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Virtual action learning: What’s going on?
Mollie Dickenson, Mike Pedler and John BurgoyneHenley Business School, University of ReadingSummary
Whilstthereisextensiveandgrowingliteratureinonlineandnetworkedlearning(e.g.McConnell,2000)andinresearchandpracticeonface-to-face(f2f)actionlearning(AL)(Pedleretal,2005),thereappearstobeverylittlereportedoranecdotalevidenceofthevirtualvariety.Yetwiththedevelopmentofcommunicationtechnologiessuchasgroupware,videoconferencingandtheinternetchangingworkingandlearningpractices,virtualactionlearning(VAL)mighthavebeenseentobeflourishingasthenaturalsuccessortoAL.Thispaperpresentsthefindingsofon-goingresearchatHenleyBusinessSchoolwhichaimedtoexplorecurrentpracticeandidentifythecriticalenablingfactorsforthisemergingformofactionlearning. Atthestartoftheinquiry,October2006,existingtechnologiesforVALseemedverylimitedinwhattheycoulddeliverandsuggestedasimplesix-formmodelofpotentialsortsofVAL.Inlessthan2years,therehavebeenconsiderableadvancesbothintechnologicaldevelopmentsandinthelevelsofusage.Whatwascumbersomeisbecomingmoreaccessible,moreuser-friendlyyetsophisticatedandisincreasinglyofferingviablealternativestof2fcollaboration.However,despitethesetechnologicaladvances,withmoreexamplesofVALpracticegoingonthanwethought,simpletechnologiessuchasemailandaudio-conferencingareprovingsuccessful.VALemergesasavarietyofactionlearninginitsownrightwithitsownstrengthsandweaknesses.ThepractitionersofthevariousapproachestoVALfrequentlyassertdifferentpotentialbenefitsfromthiswayofdoingAL.JustasVALshouldnotnecessarilybemeasuredagainstf2fAL,soonemustcautionagainstmakingassumptionsthatanyoneformisnecessarilybetterthananyother,evenwherecommunicationpossibilitiesappeartoberestricted.OpinionisdividedonwhetherVALisasubstituteforf2fALorwhetherithasadvantagesthatmayleadittobeingpreferredoverf2fAL.Theseargumentsawaitfurtherresearchandexploration.
Keywords:
collaborative,blended,virtualactionlearning,VAL,actionlearning,f2fAL
1Introduction:WhatdowemeanbyVirtualActionLearning?
Virtualactionlearning(VAL)isanemergingvarietyofactionlearningpractice(Pedleretal,2005).Inactionlearning,peoplecometogethertoshareideasandexperiencestohelptacklereal,work-basedproblemsorissueswhichcaneffectchangeintheindividualandtheorganisation.Anemergentvirtualvariety,withitscapabilityofbringingtogetherindividualsgeographicallydispersedwithinandacrossorganisationstoengageinactionlearning,hasobviouspotentialinbotheducationalandorganisationalcontextsasameansofindividualandorganisationaldevelopmentintheglobalcontext.Butdespitethispotential,itappearstobeunder-exploited.Incontrast,f2factionlearning(AL)hasbeenagrowinginfluenceinmanagementeducationanddevelopmentintheUKsinceitsoriginsinRevans’pioneeringapproachintheUKcoalindustryofthe1940sand50s(Revans,1982,pp30–55)andespeciallysinceamajorinitiativeundertakenintheUKGeneralElectric
 
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Companyin1975(Casey&Pearce,1977).Fromtheseorigins,ALhasprovedtobeahighlyadaptablephilosophy,disciplineorapproachwhichhasresistedprecisedefinitionwhilstgeneratingmanyvariationsinpracticeindifferentorganizationalandeducationalcontextsacrosstheworld(e.g.Cusins,1995;Smith,2001;Marquardt,2003;Pauleen&Yoong,2004;Poelletal,2005). AsanemergingvarietyofALpractice,wedefineVALas:
