Adaptive environments for professional e-learning : exploring the potential of learning styles

Kurzfassung/Abstract

The diversity of learners is a challenge for the instructional design of professional learning. One dimension of diversity that has often been discussed in this context is learning styles. We explore the effects of learning styles, based on the theory of experiential learning by D.A. Kolb, and the possibility of adapting professional e-learning in accordance with the individual learning types. Two studies in different fields, an online seminar in Educational Sciences and a software training, investigate the effects of the concordance (or the discrepancy) of the induced and the preferred learning style. In the first study we found that, the better the matching of preferred and induced learning style was, the lower the effort was estimated. In the second study, we identified a significant and positive effect of the learning style oriented environment on the computer anxiety. The results of both studies suggest that the consideration of the individual learning type can improve the emotional components of adult learning. Keeping this in mind, we designed a learning type oriented adaptive learning environment.