A selective analysis of empirical findings in networked learning research in higher education: Questing for coherence

Objective: to provide a selective critical analysis of research findings on asynchronous learning and teaching in the field of Networked learning (NL)

Networked Learning: by NL we mean the use of internet-based information and communication technologies to promote collaborative and cooperative connections: between one learner and other learners; between learners and tutors; between a learning community and its learning resources, so that participants can extend and develop their understanding and capabilities in ways that are important to them, and over which they have significant control (Goodyear, Banks, Hodgson, & McConnell, 2004). In the USA, this is referred to as Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL). (p.101)

Communities of practice: This builds on the idea that knowledge is rooted in actions. In the social context where concepts and skills are defined through their use. (p.101)

- Discussion forums are the principal mode of NL in Higher Education (Hara et al., 2000) (p102).
- McConnell (1999) described networked “collaborative” learning as an activity in which learners are brought together using Internet, with a focus on them working as a learning community, sharing resources, knowledge, experience and responsibility (p.103)

- Collaborative learning works better when students focus on solving practical problems rather than having a theoretical debate (Ronteltrap & Eurelings, 2002)

Teacher’s roles:

- In general, the teacher’s role, was to design the course, set the task goals and to [...] for the overall quality of the course and its coordination. (p.104)

-Social moderation seemed to have no distinctive effect on interaction, but the group that received content moderation seemed to debate more, included more external [...] in their discussion and made more references to ideas and remarks presented by fellow students in the group [...] to the students of the self-regulated group. (p.104)

-The students reported a need for basic guidelines and an indication of the expectations prior to the online discussion (administrative role). (p.105)

-Students thought that this would assist them to stay focused on the topic, and help to “clean up” the discussion.(p.105)

-According to Lim and Cheah (2003), there are a number of roles that teachers should play during asynchronous learning; these are: setting meaningful tasks, providing technical guidance, participating actively, keeping the discussion focused, drawing conclusions, providing content expertise, and recommending resources for extension of learning.(p.105)

-McAlpine et al. (2004) suggested that students look for the teacher to provide a positive input or attitude, and that having a teacher’s active presence in the online discussions seems to be a critical issue. The authors suggested a range of pro-active teacher activities: posting instructions ans expectations, and using dialogue as a process of inquiry, as well as providing feedback. To assist teachers in developing these competencies will be important to create teacher-teacher collaborations, because of it seems beneficial for sharing good practice derived from experience, and gives support to teachers as they develop their practice (Kennedy & Duffy, 2004). (p.105)

- It’s important to be in mind that this different relationship have to be carefully planned because it has implications for the expectations and behaviour of the participants in an NL environment. I’ts necessary tu find the balance between teachers and students, facilitating students’s critical questioning of authoritative sources Kennedy and Duffy (2004). (p.106)

- Authors note that it’s important to rethink the roles and responsabilities of both the teacher and students in NL settings, as well as to think about how to invite other parties in the learning process.(p.107)

- As a conclusion, the conclude that teacher’s presence is essential to improve learning, but also students are capable of taking over some of the teacher’s roles, and starting to develop leadership roles themselves within the gropu (as a way to guide and support each other to participate in their activity). Therefore, when employing NL it seems important to carefully introduce students into taking over these responsibilities (Simons et al., 2000). In this process-oriented teaching there is a need to manage the interplay between self-regulation and external regulation (Vermunt & Verschaffel, 2000).

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Referència: A selective analysis of empirical findings in networked learning research in higher education: Questing for coherence
Educational Research Review, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2006, Pages 99-111
Maarten de Laat, Victor Lally, Robert-Jan Simons and Etienne Wenger