Chapter 7: Implementing Student-Centered Learning Environments

Implementing Student-Centered Learning Environments

Probably the least understood of the Digital Age Best Practices surrounds the individual educator's perceptions as to what precisely qualifies as a student-centered learning environment. Does a student deciding what he or she wants to learn, how and when they will learn it, and how they will demonstrate their mastery of the concept constitute student-centered learning? What about a student who embraces his or her newfound opportunity to work in a collaborative group that requires all group members to reach a consensus on ways of solving a mathematical problem? Is that student centered?

For ease in defining a student-centered learning environment, let's assume that any learning episode can be divided into three domains: content, process, and product (see ...