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HISTORY OF E-LEARNING

The Open University’s distance learning Degrees are a well-known


example of effective Virtual learning / e-learning. HEIs have been
using virtual MLE environments for some time with varying degrees
of affectivity. Virtual learning is a relativly ‘new’ initiative in schools,
however, e-learning has been used for training and development in
industry for some years. Cuthell’s research into the historical
developments in e-learning largely fall into the following three
categories:
• Political influences in the form of Government agenda / White
Papers and their impacts on teaching in schools;
• Technological developments and
• The social shift towards the normalisation of the inclusion of
information communication technologies and systems in peoples’
lives.

Since the Government realised the importance of computers in


schools and they have committed to investment through the
National Grid, whose focus has been online learning and the
management of change in the uses of new technology for
Teachers /educators students and their parents. The introduction of
ICT in the classroom challenged the current pedagogical approaches
to learning and teaching information and communicative
technologies. Many teachers were left struggling to introduce ICT in
to their classrooms. ICT across the curriculum (ICTAC) has been a
strand of the National Curriculum that was neatly integrated into
assessment frameworks with opportunities for teachers to be
assessed on their ability to integrate ICT in to their own teaching
patterns. The rise in student access to computers through more
students owning their own computers and the affordances that ICT
brings also brings attention to those who are disadvantaged by no
access at all. 1

In the Acron Micro Computers Era (1980s) computers were used as


aids for learning maths and sciences, for presenting final drafts and
used in Business Studies for studying databases. At this time,
teachers were generally struggling to fit ICT and computers into
their teaching schemes so instead they taught about computers.
Educators were concerned with how students could undertake work
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using this tool; and how ICT would or could change the work
students do. Cuthell explains that ‘the dominant approach from
teachers was to learn how to use dominant programs to achieve
particular outcomes relating to their curriculum, and then teach the
students how to use the programmes in order to achieve those
outcomes’ (2002).

In looking at Cuthell’s reflections on ICT usage in schools, how


different is our approach to ICT in the classroom today? In my
intuition:
• Much of the software is based on game formats which
students are awarded scores to signify success (similar to the
instant test features in Fronter – managed learning
environment.
• The most successful learning experiences involving ICT
happened when computers where innate to the students
learning experience.
• Increased provision has not guaranteed that teachers will use
more ICT.

By the 1990s there was more ownership of home computers


amongst students and the quality and scope of their work began to
change and the software that students had a home was broadly
compatible with that available in school. The software allowed
students to analyse data and generate graphical analysis with
relative ease. Students became the expert and the leader in
knowledge and understanding of the technology and acting as the
mentor to other students and teachers (Cuthell 2002).

Although the use of computers by young people has been a subject


of debate for some time, much of the research has focused on how
computers might enhance or transform learning and schooling
(Cuthell 2002). In this project I intend to explore the virtual/
(e)learning experiences for students studying the Creative and
Media Diploma. I will act as both a ‘participant and observer’ as at
the same time as collecting data from the students and teachers I
would also be extending my own understanding of the interpersonal
dynamism of virtual platforms (social learning) and which later
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helped me to interrogate my data. I will do this through my
membership of an employment-based (school) working group who
support the implementation of Fronter (chosen Virtual Managed
Learning Environment) in my school.

The initial reaction to Fronter’s linear, text-bias interface that it was


contrary to the ‘de facto standard graphical user interface’ that
students recognised and is described in Cuthell’s research (2002).

When studying student usage of ICT and virtual learning


environments I will consider the following concepts and
methodologies outlined by Cuthell (2002). He explains:
• the concept of Cyborgs as ‘the interlaced man-machine
technology that provides a route for us to stand aside from the
limitations imposed on our bodies by restrictions of age, gender,
class and socio-economic status.’ Current political thinking
strengthens the need for ICT being an integral in all aspects of
education, whether for collating and sharing student information
to use in the classroom as a tool to enhance the learning
experience;
• the process of D.I.Y with the notion that the computer is a tool
that supports students ‘creations of their own artefacts and
systems of understanding’. As teachers we regularly set Internet-
based research tasks and or they are often asked to create
PowerPoint presentations to summarise or provide evidence of
learning;
• that hegemony exists, in particular he states that there are a ‘the
set of assumptions and practices that dominanate the praxis and
thinking of staff and students’. For example, the dominant
assumption made by Network Managers, when we are upgrading
a new ICT room to facilitate the delivery the creative and media
diploma was that we would buying computers running Windows
operating systems (only).
• How ICT promotes production through the acquisition of
knowledge, understanding and capability in the use of ICT. This
thought has been embedded into the accredited for a level 2
Diploma (all learning lines); students must achieve a level 2 in all

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three Functional Skills (Mathematics, Literacy and ICT) and
display knowledge and understanding of process.

