KSU Learning Institute
Deep Learning for a Digital Age by Van B. Weigel

During the OLN Kickoff meeting, each participant received Deep Learning for a Digital Age by the guest speaker Van B. Weigel. The book is described as an outline for a new paradigm for using technology to the classroom. From the book jacket:

Too many colleges and universities are focusing their technology resources on the development of distance education programs rather than on the objective of improving teaching and learning. In Deep Learning for a Digital Age, author Van B. Weigel takes the academy to task for its current shortsighted, uncreative use of technology and offers a very different vision for deepening and enriching learning in traditional college classrooms.

In this breakthrough book, Weigel shows how faculty can help students develop skills in research, problem solving, critical thinking, and knowledge management by using web=based collaboration tools. He outlines a blended, "bricks and clicks" approach to learning that emphasizes cognitive apprenticeship and communities of inquiry. Weigel's vision of "depth education" relies strongly on virtual teams and embedded assessment as a means to cultivate connection between students and educators. This innovative approach to teaching and learning emphasizes the use of virtual spaces, which Weigel calls "knowledge rooms," where students can gather to develop research projects, build critical skills and competencies, share, discuss, and debate ideas, express themselves creatively, and assess their learning and performance. Learning gained through such collaborative environments is deep learning, with lasting impact, and stands in sharp contrast to the superficial acquisition of factual knowledge students typically take away from their college coursework.

The author also explores how campuses can create a physical and intellectual infrastructure to support depth education and extend it through creatively designed e-learning programs for constituencies beyond the campus population,including high school students and alumni. By helping students to develop skills in reflection and discernment, investment in deep learning reinforces the core mission of higher education--that of extending wisdom and understanding.