1

Amber,

Wonderfully thought-provoking piece. I already got immersed exploring the Sputnik site; a great illustration of the direction you’re advocating.

I like your argument that we’re barely scratching the surface of what’s possible with content designed for exploratory learning. In our struggles as web designers to get recognised, get respect, and get professional, it’s too easy to get comfortable with the current state of the web; to forget that the tools we use today are just a first draft, not the final word on what’s possible.

The case studies are good, but rather than offer “solutions”, you leave the matter unresolved; something for people to think about and experiment with, instead of following proven recipes. Not an easy approach to take, but exactly what we need right now.

So I’ll go away and think, and see if I can somehow follow your lead in my own work.

posted at 09:23 pm on November 3, 2009 by Jonathan Kahn

2

Great piece, Amber!

It reminded me that me that sometimes, as web designers/developers, we spend so long concentrating on the minutiae of our website de jour – carefully planning the navigation, information architecture etc. – that we forget that users will find their own way of doing things.

posted at 10:50 pm on November 3, 2009 by Jordan Clark

3

Fascinating article. I can see the implications for structured content sites like Wikipedia or library catalogs, but I’m still trying to wrap my head around applying this to blogs, particularly blogs that attempt to teach readers about a field. You’ve given me a lot to think about, and I’m already starting to think of some experiments with my own content.

posted at 11:34 am on November 4, 2009 by kzurawel

4 Promise

This has been the promise of the web from the beginning. It is our responsibility as designers to learn to design for the users unique point of view, needs and desires.

posted at 06:45 pm on November 4, 2009 by stephenc

5 Crikey!

It’s the Steve Irwin approach to discovery on the web—“I’m going to click this here link…just to see what happens!”

I think Steve would’ve been more likely to say: “Crikey! Look at the size of that link! Let’s see where it goes.” ;)

posted at 10:25 am on November 5, 2009 by John Faulds

7 Desire Paths

I always laugh when I see people avoiding the sidewalk to get to their destination. I think this idea of desire paths really hasn’t been explored on the web. We try so hard to tell people where to go, that we forget to ask them where they want to go.
I think allowing users to follow their desire paths creates an environment that they want to be a part of.

posted at 04:08 pm on November 5, 2009 by Joshua taylor

9 Great Article

Nice work, very informative. I do agree that sites should be very informative but kept clean and to the point also.

posted at 06:48 pm on November 8, 2009 by EggDesign

10 Underlying message?

Good article, Amber. Thnx for writing it.

Not sure, but there may be a message implied by the article: When creating a Web site to support learning, use what we know about learning.

For example, we know that narratives engage people. They also help set a context for knowledge use. So, use them.

Your section on interaction is much like what constructivists say (constructivism is a learning theory). Learning is not “open up the skull and pour stuff in.” Instead, people construct their own meaning from content. Nothing is truly passive, even just sitting and listening to a lecture.

Discovering is powerful. However, it may suited to some types of learning goals and contexts, but not others. For example, if you’re trying to learn HTML, Wikipedia may not be the best resource.

It may be that structured lessons covering HTML basics would be more efficient and effective. The lessons would include writing pages. Not just any pages, but pages chosen by the lesson’s author so that doing exercise A and then exercise B will help someone learn something specific.

Once the learner has some basics, then s/he might branch out on his/her own projects. The learning mode shifts to discovery. The learner might come back to didactic lessons for specific topics. Like tables or forms.

Creating a site that supports learning well might require content authors who know about:

• The learning context (e.g., learner goals and constraints)

• Effective learning practices (e.g., how to create “levels of description” that don’t overwhelm learners with too much detail)

• The knowledge domain (e.g., chemistry, Web design, …)

Not sure how many educational Web projects put all three together.

Kieran Mathieson, CoreDogs

posted at 09:39 pm on November 8, 2009 by mathieso