The relevance of Cyber Theory


In investigating the affordances and limitations of e-learning
environments, I will need to outline the theories that influence these
discourses. Cyber-society and virtual ideologies as summarised in
Bunyan’s 1999 thesis are acutely relevant. He explains that
“Cyberspace” is the commonly accepted term for the realm of
Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) and discourse. It is the
conceptual space one is said to be ‘in’ whilst using the Internet. He
continues to explain that the term relates to the “non physical” or
real world presence of the subject in question, or of what is being
experienced through cyberspace. Thus the terms “virtual” and
“cyber” are to some extent interchangeable. He continues to outline
that the term “community” is more problematic to define as it has
different connotations dependant on the context it is used in.
Bunyan refers to Jones’ definition for community as being “bounded
territory of sorts (whether physical or ideological), but it can also
refer to a sense of common character, identity, or interests as with
the ‘gay community’ or the ‘virtual community’” (Jones, 1997, 39).

“There is an apparent juxtaposition between individuality and


collectivity in cyberspace. Jan Fernback (Jones 1997, 36-54)
suggests that cyber-existence in post-industrial societies is partially
characterised by emergent tensions between the individual and the
collective (Bunyan 1999).” This is perhaps most prevalent in the
case of discussion groups and listserved discussion, where
messages may either be posted to an individual or the collective
‘list’ where all may view the post. Similar to Facebook’s ‘wall’
feature where friends or group members can publicly publish
messages or use the internal individual (person to person) private
message features (similar to email).
Education as both a collective and individual experience appears to
be, through the proliferation of information and communication
technologies. Education is struggling to position itself in the
emerging virtual societies and communities as schools in particular
are currently not underpinned with appropriate e-pedagogy.
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Bunyan continues to argue that the virtual or online community


gives rise to a notion of that the group as a new type of collective
meta-consciousness, reasoning with itself internally as though
engaged in a meta-form of intra-personal communication. It is
within a relationship to this group identity that individual identity is
formed. Jones (1997) notes that identity is derived from both our
understanding of group identity and identification within a
collective. The individual experiences can come about through the
user’s ability to personalise their spaces through the use of a set of
tools provided within the environment. Virtual spaces are becoming
as equally prominent as the physical space; business and schools
alike have spaces on the web. The spaces present as a marketing
tool as well as a virtual platform to convergence, share and
disseminate information relevant to the community it serves. An
allure of virtual interactions in cyberspace allow participants to (with
some degree of privacy) contribute to public life from the comfort of
their own home (Bunyan, 1999). This allure is not a feature of
education-based virtual learning environments; all activity in rooms
is controlled by the room owner (the teacher). The importance of
identity and community is important criteria for successful virtual
learning interaction, and I will consider this in my research
methodology and lesson design strategy.

DISTANCE LEARNING
In John Cuthell’s’ 1999 research into ICT and distance, he argues
that traditional course scheduling becomes one of life’s fixed point
and we tend to fix everything else around it. The effort of getting to
the classroom can often be a strain particularly when the learning is
an addition to what the individual does day to day or they are
compelled to travel from one place to the next for the learning to
take place. Distance learning is attractive as there is an option of
completing the course in your own time but successful completion
of the course is more to do with will-power needed to fit the
coursework around the pressure of life. The advantages of distance
learning far out-weigh the disadvantages, in the coming years
things will become much faster with technology developments,
through broadband and satellite communications now coming
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through the home, more content will transform the nature of virtual
education. Paralinguistic fillers, such as ‘ums’ and ‘errs’, which
disrupt the fluency delivery and often distort transmission meaning
are removed (can be particularly useful for early stage learners of
English language and other groups whose accent may inhibit their
contributions in a traditional learning environment) – learning
conversation are re-defined.

