Design patterns and pattern language are a smart way to represent the analysis and solution of a problem in a way that is sensitive to context, and informed by theory and evidence.

Last year with the support of my advisor, Terry Anderson, I spent a semester exploring the ways in which information technologies support lifelong learning. I stumbled across two quite remarkable works that gave the independent study course its form: Philip Candy’s comprehensive 2004 report for the Australian Department of Education, Science and Training called Linking Thinking: Self-Directed Learning in the Digital Age, and the European Commission’s E-LEN project, which used design patterns as a way to collect best practices to establish a network of e-learning centres. Juxtaposing lifelong learning, information technologies, Candy’s Online Learning model and a method for creating design patterns, we came up with the wonderful collection of lifelong learning design patterns represented in the pattern map below. With the news that our paper has been accepted for publication, with minor revisions, I thought it would be useful to collect all this information in one place before I tackle said revisions.

What are Design Patterns?

Design patterns originate in the work of the architect Christopher Alexander. Software engineers have enthusiastically adopted them in their practice, and now other fields, such as educational design, are also showing interest. Alexander’s definition of a pattern is that it:

…
describes a problem which occurs over and over again in our environment, and then describes the core of the solution to that problem, in such a way that you can use this solution a million times over, without ever doing it the same way twice.

Patterns offer a way to integrate both both the analysis and solution of a problem, in a way that is sensitive to context and informed by theory and evidence. Their value is that they suggest, rather than prescribe, a solution. Solutions are intentionally incomplete: they offer guidance but require embellishment. This makes them deceptively difficult to write and, frankly, require a good deal of effort to use.

The Patterns

You can navigate the patterns from the pattern map (recommended) or directly from the pattern links that follow. All of these patterns were first published on The Common Loon, the weblog I used to support the independent study course. These patterns are designed for lifelong learners (not professional designers or educators) and are represented in the form created by Joseph Bergin and his colleagues on the Pedagogical Patterns project.

Links to patterns: Be a designer | Check for quality | Choose the well-marked trail | Extend your reach | Extract it! | Go berrypicking | Mark your own trail | Tag it! | Triangulate | Trust a secondary source

Patterns for Complex Learning originally appeared on Portable Learner on July 7th, 2006