facilitating knowledge construction in an online learning environment

Peter Beechpjb353@tutor.open.ac.uk

Facilitating KnowledgeConstruction in an OnlineLearning Environment:A Case Study of MA (TESOL) Students

“The development of the internet has given academia an opportunity to reassess the pedagogy of teaching in higher education….

… It has allowed us to return to some of the true principles of teaching, such as interaction, reflection, good resources, and student-centred teaching.”

Mason (2003)

“Information technology provides not only many more ways of doing traditional educational activities …

… but also the possibility of doing completely innovative activities that simply were not possible before.”

Widdison (1999)

“Asynchronous communication offers new possibilities for collaboration, which have only been available in face to face settings in the past.”

Thorpe (2002)

“Co-participation implies the presence of a shared language that becomes accessed by all as they engage in the activities of the community with a goal of facilitating meaningful learning.”

Pringle (2002)

Components of a Social Theory of Learning

Components of a Social Theory of Learning

Learning as

belonging

Learning as

becoming

Learning as doing

Learning as

experience

Wenger (1998)

Learning

IdentityPractice

Community

Meaning

Community

Having made a couple of comments the other day about the difficulties of SFL, I’d also like to mention that I’m finding some of this research helpful and possibly illuminating. In fact I’ve already been finding myself adopting some ideas – in a very dilettante way – in class. For example, I have a difficult (low level) group of 3-4 in-company adults. They are not natural easy learners of language. While teaching from Business Basics (D.Grant et al, OUP,2001), recently, I resorted to pointing out the Process words of a reading passage concerned with activities to do in the Loire Valley. The following listening practice was to listen for the activities mentioned. The initial practice was a disaster, but by concentrating on the field and processes involved I had the impression better progress was made thro’ better understanding of the text.I realise this can’t be very clear, and is unmethodical, but I wanted to explain how this wealth of information and jargon is actually beginning to make me approach some things differently. Anyone else?Susan

Practice

Having made a couple of comments the other day about the difficulties of SFL, I’d also like to mention that I’m finding some of this research helpful and possibly illuminating. In fact I’ve already been finding myself adopting some ideas – in a very dilettante way – in class. For example, I have a difficult (low level) group of 3-4 in-company adults. They are not natural easy learners of language. While teaching from Business Basics (D.Grant et al, OUP,2001), recently, I resorted to pointing out the Process words of a reading passage concerned with activities to do in the Loire Valley. The following listening practice was to listen for the activities mentioned. The initial practice was a disaster, but by concentrating on the field and processes involved I had the impression better progress was made thro’ better understanding of the text.I realise this can’t be very clear, and is unmethodical, but I wanted to explain how this wealth of information and jargon is actually beginning to make me approach some things differently. Anyone else?Susan

Learning as

belonging

Learning

as belonging

Having made a couple of comments the other day about the difficulties of SFL, I’d also like to mention that I’m finding some of this research helpful and possibly illuminating. In fact I’ve already been finding myself adopting some ideas – in a very dilettante way – in class. For example, I have a difficult (low level) group of 3-4 in-company adults. They are not natural easy learners of language. While teaching from Business Basics (D.Grant et al, OUP,2001), recently, I resorted to pointing out the Process words of a reading passage concerned with activities to do in the Loire Valley. The following listening practice was to listen for the activities mentioned. The initial practice was a disaster, but by concentrating on the field and processes involved I had the impression better progress was made thro’ better understanding of the text.I realise this can’t be very clear, and is unmethodical, but I wanted to explain how this wealth of information and jargon is actually beginning to make me approach some things differently. Anyone else?Susan Learning

as doingLearning

as doing

Having made a couple of comments the other day about the difficulties of SFL, I’d also like to mention that I’m finding some of this research helpful and possibly illuminating. In fact I’ve already been finding myself adopting some ideas – in a very dilettante way – in class. For example, I have a difficult (low level) group of 3-4 in-company adults. They are not natural easy learners of language. While teaching from Business Basics (D.Grant et al, OUP,2001), recently, I resorted to pointing out the Process words of a reading passage concerned with activities to do in the Loire Valley. The following listening practice was to listen for the activities mentioned. The initial practice was a disaster, but by concentrating on the field and processes involved I had the impression better progress was made thro’ better understanding of the text.I realise this can’t be very clear, and is unmethodical, but I wanted to explain how this wealth of information and jargon is actually beginning to make me approach some things differently. Anyone else?Susan

Learning

as experience

Learning

as becoming

References

Mason, RInterviewed in The GuardianSaturday March 22, 2003

http://education.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4630653-111200,00.html

References

Pringle, R. M. (2002). Developing a community of learners: Potentials and possibilities in web mediated discourse. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education [Online serial], 2(2).

http://www.citejournal.org/vol2/iss2/currentpractice/article2.cfm

References

Thorpe, M (2002) From Independent Learning to Collaborative Learning. In

Lea, M & Nicoll, K (eds.) (2002) Distributed Learning: Social and Cultural Approaches to Practice. London: RoutledgeFalmer.

References

Wenger, E (1998) Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

References

Widdison R (1999) Computerising Legal Education: What's in Store? in The Journal of Information, Law and Technology (JILT) 1999(3).

http://elj.warwick.ac.uk/jilt/99-3/widdison.html