Exploratory Learning Environments

Exploratory Learning Rooms

Exploratory Learning Environments

Choice of contexts allows students to self pace their learning

You can jump right to the activities now

Click onto a classroom and
Start Learning Online

Course Outline and Units of Work prepared by

Dr Lynne Vey

Site prepared by :
Lynne Vey (2004)

Exploratory Learning Environments (ELE) does not direct the student towards some predefined cognitive state, but create stimulating environments to be explored by the student. Strategies to promote learning 'by doing' as one of the most specific approaches in learning theories by Dewey, Vygotsky, Piaget, Bruner, Kant, Rousseau, Socrates, Freire, Giroux and Luke.

What skills does the 21st century require of students?

• Current assessment falls short of preparing students to be life-long learners: to know, show, understand and value.
• Information and the current body of knowledge are not static and prohibits sustainability because it excludes students and their culture from the process
• We are in a continual process of change in which ideas are routinely modified with new data
• Knowledge has evolved over many years, and we use this rich history and one own's culture to construct our path to the future
• When students adopt the attitudes and behaviours of the society they inhibit, they are rewarded with a sense of belonging
• Assessment therefore, should be part of the exploration, engagement, explanation, elaboration and evaluation
• Focus on Confronting, Challenging, Contesting, Comparing, Contrasting, Constructing,Connecting, Collaborating and Communicating instead of conforming and complying
• Supportive Environments create opportunities for students to define problems, to generate and evaluate alternatives, to chose a course of action, and to make meaning based on an understanding of their own reality