(photo by by ElektraCute)

In the May issue of Innovate magazine Marie Sontag proposes "A Learning Theory for 21st-Century Students." I especially like her "Link, Lurk and Lunge" alliteration for describing 21st Century learning.

 I'm going to define the stages slightly differently then she does.

Link - Learners look at links, collect them as bookmarks and find both the digital people and on-line places that have the knowledge they are studying. Indeed its interesting how people and online places blur. Is finding a good blog finding a place or a person? What about a mailing list where experts are conversing on the subject?

Lurk - Learners watch these people and places without contributing much.

Lunge - Learners dive into a task or project.  I especially like the "Lunge" because it takes us away from the old world of heirarcial learning and content where you couldn't do a task until you had mastered all the "lower" level skills necessary.  I don't think this was ever true, but it certainly does not describe 21st Century learning. Learners follow their passion and find a task they care about and dive deeply into a subject, gathering the supporting knowledge as they work.