Recognizing Curricular Infusions in Extant Online Learning Contents by Types and at Varying Scales

Abstract

Online learning exists in a dynamic environment, with changing research, applicable laws and policies, pedagogical approaches, and technologies. The changing external environment necessarily informs the curriculum given the need for learning relevance. Curricular infusions (CIs) occur as a practical method of integrating new elements into extant learning: values, ethics, thinking, knowledge, worldviews, practices, tools and technologies, and other elements. These infusions may occur at the most granular level of the learning object all the way to learning disciplines and domains. The method of curricular infusion enables adaptivity to occur with online learning without having to rebuild learning from scratch, so infusions could be additive to particular learning sequences or integrated with the learning objects, and other aspects of designed online learning. This work explores some of the prior research into curricular infusions and introduces some basic ways to reverse engineer curricular infusions in extant online learning.