Developing a Model for the Choreography of Learning

Yesterday i explored choreography for learning in the Social Age: it’s really a call to arms, a recognition that we need to adapt, away from the old notions of learning being ‘done‘ to people, towards more co-creative, scaffolded, social models. Facilitated by technology, engaging by design, not by accident.

Today i want to present two sketches around this, both still in development. The first is a model for Choreography: it looks at three aspects. PROGRAMMING, which is about the context and casting of the learning. it’s about the design and positioning. POSTURE, which is about the way it is executed, and PERFORMANCE, which is about the experience as it’s lived.

Bear in mind that the purpose of Choreographing learning is to deliver an integrated, paced, seamless experience. It’s about designing and delivering total quality. It’s about the way we introduce, deliver and support the learner throughout.

Programming is about setting expectations, but doing so using innovative and effective techniques: viewing this as part of the overall total learning experience, not just something done by email. The roles we cast, the ways we communicate, the contract we set up with delegates and participants. The way expectations are set and the ways we meet them. Total quality.

Posture is about the way we execute this: the tone of voice used, the ways we create the spaces and permissions needed, the ways we establish and support communities. It’s about how we choose and use narrative styles. It’s about total quality.

Performance is about the lived experience: about the ways the learning is delivered in a Social Age style, truly iterative, fluid, with tempo and momentum. The movement between formal and social spaces, the use of community, the permission and execution of co-creative elements. It’s about how complete the experience is, where the gaps are and how we plug them. It’s about total quality, through design, not by accident.

The second sketch puts this into more of a timeline, the elements of choreography and how we do things before, during and after the formal parts of the learning. It includes practical elements of things we may do.

Before the learning starts (the PROGRAMMING part of choreography) we may use posters, teasers, trailers. What we can learn from films, music or entertainment. We are aiming for magnetism and viral quality. We need to offer clear invitations, clear permissions to engage, set clear contexts for what to expect and what is expected of you.

During, we need well managed co-creative experiences. We have to support the community. We need to adapt and iterate, listening to what the community says as it writes it’s co-created story. We have to maintain tempo.

After, we may need to actively close communities down, rather than simply letting them wither, or transition them to new spaces. We again want to learn from other industries: reviews, critiques, post performance reviews.

This is all a work in progress: my aim is to provide a framework for Choreography in learning that sits alongside the Learning Methodology and Scaffolded Social Learning work. An overall mindset an approach, with practical tools and guidance to achieve this. It’s all about #WorkingOutLoud.