Working together online
In the last unit we looked at online learning from the perspective of the tutor and we drew on the work of researchers such as Salmon and Anderson, Garrison et al. Their perspectives are grounded in social constructivist learning theories in which notions of the group, participation and interaction are central to learning. You can see arguments for this expressed in the talk by Liz Falconer, who discusses active engagement in the learning process in the context of the use of virtual worlds in teaching. There are links to further readings about this topic on the same page. However, we don't have to meet in virtual worlds to encourage engagement and this is explored through our regular synchronous seminars and will also be a part of the assignment process.
Of course, you may want to question some of these assumptions based not least on your own learning preferences and on an understanding of the contextual constraints identified by researchers such as White from her 'ecological' perspective, or you may want to consider my views on course design, which take a sociocultural angle.
This unit allows us to think a little more about assumptions behind social theories and about the realities of participating and interacting in online communities.
Objectives
Our objectives, therefore, are to:
- reflect further on implications of social learning paradigms on online learning;
- consider our own responses to participatory models of online learning;
- explore how researchers see the relationship between participation, interaction and learning;
- analyse some online interactions to identify emerging issues.
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