New Learning and the Classification of Learning Environments in Secondary Education

Abstract

This article presents a new classification scheme for learning environments in secondary education, based on a review of recent literature on new learning and a review of existing classification schemes. This new classification scheme emphasizes new forms of learning and is organized around three main aspects of learning environments that may be assumed to influence such learning: (a) learning goals, (b) the division of teacher and learner roles, and (c) the roles of the learners in relation to each other. It is then argued that teachers might use this classification scheme to design and evaluate their own learning environments. In addition, the scheme provides a clear framework for a next generation of process–product research.