Authentic Learning in Education

Maryilyn M. Lombardi in her paper What makes learning authentic? explores what constitutes authentic learning, how technology supports it, and what makes authentic learning effective. I really enjoyed this read as Lombardi helped to define, for me, what authentic learning truly is.
Within her description of authentic learning are the following elements:

• doing rather then listening
• solving real-world problems
• access to online research communities, learners are able to gain a deeper sense of a discipline as a special 'culture'
• 'connection-building' - interpersonal connections are an integral part of learning (George Siemens)

Lombardi also introduces 10 design elements for authentic learning:

TEN DESIGN ELEMENTS

1. Real-world relevance - must match real-world tasks
2. Ill-defined problem - challenges can not be solved easily - should be relatively undefined and open to multiple interpretations - students must identify tasks and subtasks
3. Sustained investigation - problems can not be solved in a matter of minutes or even hours. Requires a sustained period of time.
4. Multiple sources and perspectives - learners are not given a list of resources - students have the opportunity to examine the task from a variety of theoretical and practical perspectives
5. Collaboration - success in not achieveable by an individual learner working alone.
6. Reflection - (metacognition)
7. Interdisciplinary perspective - activities have consequences that extend beyond a particular discipline
8. Integrated assessment - assessment is not merely summative - it is wovern seamlessly into the majore task and reflects real-world evaluation processes
9. Polished products - culminates in the creation of a whole product - valuable in its own right.
10. Multiple interpretations and outcomes - not just one correct answer - competing solutions and diverse interpretations are possible