MESHGuides

McKnight, K., O'Malley, K., Ruzic, R., Horsley, M.K., Franey, J.J. and Bassett, K., 2016. Teaching in a digital age: How educators use technology to improve student learning. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 48(3), pp.194-211.

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15391523.2016.1175856

This column contains reports of a number of systematic literature reviews, which are varied in nature.  They range from a review of 145 papers about 1-1 computing devices to a review of Wenger’s thinking about communities of practice.  This range of reviews bring to bear a number of key issues in how technology can facilitate high quality social learning in online and blended environments within teacher education.  The notion of communities of practice sets the scene for this section.  

Wenger suggests three types of CoPs within the field education: those that are internal to a particular educational institution; those are external to a particular educational institution; those addressing the lifelong needs of learners beyond formal education. Furthermore he suggests that traditional learning environments could be re-envisaged as community hubs that facilitate real-world, ongoing learning (Wenger, 2011).  Such practices provide opportunities for teachers to make links with others in more expansive ways than traditional learning environments allow.

This video narrated by Dave Cormier gives an introduction to the characteristics of learning within a Massive Open Online Course or MOOC.

Koohang, A, Paliszkiewicz, J, Goluchowski, J, & Horn Nord, J.  (2016) Active Learning for Knowledge Construction in E-learning: a replication study.  Journal of Computer Information Systems, Vol 56, Issue 3 pp 238-243.

Summary and key points

Wenger’s definition of CoPs (1998) acknowledges that there can be layers within the communities and that members might adopt a central or peripheral position. Self-directed involvement by the participants is therefore crucial to the success of the community. Unlike traditional learning events where a cohort of learners learn the same content at the same pace, a CoP may have different types of participation and differing degrees of expertise. Knowledge transfer can occur at any time as experts pass expertise on to novices.

A Google + community gave us a visual platform for reflecting and sharing ideas prompted by the course materials and a forum for discussions on the weekly themes. This relates to Wenger, Trayner, & De Laat’s definition of social learning as the collaborative construction of new knowledge through dialogues sharing familiar concepts, problems and insights in a constructive way. (Wenger, Trayner, & De Laat, 2011).