Authentic Learning for the 21st Century
Students say they are motivated by solving real-world problems. They often express a
preference for doing rather than listening. At the same time, most educators consider
learning-by-doing the most effective way to learn. Yet for decades, authentic learning has
been difficult to implement. Certain experiments are too dangerous, difficult, or expensive to
conduct in the classroom; many are simply impossible to perform. After all, educators cannot
expect their students to set the tectonic plates in motion, summoning up an earthquake at
will, or to travel back in time and replay decisive moments in the American Civil War, can
they? Well, perhaps they can.
Thanks to the emergence of a new set of technological tools, we can offer students a more
authentic learning experience based on experimentation and action. With the help of the
Internet and a variety of communication, visualization, and simulation technologies, large
numbers of undergraduates can begin to reconstruct the past, observe phenomena using
remote instruments, and make valuable connections with mentors around the world. With
access to online research communities, learners are able to gain a deeper sense of a
discipline as a special “culture” shaped by specific ways of seeing and interpreting the world.
They begin to grasp the subtle, interpersonal, and unwritten knowledge that members in a
community of practice use (often unconsciously) on a daily basis. “Learning becomes as
much social as cognitive, as much concrete as abstract, and becomes intertwined with
judgment and exploration,”1
just as it is in an actual workplace.
Developmental psychologist Jerome Bruner reminds us that there is a tremendous difference
between learning about physics and learning to be a physicist. Isolated facts and formulae do
not take on meaning and relevance until learners discover what these tools can do for them.2
As George Siemens suggests, learning to be a physicist, a chemist, or an historian is all
about forging concrete connections—interpersonal connections between apprentices and
mentors, intellectual connections between the familiar and the novel, personal connections
between the learner’s own goals and the broader concerns of the discipline.3
Connection-building will require new forms of authentic learning—forms that cut across
disciplines and bring students into meaningful contact with the future employers, customers,
clients, and colleagues who will have the greatest stake in their success. Without a doubt,
technology will play an essential supporting role. This white paper presents an overview of
authentic learning, beginning with a set of basic questions:
• What is authentic learning?
• How does IT support authentic learning?
• What makes authentic learning effective?
• Why is authentic learning important?