Experiential Learning Online Lecture Notes

A set of flashcards covering key vocabulary and concepts regarding the redesign of Kolb's experiential learning cycle for online environments.

Experiential Learning Online

The intentional design of a digital or virtual stand-in for direct experience paired with structured, asynchronous prompts that guide learners through reflection, conceptualization, and application.

Manufactured Experience

A branching simulation, virtual case, or VR environment that serves as a digital stand-in for a "real" physical experience.

Community of Inquiry (CoI)

A framework developed by Garrison, Anderson, & Archer (2000) for building online learning through social presence, cognitive presence, and teaching presence.

Social Presence

The element of the Community of Inquiry where learners project themselves as real people, which is necessary for building the trust and vulnerability required for reflection.

Cognitive Presence

The extent to which learners can construct and confirm meaning through sustained reflection and discourse; this is where the reflective and abstract phases of Kolb's cycle reside.

Teaching Presence

The design and facilitation work, including choosing the experience and framing prompts, that makes social and cognitive presence possible.

Concrete Experience (Online)

The first phase of Kolb's cycle which, in an online environment, acts as an unscripted, digital stand-in such as a choose-your-own-path simulation.

Reflective Observation (Online)

The second phase of Kolb's cycle which, lacking an in-person facilitator, uses structured, individually answered self-debriefing questions.

Abstract Conceptualization (Online)

The industrial phase where prompts explicitly push learners from describing the experience toward applying course concepts and theory.

Shared Metacognition

A process identified by Maré & Mutezo (2025) involving students and instructors jointly monitoring how the group is learning, rather than only individual self-regulation.