The 3P Learning Model

In an earlier post, I pointed out that we need a fundamental shift toward a more social, personalized, open, dynamic, emergent, and knowledge-pull model for learning, as opposed to the one-size-fits-all, centralized, static, top-down, and knowledge-push models of traditional learning models. In this post, I would like to suggest a new learning model that I would name the “3P Learning Model”. This model can be broken down into three key elements: (a) participation, (b) personalization, and (c) knowledge-pull.

• Participation: At the core of the 3P learning model is the network metaphor of learning representing a view according to which learning is mainly the networking of explicit/tacit knowledge nodes (more about these thoughts in this post). Recognizing that learning is a social activity, building and maintaining ecologies that adopt a participatory culture and support collaborative knowledge creation and sharing become crucial.
• Personalization: The 3P learning model starts with the individual. It’s a learner-centric model that puts the learner at the centre and gives her the control over the learning process. As I pointed out in an earlier post, there is no divergence between personalization and participation (the individual and the collective). Personalization and participation cannot be considered in isolation. They complement and enhance each other. They interplay with each other, but cannot replace each other. They form a unity in their duality. We cannot have the collective if we do not assume the individual as a point of departure. And, we cannot have the individual if we ignore the collective since learning and knowledge are social in nature.
• Knowledge-Pull: The 3P learning model adopts a knowledge-pull strategy based on small pieces, loosely joined. The main obstacle of the knowledge-pull strategy lies in the information overflow on the Web. Therefore, we need federated, intelligent, and social search engines that build on the wisdom of crowds (recommendations, reviews, feedback, filtering, rating, voting) to locate quality resources, services, communities, and knowledge mediators.

I’m currently working on a Social Media Supported Learning Framework (SMSL Framework) that employs the 3P learning model described above. Your valuable comments, ideas, suggestions are welcome.