Julie Gannon The Futures Academy Faculty of the Built Environment Dublin Institute of Technology

1. Rethinking eLearning:Bridging the Technology-Pedagogy Divide with an Appropriate Theoretical Framework Julie Gannon The Futures Academy Faculty of the Built Environment Dublin Institute of Technology 8th Annual Irish Educational Technology Conference Dublin Institute of Technology, Bolton St. 23-25 May, 2007

2. Introduction • Research Project Manager, The Futures Academy since 2003 • “Twice the Size: Imagineering the Future of Irish Gateways” • LUDA: Improving the Quality of Large Urban Distressed Areas • Teaching in School of Real Estate & Construction Economics • Postgraduate Certificate & Diploma in Third Level Learning & Teaching • Designing eLearning Module • Rationale for paper!?..... • “Futures Studies” module • eLearning element? • WebCT

3. Outline of Presentation • Objectives of paper • Context: eLearning: A Changing Learning Landscape • Key Issues: - Technology versus Pedagogy - Theories underpinning eLearning Design - Translating Theory to Practice • Conclusions

4. Objectives of Research Paper • Highlight the need to rethink the pedagogy of e-learning in light of technology-pedagogy divide. • Discuss the importance of underpinning design with a sound theoretical framework. • Describe the theories underpinning e-learning. • Outline the value of social constructivism in promoting collaborative learning. • Outline the current problems facing teachers in designing effective online learning.

5. Globalisation, Information Age, Mobile Age, Knowledge Society, Network Society...challenges for education Power to transform traditional learning Profound implications for supporting learning Progressive integration in education Change to pedagogy? Yet to “release” the pedagogical affordances of learning technologies Forces driving e-learning agenda: Technology? Economic? Pedagogy? Value? So, how can e-learning best facilitate student learning? eLearning: A Changing Learning Landscape

6. Technology alone does not automatically improve learning Technological goals should not override pedagogical goals To date, e-learning has been technology-led, not theory-led Need to ground e-learning in educational theory Prevent a mismatch between design of learning & epistemological roots Bridging the Technology-Pedagogy Divide

7. Underpinning eLearning Design with a Sound Theoretical Framework “There is not, and probably never will be, one great unified General Theory of Adult Learning that will solve all our problems.” (Zemke, 2002). • Different theories prescribe different strategies • No one school of thought should be exclusively used to design e-learning • Goal: right theory (or combination of theories) for right situation(s) • Learning should be ‘fit for purpose’ • Blended approach caters for broad target student audience & different learning styles • Underpin design with an eclectic mix of principles from the different learning schools

8. Designing eLearning Epistemology Theories of Learning Strategies or Principles of Design eLearning Content, Activities & Support Learning Outcomes

9. Initially computers applied according to empiricist theories Shift from behaviourist to constructivist theories of learning (teacher  student-centred) Generally agreed that e-learning should be supported by: Behaviourism Cognitivism Constructivism Provide a range of learning perspectives for different styles Requires a thorough understanding of the notion of ‘learning’ Learning as: understanding, experience, reflection, activity, social practice… Recent interest in social constructivist pedagogies… Theories underpinning eLearning Based on Villalba and Romiszowski (2001)

10. Learning involves acquiring knowledge & understandings to construct meaningful solutions to real problems. Relationship between learner, activity and environment. Learning is ‘situated’. (Lave & Wenger, 1991) A process of engagement in ‘community of practice’. (Lave, 1999) eLearning present extraordinary opportunities to support this type of learning. Technology becomes a medium where understandings are socially constructed and shared. Mindful approach to design - process & product. Major implications for designing e-learning… Social Constructivist Pedagogies

11. Implications for Design

12. Translating Theory into Practice • Range of guidelines to design sound pedagogy • Variety of issues to consider: • Pedagogical • Technical • Social/Cultural • Ethical • Organisational • Institutional… • Theories help address these issues by informing design • Theories can be quite abstract & difficult to operationalise in practice • Research suggests teachers have major difficulties with this • Need to support the design, development and delivery of e-learning (particularly for novice course designers) • eLearning requires a different set of skills from traditional instruction • Role of teachers: “Sages on the stage to guides on the side” • Teachers as “e-moderators” or “e-facilitators” (Salmon, 2000) • Need for design support to enable teachers to improve practice (design toolkits, design patterns, evaluation criteria…)

13. Translating Theory into Practice • Institutes of education largely based on a one-sided conceptualisation of learning. • As a process of ‘acquisition’ of pre-existing knowledge and skills mirroring behaviourist theories. • Pedagogy is more didactic than negotiated, aiming to control rather than facilitate. • Teachers “chalk and talk” online and students become “consumers” of knowledge. • Need to engage with the central questions: what, how and why people learn. • Need to re-examine the traditions, values and practices that prevail in e-learning and in higher education.

14. Conclusions • Challenge now is to “release” the pedagogical potential of learning technologies to address the poverty of pedagogies. • Technology & pedagogy should not be seen as two competing entities. • A symbiotic rather than dualistic relationship between the two needs to be supported. • Need to create a platform to expand the philosophical knowledge base of e-learning from both perspectives. • Need to support and enable teachers to continually improve practice. “We need to rebuild the infrastructure that will enable a fit between the academic values we wish to preserve and the new conditions of education that we wish to promote.” (Laurillard, 2002)