‘...actionlearningwhichtakesplaceinavirtualenvironment,ratherthanf2f,viaarangeofenabling,interactiveandcollaborativecommunicationtechnologies’ 
TheopportunityforVALarisesfromaconfluenceofthreedistinctdevelopments:technologicaladvances;globalisation;andashifttowardscontext-sensitive,work-basedapproachestoindividualandorganisationaldevelopment.Technologicaladvances,particularlythedevelopmentofinteractiveandsocialcommunicationtechnologies,havemadevirtualworkingmucheasier.Thegrowthinsizeandextentofglobalcorporationshasmadevirtualteamworkingincreasinglynecessaryandcommon,withagreaterrelianceonvirtualteamstosolveorganisationalproblems(Gill&Birchall,2004),whichispredictedtobecomeevenmoreprevalent(Paré&Dubé,1999).VALcanalsobeseenasemerginginparallelwiththevirtualisationofmanyaspectsofwork,organisationandlife,asanexampleofBowles’s(1975)correspondencetheory,whicharguesthateducationalpracticemirrorsthesocial,culturalandeconomicconditionsofitsera-forexample,justastheVictorianclassroomlookedlikearoomfullofclerks’desks,sovirtuallearningmirrorsemergingvirtualworkpractices.However,whilsttechnologyandeducationalthinkinghavedevelopedgreatly,educationalpracticehasbeenslowtoadapttochangingideasaboutlearning,knowledgeanditsaccessibility(Hodgson,2000,p4).Alackofunderstandingofconstructionisttheoriesinthedesignofnetworkedlearningiscompoundedbylackofexperienceandtraininginusingnewtechnologiestosupporttheseapproaches.ThepotentialofVALtoaddresstheseissues,thelackofevidenceofitsexistence,yetanecdotalinterestinit,presentthejustificationtofindoutwhetheritishappeningandinwhatway?Theresearchcomprisedaliteraturereview,interviewswithpractitionersandtheidentificationof20caseexamplesofVALpractice.ThefindingsdetailseveralvarietiesofVALpracticeandadiscussionoftheskillsandcapabilitiesrequiredinfacilitatingthisformofactionlearning.A6-formmodelofVALspecifiesarangeofcontextsandframeworksincurrentuse.
2VarietiesofVALpractice
OurfindingsshowthatVALisnotasingleformbutafamilyofvirtualapproachesusingdifferenttechnologiesandtemporalities,allsharingacommonallegiancetoanactionlearningwayofworking(Revans,1998).A6-formmodelofVALdescribesthisvarietybaseduponthecommunicationmediaused-text,voiceorvisual-andhowthesetmeetingtakesplace,eithersynchronouslyorasynchronously(Figure1).
Figure 1:
A6-FormModelofVAL
Temporality
Technologymedium
SYNCHRONOUS(participantinteractionissimultaneous,i.ewithinthesamefinitetimeperiod) ASYNCHRONOUS(participantinteractionisdelayed,i.e.atdifferenttimeperiods)
TextForm1:Instantmessaginge.gonlineForm2:EmailTextmessagingindelayedthreadeddiscussionse.gbulletinboards AudioForm3:Livetele/audioconfOnlinediscussionforumsForm4: Audiorecordings,e.g.podcastsandrecordedvoicemessages
 
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OnlinechatroomsVisualForm5:Video/web-basedconferencingForm6:Videorecordings
