• Embed Doc
  • Copy Link
  • Readcast
  • Collections
  • CommentGo Back
Download
 
TOWARDSATHEORYOFONLINELEARNING
TERRYANDERSON
AthabascaUniversity
Itisthetheorythatdecideswhatwecanobserve.
-AlbertEinstein
Thereisnothingmorepracticalthanagoodtheory.
-Lewin,K.,FieldTheoryinSocialScience
INTRODUCTION
Theoryhasbeenbothcelebratedandcondemnedineducationalpracticeandresearch.Manyproponentshavearguedthattheoryallowsandevenforcesustoseethebigpictureandmakesitpossibleforustoviewourpracticeandourresearchfromabroaderperspectivethanenvisionedfromthemurkytrenchesofourpractice.Thisbroaderperspectivehelpsusmakeconnectionswiththeworkofothers,facilitatescoherentframeworksanddeeperunderstandingofouractions,andperhapsmostimportantly,allowsustotransfertheexperiencegainedinonecontexttonewexperiencesandcontexts.Criticsoftheory(McCormick
&
McCormick,1992)havearguedthattoostrictadherencetoanyparticulartheoreticalviewpointoftenfiltersourperceptionsandthusblindsustoimportantlessonsofreality.Theintentofthischapteristolookatlearningtheorygenerally,andthentofocusinonthoseattributesoftheonlinelearningcontextthatallowustofocusanddevelopdeeperandmoreusefultheoriesofonlinelearning.
 
46
TheoryandPracticeofOnlineLearning
Wilson(1997)hasdescribedthreefunctionsofagoodeducationaltheory.First,ithelpsustoenvisionnewworlds.Fewofusneedhelp envisioningnewworldsinthemidstofthehypeandexuberanceofonlinelearningproponentsthatfloodthepopularpress.Wedoneedtheory,however,tohelpusenvisionhoweducationcanbesttakeadvantageoftheenhancedcommunication,informationretrieval,creativetools,andman-agementcapabilityprovidedbytheNet.Itisalltooeasytoconsidernew innovationsinahorseless-carriagemanner,andattempttodevelopnewactionsbasedonoldadaptationstonowobsoletecontexts.Second,agoodtheoryhelpsustomakethings.Weneedtheoriesofonlinelearningthathelpustoinvestourtimeandlimitedresourcesmosteffectively.Therearemanyopportunities,butalwayscriticalshort-agesofresources-timebeingperhapsthescarcestofthese-demandingthatwemaximizetheefficiencyofourdevelopmentandeducationaldeliv-eryefforts.Thisbookhasanumberofchapterswithparticularrecom- mendationsandsuggestionsforonlinecoursedevelopmentandteaching.Hopefully,thischapterprovidesatheoreticalbigpicturetomakesenseofthesespecificrecommendations.Third,Wilsonarguesthatagoodtheorykeepsushonest.Goodtheorybuildsuponwhatisalreadyknown, andhelpsustointerpretandplanfortheunknown.Italsoforcesustolookbeyondday-to-daycontingenciesandensurethatourknowledgeand practiceofonlinelearningisrobust,considered,andeverexpanding.Thischapterbeginswithageneralassessmentofhowpeoplelearn,basedonBransford,Brown,andCocking's(1999)work.ItthenassessestheuniquecharacteristicsoraffordancesoftheWebtoenhancethesegeneralizedlearningcontexts.Thechapterthendiscussesthesixformsofinteractionandtheircriticalroleinengagingandsupportingbothlearnersandteachers.Itthenpresentsamodelofe-learning,afirststeptowardsatheory,inwhichthetwopredominateformsofe-learning-collaborativeandindependentstudymodes-arepresentedwithabriefdiscussionoftheadvantagesanddisadvantagesofeach.ThechapterendswithadiscussionoftheemergingtoolsoftheSemanticWeb,andthewaytheywillaffectfuturedevelopmentsoftheoryandpracticeof onlinelearning.
ATTRIBUTESOFLEARNING
Asmanytheoristshaveargued(Herrington
&
Oliver,1999)andpracti-tionershaveexperiencedforthemselves,onlinelearningisbutasubset
 
TowardsaTheoryofOnlineLearning
47
oflearningingeneral-thus,wecanexpectissuesrelevanttohowadults learngenerallytoalsoberelevantinanonlinelearningcontext. Bransford,BrownandCocking(1999),inaninsightfulbookonthenew scienceoflearning,provideevidencethateffectivelearningenvironments areframedwithintheconvergenceoffouroverlappinglenses.Theyarguethateffectivelearningiscommunity-centred,knowledge-centred, learner-centred,andassessment-centred.Discussingeachoftheselenses helpsustodefinelearninginageneralsensebeforeweapplythisanalysisframeworktotheuniquecharacteristicsofonlinelearning.
Learner-Centred
Alearner-centredcontextisnotoneinwhichthewhimsandpeculiari- tiesofeachindividuallearnerareslavishlycateredto.Infact,wemustbecarefultorecognizethatlearner-centredcontextsmustalsomeettheneedsoftheteacher,theinstitution,andofthelargersocietythatpro-videssupportforthestudent,theinstitution,andoftenforagrouporclassofstudents,aswellasfortheparticularneedsofindividuallearn-ers.Forthisreason,Ihavearguedearlier(Anderson
2005)
thatthisattributemaybemoreaccuratelylabelledlearning-centred,asopposed tolearner-centred.Learner-centred,accordingtoBransfordandcolleagues(1999), includesawarenessoftheuniquecognitivestructuresandunderstand-ingsthatlearnersbringtothelearningcontext.Thus,ateachermakes effortstogainanunderstandingofstudents'prerequisiteknowledge,includinganymisconceptionsthatthelearnerstartswithintheircon- structionofnewknowledge.Further,thelearningenvironmentrespects andaccommodatestheparticularculturalattributes,especiallythelan- guageandparticularformsofexpressionthatthelearnerusestointer- pretandbuildknowledge.Learner-centredactivitiesmakeextensiveuseofdiagnostictoolsandactivitiestomakevisiblethesepre-existingknowl-edgestructurestoboththeteacherandthestudentsthemselves.Onlinelearningcanpresentchallengestoeducators,asthetoolsandopportunitiestodiscoverstudents'preconceptionsandculturalperspectivesareoftenlimitedbybandwidthconstraints,whichlimitthe users'viewofbodylanguageandparalinguisticclues.Someresearchers arguethattheserestrictionsnegativelyaffectcommunicationefficacy(Short,Williams,
&
Christie,1976).Othersarguethattheuniquechar-acteristicsthatdefineonlinelearning(appropriatecombinationsofasynchronousandsynchronousvoice,text,andvideo)canactuallylead toenhancedorhypercommunications(Richardson,
2000).
Forexample,
of 00

Leave a Comment

You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...
You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...