Design-Oriented Pedagogy for Technology-Enhanced Learning to Cross Over the Borders between Formal and Informal Environments

In this paper, we introduce an instructional model for technology-enhanced learning in the framework of a design-oriented pedagogy. The model is based on the collaborative designing of learning objects representing real objects in nature and culture environments. Project-based learning, whole task approach, object-oriented learning, multiple perspectives and semantically rich objects constitute the framework for a collaborative design process to articulate, build and share knowledge constructed in a community of learners, teacher and experts with the support of social media and mobile technologies. The co-development process supported by socially shared tools will provide possibilities for working with knowledge objects related to the physical, conceptual or cultural artefacts, so that the constructed learning objects can serve as starting points for others to adapt, integrate and develop them further to represent the phenomenon in question. In the paper, the theoretical background of the pedagogy, the instructional model designed and the development of the model will be introduced. Four design experiments demonstrate the applicability of the model in different educational contexts.