A concept that is becoming increasingly more popular in the education of students in elementary and high schools is that of exploratory learning. Exploratory learning can be defined as "learning through exploring environments" and refers to a period of time that is given to students to investigate information or explore new ideas without the help or interference of a teacher (Freitas). This freedom in learning also allows a student to choose their own subject or focus as to what they would like to learn. In an article by Steven Wolk, he examines the benefits of giving students exploratory time in the classroom. Although this would, in a sense, take away time from the instructor in which they would have traditionally held a class or taught, this new allocating of time allows students, as Wolk puts it, to "develop a lifelong love for learning." As students choose their area of learning, they become more invested in the information that they are interacting with. Wolk believes that exploratory learning helps to "change a person's attitude about learning" and allows students to become better learners - which, after all, should be a main focus of schools.
This exploratory time in learning is easily extended to the online sphere. Really, exploratory learning online is the same thing as interactive learning, but with the added bonus of allowing students to explore their desired information. In the paper by Freitas and Neumann, they create a model for using exploratory time in conjunction with virtual environments. As students become more invested in the information that is found online, the instructors themselves need to become more invested, and allow the virtual environment to become a part of schoolroom learning.
Learning through exploring environments can be "real or virtual or combined environments with peer or tutor support" (Freitas). A student may choose to investigate information through any sources, be they print or online, and follow whatever information they find most intriguing. Learning in this fashion may enable a student to come into contact with more information than the traditional way of instructor driven learning. In addition, a student interacts with more information themselves, and are much more likely to become engaged through various aspects of that information (Freitas).
But what does exploratory learning have to do with hyperlinking? Well, everything.If reading a webpage was the same as reading a book, then exploratory learning would be no different with print information than with online information. But we already know that online information is very different for many reasons - one of which is hyperlinking. The very act of linking pages of information together facilitates exploratory learning in a way that allows students to truly investigate any information they desire, and are able to connect different information across many resources. By simply following along through the links, the student has access to many more pages of information than with a print volume.
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Sources:
Freitas, Sara de, and Neumann, Tim. "The use of 'exploratory learning' for supporting immersive learning in virtual environments." Computers and Education. 52.2 (2009): 343-352.
Mimirinis, Mike, and Bhattacharya, Madhumita. "Design of Virtual Learning Environments for Deep Learning." Journal of Interactive Learning Research. 18.1 (2007): 55-64.
Wolk, Steven. "The Benefits of Exploratory Time." Educational Leadership. 59.2 (2001): 56-59.
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