Competences, Blended Learning & Crossmedia

By Harry Smals on 25 May 2010

Competences are hot in Dutch higher education. But, what is a competence? It consists of three elements: knowledge, attitude and skills. These elements are very similar to the desired effects of influential communication. Crossmedia is vital in present days’ influential communication. Therefore it seems logical that experts of crossmedia and experts of higher education can learn from each other. Crossmedia applied on education is called blended learning.

What is a competence?
Although many Dutch teachers in higher education are busy making new lessons and educational environments aimed at developing students’ competences, there is no vast consensus about what a competence is. One of the main drivers behind competence based learning in the Dutch higher education is the Ministry of Education, Culture & Science. In one of their most recent documents they state the following (in my translation):
 The definition of key-qualifications comes close to what not much later will be called competences: “Key-qualifications contain knowledge, insight, skills and attitudes which belong to the sustainable core of a profession, or a group of similar functions, with the possibility of transfer to other and new functions within that profession and to innovations within that profession, which contribute to the competence-development of a professional and which facilitates shifts within the career.” (Meijden 2009, p6)
 The Council describes competences as trained or trainable fitting-characteristics which can be formulated in terms of knowledge, skills and attitudes. There is no difference between the content of a qualification and that of a competence, according to the Council they are inter-exchangeable, but they prefer competences because that term is more singular. (Meijden 2009, p7) [note: ‘Council’ is ‘Council for Education’)

So, according to the Ministry a competence consists of:
 Knowledge / Insight
 Attitude
 Skill

Models about influencing
These three components of a competence show a striking resemblance with models commonly used by communication professionals who aim at influencing. To begin with Grunig & Hunt’s domino model for communication effects.

Picture 1: Domino-model for communication effects (Grunig & Hunt, 1984)

This model is quite linear. It suggests that a message will lead to change in what a considerable amount of the target group knows, this change in knowledge will lead to some extend of change in attitude among the target-group and finally some people in the target-group will change their behaviour.
For explaining the attitude-domino and its influence on behaviour we can use a less linear model: the three-component attitude model. According to this model our brain strives for balance between cognition (what we know/ believe about a subject), affection (what we feel towards that subject), and conation (what we do in relation to that subject). 

Picture 2: Three-component attitude model (Fill 2002, p76)

For explaining how the knowledge domino works and how a message can have an influence on what we feel and do we can use the quite similar model for cognitive dissonance (Festinger 1957). People try to avoid cognitive dissonance: a situation in which you are aware that what you do is not consistent with what you know and feel is right. This theory can be used by communication professionals in order to change how people behave: offer the target-group rational and emotional information and there is a chance that some people will change their behaviour.

Picture 3: Applying cognitive dissonance in order to change behaviour.
Actually what a communication professional does here, is teaching something to his target-group. If enough members of the target-group have learned what he wants, then his communication activities were effective. Communication-professionals measure the effect of their activities by conducting research. Similarly teachers measure if enough students have learned what they have taught, by giving an examination.

Blended Learning similar to Crossmedia
Communication-professionals have discovered that their activities are more effective if they use multiple media – crossmedia – in order to reach the target-group several times, in different contexts and with both rational and emotional information, in order to create an experience. Consequently teachers’ activities will be more effective if they apply multiple teaching tools – blended learning – in order to reach students several times, in different contexts and with both rational and emotional information in order to create a learning-experience.

tagged with: blended learning, learning experience, crossmedia

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