I’m glad to hear the words Slack and learning in the same sentence. Because I think with a few adjustments Slack could easily become the best LMS (Learning Manage System) available. Or to put it boldly; the first LMS that would support learning by default.

How? Well, we need to look at what research can tell us about student learning.

How students learn — according to research

First search result on Giphy when searching for learning. (Spoiler: This is not how students learn)

“Learning is constructed by what activities the students carry out; learning is about what they do, not about what we teachers do.” John Biggs, on Constructive Alignment

In the book Teaching for Quality Learning at University by John Biggs & Catherine Tang they describe different approaches to teaching and learning.

1) A teacher-centred model of teaching — what the students learn is defined by what the teachers does. 2) A student-centred model of teaching — what the students learn is defined by what the student does. From Teaching for Quality Learning at University — Fourth Edition 2011, part 1, chapter 2.

When a teacher talks for three hours about applying a specific theory on a case-study — without any student activity — then the teaching is teacher-centred. The notion is that the teacher can transmit the knowledge to the students. So the better the teacher performs the more the students will learn.

On the other hand, when a teacher gives the students the case-study to analyse themselves according to the specific theory it’s a student-centred teaching. Here the teacher gives the students the opportunity to apply the knowledge themselves. The teachers then are there to help the student in their activity. This is where learning happens.

This means that the role of the teacher is to enable and support the learning activities that the students perform themselves.

So how would a LMS like Moodle or Blackboard hold up against a student-focused approach to learning?

Learning as an add-on

Well, if an LMS is about supporting learning it needs to ask the right question; who are suppose to learn and how can the LMS support that? The answer to that question is that it is the students who are supposed to learn and that the LMS needs to support the learning activities that the students perform themselves — in order to support learning.

But if you look at a LMS like Moodle or Blackboard they actually support the activities of the teachers (and administration) rather than the activities of the students. Basically, these LMS has a teacher-centred model to teaching. They are designed to help the teachers transmit information and knowledge to the students. And for all credit, they do that well.