Theories of Learning in a Digital Age

Abstract

In this chapter, I examine the kinds of theories of learning that might be applicable in a network society and explore how theories of learning are changing. A society based on digital networks has clearly changed the kinds of labour that are required in the economy, and this shift in the demand for labour has an influence on the kinds of learning that are required. A starting point for this chapter is the term learning and the way digital and networked technologies intertwine with social forms in contemporary universities, corporate training and continuing professional development. Digital and networked technologies play a part in forming and reforming work, social life and higher education. It is this complex and dynamic mix of work, social life and the higher education system that we need to understand alongside the different theories of education and learning. Networked learning has a clear view that theory and theoretically informed research are central to the successful use of technologies in education and learning, but I argue that the need for theory is not answered by proposing a new theory of learning or limiting networked learning to one approach or theory of learning. Networked learning while not having any one particular learning theory is not neutral in relation to theories of learning and it tends towards what might be broadly described as social theories of learning. The introduction of digital and network technologies can have an influence on who teaches, how teaching is configured and the balance between the different elements in the teaching process. Two significant issues are identified in this chapter concerning the teaching function. Firstly, whether there is a fundamental requirement for ‘teaching’ when dealing with adult learners and to what degree teaching interventions are required. Secondly, what kinds of choices are enabled by the introduction of digital and networked technologies in terms of the disaggregation of the teaching function?