Technology-enabled learning communities

This systematic literature review of 26 studies considers the need for teachers to provide online learning opportunities for K-12 students. It uses the TPACK framework to aggregate the types of knowledge and skills required to teach online, and examines both the extent to which these elements are addressed in existing programs and are based on empirical research. The TPACK theory stands for Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge.

Many researchers have recognised that technology can facilitate situated learning by providing an environment in which learners can interact and share ideas using collaborative technologies. Since Wenger’s original work on CoPs in 1991 there has been a widespread increase in online learning and in the adoption of social learning as an instructional method.

The team of 50 trainee teachers, teachers and lecturers met for 5 days in Norway to create the materials for the online course based upon their national and international collaborations during the year on five Technology Outdoors themes: Wild Writing, Art in the Environment, Creating Trails and Outdoor Science.

In their model of online communities of inquiry, Garrison, Anderson, and Archer (2003) suggest that online communities have three forms of presence: cognitive, social and teaching. They believe that these three forms of presence overlap to create the educational experience.

Teaching in a Digital Age: How Educators Use Technology to Improve Student Learning.  McKnight, K, O’Malley, K, Ruzic, R, Horsley, Franey, J and Bassett, K (2016). Journal of Research on Technology in Education, Vol. 48 Issue 3 pp194 -211

This is a review of 47 articles from a sample of technology-enhanced learning interventions in HE.

Summary and key points

Wenger identifies three elements that need to be in place to form a CoP: the domain, the community and the practice.

Some activities were designed to help the pupils from different countries get to know each other. For example, pupils swapped newscasts about their countries and about outdoor science themes in their countries. They used Tellagami avatars to tell each other about their spare time activities. And they made instructional videos of each other’s outdoor games. A Thinglink image of a set of drawers made it possible for classes in different countries to post and respond to digital content they made on the theme of outdoor celebrations.

The idea of situated learning underpins authentic e-learning opportunities. It is essentially a matter of creating meaning from the real activities of daily life and follows the work of Dewey, Vygotsky and others who claim that students are more inclined to learn by actively participating in the learning experience.

Garner, R. and Rouse, E., 2016. Social presence–connecting pre-service teachers as learners using a blended learning model. Student Success, 7(1), pp.25-36.