VIRTUAL MANAGED LEARNING ENVIRONMENT – PAN LONDON


PROGRAMME
The managed learning environment being introduced in my
institution is Fronter. Each centre must define their own admin
structure (see example of admin structure below. In my institution
this is being decided by the senior leadership team and the network
manager, who consult a working group who contribute the views of
the whole school (which I am a member of). The example below
shows a typical structure of a secondary MLE. Different users have
different permission codes which dictate whether they are able to
read (see), write (add content) or whether the room/space is public
(anyone with the correct access rights can see it). The permissions
of a user are determined by where they are in the structure, which
is hierarchical. Student users have the least restricted access a
number of different rooms; they can either read or write (add). In
the sample structure below, students have write access in one area;
Tutor rooms and will be able to read all room curriculum /
department created rooms.

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E-PEDAGOGIES AND LEARNING STYLES

In Cuthell’s research paper on Learning theory and e-pedagogy, he


explains the term ICT affordances as being concerned with the
facilitating of enhanced learning opportunities independent of
content or preferred teaching styles.
He argues that the current systems that British schools work within
do not facilitate the process of knowledge building and focuses
heavily on ‘means and ends of delivery; and content and
information transmission are favoured.
He continues to argue that Piagetian theory which expects the
learner to pass through certain stages of development is a
‘developmental folk myth’. This is based on the ideas that: there are
two pillars of received wisdom: learner readiness and competence
stage and students are unable to cope with concepts and
applications which have been determined to lie outside the bounds
of their developmental stage; and each stage needs to be
consolidated by practice. I agree with the suggestion that
developmental stages are not as fixed in contemporary educational
paradigms.

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Piaget’s research and methodology has been questioned by a
number of researchers (Donaldson, 1978; Gardener, 1983; Seigel &
Brainerd, 1978) but the original thesis has retained its’ power over
pedagogy and the National Curriculum until 2008 when a focus on
thinking and learning as a tool to building knowledge and
understanding has taken precedence.
3
The concept of ICT affordance was developed by Wersch (1998),
who said computers as a tool, was a vehicle for combining motor
skills, language, and image symbolic manipulation through practical
activities.

Teaching and Learning models and ICT


affordances:
Behaviourist Teaching and Learning theory is
based on behaviour modification and classroom
management. Change as an agent of learning
(Atherton, J) The operant conditioning - learning by consequences4
was largely led by Skinner (1957).
The support provided by ICT in terms of feedback to the learner,
error messages, prompts, templates and wizards provides powerful
reinforcement of learning. These affordances underpin independent
learning systems and many managed learning environments
(Cuthell).

Constructivist theory is based on cognitive theories and there is


an emphasis on the learner in constructing an individual view from
previous experiences. Or the learner making connections between
facts and then developing new understandings.5 Multiple
intelligences theory is based on Gardener (1983) his notions, that
traditional IQ testing was/is too narrow. Gardener argued that there
we have eight intelligences (word, number/logic, picture, music,
self-reflection, physical experiences, social experiences and
experiences in the natural world). Learning Styles is an approach
that originated in 1980s and puts emphasis on styles of learning
(Visual, Auditory and Kinaesthetic). This approach has been adopted
as exemplar practise in UK secondary schools6

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ICT has the affordance to utilise the rich learning theories provided
by the use of diverse materials and collaborative working where
knowledge is inseparable from practice.

Three powerful elements of ICT provide drivers for e-


learning:
1. They are highly ostensive; and are able to support lexical
understanding through the act of pointing at things. Cuthell
explains, that this supports and reinforces the development of
language learning. ICT systems reinforce this through the use of
the mouse, interactive whiteboards with the stylus or the finger
and in gaming (i.e. Nintendo DS uses both a stylus, fingers, audio
commands and joystick/keypad). Rosetta Stone’s 7
language
learning e-learning system which relies on learners to click on
the correct visual example when an audio (voice) prompts them
through the software.
2. Visualisation and the ability to move backwards and forwards
through different stages of a process or a learning objective,
enable learners to recall stages of learning.
3. Ludic elements built into lesson : through games, competitive
elements and constant feedback, learning becomes fun. In
developing suitable resources I will attempt to include these
three ‘powerful elements’.
Mover over the success of e-learning depends on teachers’
recognition and action towards the dynamic nature of a new
pedagogy in which continual change must be embraced. Students
will be an existential reality of living on the edge of cutting edge
technology, where the tools they use and the concepts they forge
are an integral part of the learning process. The successful
implementation of e-learning into our education system will depend,
to an extent, on teachers’ personal uses of ICT and e-learning,
whether for access to resources, CPD, communities of practice or
communities of social networks (Cuthell, 1999).

