 |
 |
 |
|
|
Researching Dialogue & Communities of Enquiry in eLearning in HE |
|||
|
|
Research methodological issues in e-learning research April 15th, 2005 Keynote Speaker: Melody Thompson, Pennsylvania State University e-Learning Research in the US: Challenges and Opportunities download paper Abstract: e-Learning research has been largely focused on answering practical questions related to implementing this new form of teaching and learning into the higher education arena. While such an approach has the potential to solve immediate, context-specific challenges, its contribution to a generalizable knowledge base that will move the field forward is less certain. This presentation will use research studies reported in a leading US journal and two influential conferences during the last two years to illustrate specific challenges and opportunities related to e-Learning research in higher education. Caroline Haythornthwaite, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Social Network Methods and Measures for Examing E-Learning download paper Abstract: Learning is a social network relation: it is a transaction, an exchange between people as one person teaches and another learns; it is a shared experience as colleagues explore a new area together, define terms and create common ground; and it is a common experience as students attend classes and lectures together gaining a similar view of subject areas. Learning is both bound up with and separable from the locations in which it takes place: a classroom influences how and what people learn from each other on campus, as does instruction in an online chat room. A social network approach focuses our attention on what is exchanged, shared, delivered and received among members of a network, as well as on the outcomes of such exchange outcomes such as interpersonal ties, common knowledge, community, and social capital. It provides insight into what kinds of exchanges comprise learning relationships (e.g., learning how to carry out a procedure, use a new technology, operate within a profession), what balance of learning and production takes place (exposure to new ideas versus completing tasks or assignments), and what balance of people and associations within a network make for a good learning combination (e.g., of people with whom we are strongly and/or weakly tied). Patterns of exchanges reveal structures and positions in networks that show how information is circulating in a network, who is giving, receiving or controlling information flow, and how connections might be modified to promote more open communication and learning. This talk presents a look at the exciting new kinds of phenomena open to examination by using a social network approach to e-learning as well as results of social network studies on e-learning. Social network approaches inform e-learning by demonstrating and legitimizing the creation of network outcomes without face-to-face structures. Outcomes that include collaboration, innovation, shared purpose, and above all, learning – by individuals and groups -- in learning communities and communities of practice supported through the supposedly lean communication channels of text-based computer-mediated communication, among participants distributed in time and space. Maarten De Laat, University of Southampton Teaching online in Networked Learning Communities: A multi-method approach. download paper Grainne Conole, University of Southampton Reflections on the day - what's the future for e-learning research methodology? Coffee, lunch and tea will be provided. |
|
