Paradigms and Applications

It struck me when I was writing up a draft of materials on databases that the differerence between content-centred design and activitiy-centred design is actually a difference of paradigms. The two paradigms or approaches differ substantially in the role that resources, and the role that learners play in the process. And if the design is indeed a 'learning' design, then this has implications for the role of the teacher/ faciltiator (and not vice versa).

What also struck me was an interesting question:

If it is the case that the nature of web-based learning is that the learning 'byte', or 'event' is much smaller and shorter, does this mean that the design needs to be more mindful of the balance and links between theory and application?

To wit - if the basic learning event is a lecture, it is quite feasable for the lecturer to explore theoretical issues at some length, and only to tie these into examples and applications later on (still in the same lecture), without losing the students in abstraction.

However, in web/screen based 'events' the parameters are quite different: the time on task is likely to be much shorter - 5-15 mintues perhaps, and the process of moving from one screen to the next remains disruptive, however neat the navigation is. As one of my students said: screens are so difficult to read, as when you browse through material you find that you can 'see through paper' but you cant 'see through screens'.

Does this mean that apart from the general benefits that arise from activity based learning (in online or blended learning), there is a more fundamental requirement, if the material is provided on screen,
which is that we need to tie in applications and exemplars to theory earlier, and more frequently?