Kolb (1983) saw learning as an active process its stages formed as


a continuum; this model for teaching and learning argues that
learners should be immersed in experiences, reflect on them and
then use these, to through experimentation create, or develop their
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understanding of a concept or concept skill. From concrete
experience / involvement; through watching others or developing
conversations about their own experience, through abstract
conceptualisation there is a creation of ideas that explain their
observations. Often a feature in Creative and Media education is
simulation projects which provide students with opportunities to
have an experience of working within an industry/work related
environment. In reflective observation – watching others or
developing conversations about one’s own experience through
abstract conceptualisation – learners perform evaluative tasks and
engage in discussions, observer and comment on others work. In
active experimentation students use theories to solve problems and
make decisions (Cuthell).

The combination of elements of play – the ludic, ostensive and


visual stimuli means that computers provide a focus for different
types of learning. Computers are still only artefacts that reinforce
intuitive understanding and ways of knowing and learning. Distance
learning and the use of ICT, Learning Theories, The affordances of
ICT for learning, the problems for learning and teaching in an age of
new technologies and new pedagogy (e-pedagogy / e-learning).

CONTEMPORARY USE OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION


TECHNOLOGIES
The emergence and subsequent proliferation of social networking
sites where people interact with each other easily. The user
developed games, sharing original and found content by providing
information about themselves on profile pages. Users of such
virtual meeting places agree to a set of agreed behaviour imposed
by the community. An agreed numeric-phonetic abbreviated
language is used to write on your friends’ wall, comments of
photographs or any other content the owner has decided to share.
From my own experiences and through data gathered in my student
and teacher questionnaire Facebook appeared to be a most popular
virtual social network and Microsoft Messenger was very popular
with students who used it to ‘Chat’ with friends. Other popular
virtual communities or immersive virtual worlds include second life.

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Second life is described as a 3D virtual world where you encounter
both people and objects you can interact with (through the use of
your mouse) by utilising ‘contextual menus’ for ‘objects’ , ‘yourself’
and ‘others’. You can also move around, see people and objects in
less/closer details or from different angles. Second life is most well
known for the users creation of avatars. Avatars not only act as a
form of fun but when considered with social constructivist
conceptual framework such as those adopted by the Appalachian
State University Reich College of Education; we begin to see that
the use of avatars are much more significant to the community
practice. Bronack, Tashner et al (2008) argue that:
(1)Learning occurs in communities of practice;
(2)Knowledge is socially constructed and learning is social in nature;
(3)The development of educators proceeds through stages of
Novice to Expert under the guidance of more experienced and
Knowledgeable mentors in the community of practice;
(4)Cognition is distributed; that is, individual thinking and problem
solving are revealed through socially contextual practices.

The need for e-learning in schools or not?


The systemic normalisation of the need for and harvesting Cyborgs
and other forms of virtual learning communities and platforms have
become an integral part of what is considered exemplar learning
and teaching in British secondary education. The arguments put
forward by Raymond Williams in his essay Ideas of Nature question
the role and importance of progress. When applying his exploration
of the concepts of nature he argues that ‘nature’ is a mere
ideological and often-hegemonic construct, I have further explored
his ideas with an epistemological framework to question the need
for e-learning in schools (ed. During 1993).

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1 Cuthell, J Virtual Learning - The Impact of ICT on the Way Young People Work
www.virtuallearning.org.uk/virtuallearning
2 http://api.ning.com/files/9i*QBkry3p6qdg37pHGS1Pswh*1aN*UrmudJPXPKyGmiR7Z1CeaZwLtSPqU4UKAPNPV8XIC
4l1mszbr40YEEWdXMAqdt2RzW/MLEStructureFeb2009.jpg
3http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/behaviour.htm
4 http://www.funderstanding.com/content/behaviorism
5 http://www.emtech.net/construc.htm
6 Pedagogy and Practice: Teaching and Learning in Secondary schools / Unit 19 (learning styles). www.dcsf.gov.uk
7Rosetta Stone – is a language learning e-learning system which relies on learners to click on the correct visual example
when an audio (voice) prompt through the software www.rosettastone.co.uk/.

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