However,adetailedexaminationof20casesfoundsoonrevealsacomplexitybeyondthesimplicitiesofthismodel.Forexample,thethreetypesofmediaused-text,voiceandvisual–aresometimesusedaloneandsometimestogether;thefirsttwoofthesecanbeandareoftenusedalone,whereasvisualalwaysincludesaudioandsometimestext.Similarly,whilstthetermssynchronousandasynchronousareapparentlywellunderstood,thequestionarises:howsynchronousissynchronous?Forexample,withregardtoForm2,textmessaging,thereistheissueofdelaysinresponses.Weclassedassynchronousallinstantmessaginganddiscussionforumswhereparticipantswereallonlineatthesametimeandresponsesweremoreorlessimmediate,whereas,whereparticipantswerenotonlineatthesametimeandresponsesweredelayedasinemailandotherformsofthreadedtextmessaging,weclassedasasynchronous. Additionally,synchronousandasynchronousapproachesaresometimesusedincombination;andallformsofVALcanbeusedincombinationwithoralongsidef2factionlearning.Nevertheless,despitethecomplexities,the6-formclassificationremainsuseful;firsttodemonstratethatthereisnosingleVALpracticebutmanyvariations;andalsothatthesecategoriesdescribesomeverydistinctalternatives.JustastheefficacyofVALshouldnotnecessarilybemeasuredagainstthatoff2factionlearning,itshouldnotbeassumed,thatforexample,Form5–Visual/Synchronous-isnecessarilybetterthanForm3-AudioConferencing-orForm2-Textmessaging.Asthepractitionersoftheseapproachesfrequentlyassert,therearedifferentpotentialbenefitsandcostsinvolved,whichmakesuchsimplecomparisonsinvalid.Ourfindingsalsoaddanadditionaldimensiontothemodel.Wefoundonecase–asyetunreported–ofaVALtrialconductedinthe3Dvirtualworld,SecondLife,in2007byaPhDcandidateattheUniversityofSouthernQueensland,whichsitsoutsideour6-formmodel.Twofurtherexampleshavesubsequentlycometolight(Sanders&McKeown,2008;Arrowsmithetal,2003).3D(threedimensional)virtualworldsarecomputer-simulatedenvironmentswhichattempttofollowrealworldrulessuchasgravity,topography,locomotion,real-timeactionsandcommunication;whichhasuntilrecentlybeenintextonlybutnowdirectcommunicationisalsoavailableusingVoiceOverInternetProtocol(VOIP).Some,suchasSecondLife,enableuserinteractionsthrough“avatars”(computer-createdgraphicalrepresentationsofpeople).Sanders&McKeown(2008)describeacollaborationbetweentheUniversityofSouthernQueenslandandtheAppalachianStateUniversity,USA,whichtheysayreconceptualisedtheteachingofalibrarysciencescourse,combiningthepedagogyofALwitha3Dvirtuallearningenvironment(Activeworlds,Inc.)inordertosupportinteractionandreflection.Theauthorssays‘thestudent’sabilitytoseeotheravatarsandinteractwiththemencouragesserendipitousinteractionsandpromotesagreatersenseofpresenceandco-presencethanothertext-basedlearningmanagementsystems’(p51). Arrowsmithetal(2003)describeavirtualfieldtripdesignedforteachingandlearninggeospatialscienceatRMITUniversity,Australia.UsingMacromediasoftwarelinkedtoadistributedlearningsystembuiltaroundtheBlackboardonlineplatform,interactivecomputer-basedexercisesarecombinedwithaseriesofembeddedinteractivequestionsrelatingtothelearningobjectives.Theysaythatthisfacilitatedactionlearningandactionresearch,butqualifytheirinterpretationofAL(withreferencetoMichael&Modell,2003)asincorporatingactivelearningwhichestablishesalearningenvironmentwhichstudentsareactivelyengagedinbuilding,testingandrefiningmentalmodels.Someviewsarealreadybeingexpressedthat3Dvirtualworldsofferpotentialbenefitsaslearningenvironmentsandhavesomeadvantagesoverf2fsituations.FansofSecondLife,forexample,sayitengagesdistancelearnersinawaythatemail,instantmessagingandchatroomsdonotquitemanage:“Itreplacesthatsenseofimmediacythatyouhaveinreallife.”(DrRoryEwins,EdinburghUniversityinanarticlein
TheGuardian 
byShepherd,2007)
 
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