I’ve been meaning for some time to create a practical model for implementation that brings together my own interest on affordance with the broader work from Diana Laurillard on the conversational framework and learning types. I’ve always liked the conversational framework and learning types, but feel that this is a missing component when it comes to actually helping individuals in specific circumstances find precisely the tech they need. They help understand what might be called the top two layers, how individual interact together and in what types of activities, but don’t give enough practical support at the coal face of learning, so to speak. That’s what I’ve been working on in Secondary Education for so long, now it’s time to bring it to Higher Education.

First off, this is how I see the bare bones of my own model, and how different theories fit together:

At the very top is the Conversational Framework itself. This outlines the transaction paths between individuals that are the foundation of all learning, how each individual should be relating to each other and the role that the broader learning environment plays:

At the second level are the six Learning Types, which define the types of learning activity that individuals can engage in:

Finally, at the individual level is my specific contribution, Affordance, which identifies which digital  technologies can support the type of transaction a learner is engaged in, in relation to a specific learning type:

It’s all very bare bones at the moment, but I think it shows promise!