal rather than vertical (Wenger, 2005). Therefore, the host’s role is strictly as a facilitator, utilising the design elements that are in place to support this educational orientation. This includes the use of email delivery to keep members up to date with regard to up-coming activities, outsourcing ‘expert’ involvement and encouraging robust discussion.