Learning networks and communication skills (original) (raw)
Related papers
This paper discusses the processes of interactions among learners in higher education through computer conferencing, and provides information regarding the quality of their learning experience. In order to investigate this phenomena, the social constructivist perspective with the metaphor of "persons-in-conversation" was undertaken as a conceptual framework. The attributes of computer conferencing and its relationship to social constructivism, point to interactions as essential processes through which negotiation of meaning and co-construction of knowledge occur. To address the scarcity of research using qualitative interpretive methods in computer conferencing, constructivism as a referent for the research method was used. The principles of grounded theory was employed in the analysis of computer transcripts resulting in the emergence of seven themes. In order to verify the hypothesis pertaining to the themes, additional questions were formulated and students' end-of-semester evaluation was used. Analysis suggest that the activities occurring within the themes are dynamic interactive processes against which students' conversation take place.
2000
Despite its potential benefits, the effectiveness of CMC when used to support learning in higher education is very variable, making it important to identify those factors which best predict successful implementations. A review of the literature from the past few years, presented in the first half of this paper, suggests that, consistent with Activity Theory , the critical factors are those which provide a context and rationale for online communication by helping users to establish a shared purpose. However, generating empirical support for this hypothesis presents two kinds of methodological problem: specifying the methods and measures necessary to discern the existence and impact of shared purpose; and dealing with the difficulties of making controlled comparisons in this area. The second half of the paper illustrates, via an implementation case study, something of how these methodological problems might be resolved, and presents evidence in favour of the central importance of shared purpose.
Computers & …, 1996
This paper arises from a workshop at the CAL '95 conference. It attempts to share practical experience with both successes and problems in the use of computer-mediated communications (CMC), to support flexible patterns of teaching and learning within higher education. The workshop was based around the CMC in HE project at Lancaster University, with accounts from Lancaster and the University of Derby that have been actively exploring the use of CMC in their teaching. Several participants at the workshop (including from Sheffield University and Glasgow University) also reported on their own experiences. Their contributions are included here and collectively have provided stimulus to the issues that are addressed. This paper's main function is to crystallize some reflections from these perspectives around the important issues of flexible access and opportunities for women, establishing use and sustaining participation in CMC-based learning environments.
Lessons from the field: computer conferencing in higher education
Journal of Information Techology for Teacher Education, 1998
This article explores the tensions between the potential of computer conferencing as represented by theoretical models and its actual uses in higher education. An overview of the literature highlights major themes that run throughout this body of research, including claims that the medium: 1. provides a democratic environment due to the equal access afforded to participants; 2. enhances active learning and collaboration; 3. shifts the role of the teacher from classroom leader to facilitator of learning; and 4. encourages more thoughtful participation due to the text-based, asynchronous nature of interaction. Against this backdrop, case studies of courses taught through The New School for Social Research's on-line programme provide empirical data that challenge many of these claims. A discussion of teaching practices related to student participation and perceptions of computer conferencing is also offered to serve practitioners and teacher education efforts.
Networking relations of using ICT within a teacher community
Computers & Education, 2008
The purpose of the present study was to examine the network structure of a teacher community in relation to their use of information and communication technology (ICT). The participants in the study were the 33 members of the teacher community of an upper comprehensive school from a suburban area of Helsinki, Finland. The methodology of the study was social network analysis. The participants were asked to assess their networking relations according to the following five dimensions: (1) providing technical advice regarding ICT, (2) providing pedagogical advice for using ICT, (3) collaboration regarding web-based learning, (4) acquiring new knowledge or ideas of web-based learning, and (5) informal interaction between the members of the community. The results indicated that there were a few central actors in the community who dominated technical and pedagogical knowledge exchange and to whom their colleagues actively turned when seeking advice. Two of the cognitively central actors represented hybrid expertise, a characteristic of which was to merge technological and pedagogical expertise in using ICT in education. These actors also tended to have their own external networking relations that helped them keep up their high level of competence. The participants' ICT-related egocentric networks differed in size and density. There were some actors central in the network of informal interaction that were, simultaneously, peripheral in ICT-related networking activities. On the other hand, the central actors of ICT were not necessarily the socially central persons in the community. Four patterns of networking were identified in the analysis; The Counsellor offers advice actively without seeking information herself from colleagues; The Inquirer is an active seeker of ICT-related information capitalizing on her social relations; The Collaborator engages in collaborative efforts of web-based learning by using several media; and The Weakly Social prefers media rather than face-to-face contacts in his information seeking.
