Loose Parts: Creating Learning Opportunities Beyond the LMS

Abstract

Software platforms and applications designed to facilitate administrative control and management dominate the higher education and workplace learning/training landscapes. These systems are presented as simplifying online teaching for educators and streamlining access for learners/workers. In addition to the standardization within platforms, the competitive landscape for such products has evolved to reduce the number of providers and led remaining providers to converge on a set of features deemed to be essential. Once such platforms are adopted and installed in institutions, they are further configured to reduce staff workload. Standardized templates are developed and framed as consistent user experience for educators and learners. In this paper, we contend that these trends reduce opportunities for educator and student creativity and invention. We draw on Nicholson’s (1971) theory of loose parts to highlight the importance of variability in the learning environment. In this paper we describe our efforts to develop an online learning environment that leverages the theory of loose parts. We illustrate the ways in which an online environment can be made more educational and more flexible to support more creative learning experiences.