Absorb-Do-Connect

Summary

Absorb-Do-Connect is a framework for building learning activities that holds that learning is not just about absorbing content, but is equally about doing and connecting and applying the content to life outside of the classroom. Absorb-Do-Connect was developed by William Horton to help classify learning experiences that "provoke the exact mental experiences that lead to learning." (Horton, E-Learning by Design, 2012, p. 52).

• Absorb activities are activities where a "learner reads, listens, and watches."
• Do activities are activities "where the learner actively exercises, explores, and discovers."
• Connect activities help learners link their current learning to both prior learning experiences and to future learning and on the job-experiences

Engineering Professional Development uses the [Link for document 100167 is unavailable at this time] model (Wiggins & McTighe, Understanding By Design, 2005) and the Absorb-Do-Connect framework (Horton, E-Learning By Design, 2012) to inform course design, development, and delivery.

Application

The absorb-do-connect framework guides EPD's approach to course development, from learning objectives to lectures to course activities. Learners are asked to absorb content from recorded lectures and live sessions, do activities that reinforce the content like answer a question or complete a task, and connect the content to their work. Instructors are encouraged to use this framework to help develop active learning activities like project and problem-based learning.

Absorb-do-connect is one way to reinforce a course rhythm, which can in turn reinforce the absorb-do-connect framework.

Resources:

• Absorb-Do-Connect from Design - Teach - Engage at UW
• Absorb, Do, Connect Activities from William Horton Consulting
• Seven Week Hybrid Absorb Do Connect by Jackson Egelloc on Youtube
• Horton, W. K. (2012). E-Learning by Design. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer. (Online from UW Libraries)