The "Virtual Classroom": Using Computer-Mediated Communication for University Teaching
Journal of Communication, 1986
,> Is it possible to build a "virtual classroom, an interactive communication and learning space located within a computer system? Can a computer-mediated communication system be used to create an electronic analogue of the communication forms that usually occur in a classroom, iiicliiding discussion as well as lectures and tests? Can it provide new modes of teaching and learning that may be more effective than the traditional classr.ooni? Our initial findings in a long-term investigatioii of computer education at the postsecondary level suggest that the medium can be effective for some types of students, course materials, and teachers. In addition, the nature of interaction is different and Technology. T h e opinions and conclnsions presented here are solely those of the author.
The post-secondary networked classroom: Renewal of teaching practices and social interaction
Journal of asynchronous learning …, 2001
The application and use of telelearning technologies in post-secondary education is evolving from peripheral activities to central approaches. Educators are re-discovering collaborative education as they understand how electronic conferencing can support and empower teaching and learning. As students build knowledge collaboratively, asynchronous conferencing elevates engagement and participation, and increases thinking and understanding. This article presents the teaching practices of post-secondary educators who integrated asynchronous electronic conferencing in over one hundred mixed-mode courses at eight North American institutions between 1996 and 1999. Quantitative and qualitative research methods were applied to assess their practices and to further understand the correlation between the use of electronic conferencing and the 36 JALN, Volume 5, Issue 2 -September 2001 degree of collaboration achieved. Based on the findings, pedagogical approaches for the use of electronic conferencing are provided, and are grouped according to the level of collaboration. As a result of this study, the authors present a suggested model for the networked classroom to foster and guide the transformation of pedagogical practice.
Computer Conferencing Systems as Seen by a Designer of Online Courses
Educational Technology, 1998
The aim of this paper is to discuss the main characteristics that a computer conferencing system ought to have in order to be used in a third-generation distance education (online education) process. This subject will be analysed in particular from the point of view of an online course designer. To these ends, the paper is divided into three sections. Firstly, the need for a suitable communication structure to manage online courses will be detailed. Afterwards, several features of a related computer conferencing system will be discussed. Finally, on the basis of the above considerations, some suggestions will be made on how to choose a computer conferencing system for online education. The paper draws on the author's personal experience in experimental online courses. The subject will therefore be tackled from the perspective of someone directly involved in organising and managing distance communication within online courses and responsible for selecting the most suitable telematics system for this purpose.
Computer-mediated communication as a learning resource
Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 1997
Evaluative studies of CMC can produce misleading or even contradictory results due to an (understandable) focus on how the characteristics of the medium affect usage, ignoring the dialectic between technology and culture, of mutual adaptation over time. CMC exchanges in Higher Education take place within a broad teaching and learning system, of which most participants already have extensive experience. This system provides the context within which participants make sense of, and adapt to, the use of on-line communications. Thus interpretations of the processes shaping exchanges and their outcomes have to take into account: who participants see themselves as communicating with and why, how this serves longer-term learning goals, and what past experience of engaging with both task and audience they have had; what kinds of exchange are facilitated, both by the medium itself and how the task is organised, and how such affordances are honed over time; and also, how these interactions impact on other aspects of teaching and on learning outcomes.
Multimedia Conferencing in Education: Methodological and Organizational Considerations
Educational Technology, 1996
The term multimedia conferencing signifies the possibility of interacting at a distance through a variety of communication channels: audio, video, and remote sharing by two or more users of computer screens or software applications. In recent years a number of interesting experiments have been conducted into the educational use of multimedia communication, focusing in particular on collaboration between remote actors using CSCW (computer supported co-operative work) technology. One aspect of this is DeskTop Conferencing (DTC), a technology which is currently being tested in a number of educational contexts. DTC has allowed investigation of the various collaborative strategies that can be supported by multimedia conferencing and has highlighted the need to integrate synchronous multimedia technology (typical of DTC) with asynchronous forms (e-mail and computer conferencing). This paper will concentrated specifically on the educational/methodological aspects of DTC used in classroom learning and adult distance education. Observations will be made regarding both the educational methods and organisational facets of experiments currently underway. Finally, we shall suggest some monitoring tools for evaluating the effectiveness of educational projects based on multimedia conferencing. Classification: research work CMC AND MULTIMEDIA CONFERENCING CMC, or computer mediated communication, embraces all those activities in which the computer is used for distance communication: access to and transfer of information,