Educational Technology

Barron, B. (2006). Interest and self-sustained learning as catalysts of development: A learning ecologies perspective. Human Development, 49, 193–224.

The author describes ecology, specifically learning and information ecology, and how they interrelate with each other. He essentially proposes a learning ecology framework for the education field that emphasizes the need to better understand how learning outside school relates to learning within schools or other formal organizations, and how learning in school can lead to learning activities outside school. Significantly, the learning ecology framework draws on ecological perspectives as well as constructs developed from sociocultural and activity theories.

The study incorporates qualitative data from a sample of 400 participants using surveys and one-on-one interviews with open-ended questioning techniques. Three conjectures encompass the development of the technological fluency study, where there is a special focus here on how new technologies can help make boundaries more penetrable and allow for new kinds of organization in learning. Furthermore, five types of self-initiated learning processes (knowledge-building strategies) are identified and include (1) seeking text-based informational sources; (2) creating new interactive activities (3) exploring media; (4) seeking structured learning opportunities; and (5) development of mentoring or knowledge-sharing relationships.            

Future research could be of interest to use methodologies that would better allow for analysis of the micro-interactional processes that sustain learning in formal and informal contexts. This endeavor could be applied to adult learners in the military sector to assist educators in determining how their learning type and style preferences can be enhanced in learning and performance for individuals to reach their full potential. Also, aside from military education, the ecology framework could be used in the context of military and generalized leadership.