Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development describes something more commonly known as ‘scaffolding’ – in some situations, learners have the ability to complete certain tasks on their own given their own level of expertise, but when engaging with new information, concepts and skills, learners cannot be expected to complete certain tasks on their own – they need support from an expert, usually an instructor. As learners work through the acquisition of new knowledge, concepts and practices, by forming connection with what they already know and practicing the application of this new information, they will be supported by experts (instructors), and form their own knowledge in a peer group with each other (see social constructivism). The activities and materials they are tasked with reading, watching and completing should facilitate this process, and contribute to moving them in stages through levels of expertise.
Formative Activities
Activities that support learners in their master of course or unit outcomes are usually just referred to as ‘learning activities’, though it may be more useful to think of them as formative activities because they usually serve to move students through the formative stages of learning, until they are able to demonstrate mastery through successful completion of a Summative Assessment Task.
Some instructors may choose to provide Formative Assessment Tasks, with a grade attached, which are intended to measure the learners progress in attaining specific skills. As learners do progress at different paces, and make connections in different ways, awarding marks for a formative assessment may put certain students at a disadvantage. It is recommended then, that formative activities are used by the instructor to informally gauge learner progress, instead of formally quantifying it with a grade.
These activities can take on any form, so can be quite varied in their intent and application. By considering the skills learners must develop to meet course outcomes, these formative activities should provide the learners the opportunity to make connections in knowledge, and practice skills enough to build to mastery. In other words, they should prepare the learner to successfully complete the associated assessment task.
Learning Materials (aka The content)
The materials provided to students should give them new information related to theory, practice, application of knowledge and critical reflection on the subject itself. Learning Materials used to be primarily in the form of textbooks, compiled and edited by experts in the field, but as information has been democratized through the advent of online technologies, many instructors are using open educational resources – resources they find online created by other instructors and experts, who create and share with the world.
Selection of learning materials should ideally be tied to formative activities, and supporting learners in the development of skills necessary to achieve course or unit learning outcomes. Any learning materials that don’t meet this aim, may not need to be included in the course.
There is also a robust area of inquiry around Learning Materials Design, and how learners engage with them. As such learning materials should be chosen based on their ability to promote learner agency, foster collaboration, and solidify concepts, while also being dynamic and engaging.