PSA has been noting for some time now that a “real” or “best practices, best capability” online Defined Learning Experience (course, training, etc) needs to combine all the various core elements in a truly synergistic way. It’s sort of the cloud age principal of having to do a lot of things simultaneously, rather than the old standby one by one linear approach.

The challenge of combining elements that have each been “optimized” for a unified approach is tremendous, and as we have been noting, will take a great deal of experimentation. Fortunately the US has activated a large number of such experimenters, (including PSA) with more likely in months to come.

Here’s an article from the New Yorker that talks about gamification as a general approach to life situations. There’s so much here that applies to DLE as well, touching on motivation, goal setting, role playing, taking a structured approach along with a final objective of “happiness”. As we know happiness is being researched heavily as a key to efficiency and an involved workforce, as well as an essential part of an effective learning space.

One of the biggest take aways for me was the emphasis on an individual taking charge of their life, and seeking to engage all potential resources. We’ve recently noted this as part of how children succeed.

Active rather than passive mode is the impetus at the heart of any DIY learning/ education, as well as DIY healthcare, and DIY job training, and even DIY “selfie” jobs.  In addition we should note the potentials for creating group dynamics, a Social Learning Construct, where the active individual joins with others similarly energized, and the whole is then greater than the sum of the parts.

The article mentions seeking help as one element in the gamification of life challenges, and we know that games can involve teamwork and group actions. All that being given, it’s still hard to conceptualize how all the core elements work together and “feed” each other in real time. Or even asynchronously.

But we’re taking on that imagination game/ task, and making incremental progress, in tandem with cloud curated resources such as the below, and the recent Learning 2015 guide.

[gview file=”https://publicservicesalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/“SuperBetter”-Review-The-New-Yorker.pdf”]