This paper argues that the social dimension is important to effectiveness of Asynchronous Learning Networks (ALNs) and needs to be taken into account in the design of courses. Evidence from an ethnographic study of the Teaching and Learning Online (TLO) course offered by the Institute of Education Technology at the Open University is presented in support of this argument. This study found that individual success or failure on the course depended upon the extent to which students were able to cross a threshold from feeling like outsiders to feeling like insiders. Factors affecting the construction of a sense of community are drawn out from interviews with students. The significance of these findings is discussed in relation to a situated model of learning as induction into a community of practice. Finally recommendations are made for the support of community building in the design of courses.

k, community and domesticity have moved from hierarchically arranged, densely knit, bounded groups to social networks. In networked societies: boundaries are more permeable, interactions are with diverse others, linkages switch between multiple networks, and hierarchies are flatter and more recursive. People maneuver through multiple communities, no longer bounded by locality. Organizations form complex networks of alliances and exchanges, often in transient virtual or networked organizations (Bar & Simard, 2001). Workers --especially professionals, technical workers, and managers -- report to multiple peers and superiors. Work relations spill over their nominal work group's boundaries, and may even connect them to outside organizations. In virtual and networked organizations, management by network has people reporting to shifting sets of supervisors, peers, and even nominal subordinates (Wellman, 2001). How people learn is becoming part of this paradigm shift. There has been some mov

In this paper we discuss the use of modern information and communication technologies for distance education (DE) purposes. We argue that current technologies and implementations do not adequately support the key concepts of communication and community that many practitioners believe to be important, particularly if modern pedagogies such as constructivism are to be supported. We propose that collaborative virtual environments (CVEs), which are computer-enabled, distributed virtual spaces or places in which people can meet and interact with others, with agents and with virtual objects, are appropriate tools for improving DE. We discuss the current developments in the areas of CVEs in particular and in computer supported co-operative work (CSCW) in general. We also note those areas in which the majority of CVEs implemented to date have not reached their full potential for DE support, discuss current thought regarding online community, and outline a proposed CVE-based system for DE. The architecture of a CVE should be based on the pedagogical requirements of the community and include three distinct types of virtual space: collaborative zones, common student campus, and lecture rooms. With proper design, a CVE should greatly assist the development of a productive learning community in which students ’ social, academic, and collaborative needs are met.

The NSF-funded Center for Innovative Learning Technologies (CILT) is designed to be a national resource for stimulating research and development of technology-enabled solutions to critical problems in K-14 science, math, engineering and technology learning. The Center, which was launched at the end of 1997, is organized around four themes its leadership has identified as areas where research is likely result in major gains in teaching and learning. The Center sponsors research across disciplines and institutions in its four theme areas. It brings together experts in

Improvements in computer network infrastructures and information utilities have led to an increase in the number of social and work interactions carried out `virtually' by geographically separated group members [1, 5, 6, 7]. In this paper we describe the design and evaluation of a prototype system that supports synchronous and asynchronous collaboration between researchers separated by space and time. The system provides noncollocated team members with a digital, virtual space for information sharing and discussion. For synchronous interactions, our design prioritizes provision of shared context, real-time discourse, and real-time problem solving and negotiation between the team members. In the case of asynchronous interactions, we have prioritized the capture of team decision making and negotiation processes and the representation of these processes in a context-rich, hypertextual document of team problem solving and negotiation.

As computer networks improve, more social and work interactions are carried out "virtually" by geographically separated group members. In this paper we discuss the design of a tool, PAVE, to support remote work interactions among colleagues in different time zones. PAVE extends a 2D graphical MOO and supports synchronous and asynchronous interactions. PAVE logs and indexes activities in the space. This capture facility enables playback and augmentation of meeting interactions by non-collocated group members. Thus, members can participate asynchronously in meetings they could not attend in real time, not just review them. 1.#

The EFTWeb model results from research efforts concerning the lack of integrated solutions to reuse the contents generated by teachers and students . System functionality is extended in order to make possible content reuse between different disciplines from teachers and considering different educational situations.

An ancient tradition says that one may teach with questions and that teaching by questioning has advantages compared to teaching by telling. This is the core of the Socratic Method. 1 At the same time, computer presentation opens new possibilities for a textbook that responds to the student’s use of computers and that can initiate the interaction by posing a question for the student. 2 With the addition of JavaScript and other technologies, such interactive material can be presented on the World Wide Web. I report here on some experiments and suggest some future work that reflects that perspective. To illustrate, I have prepared a demonstration project of a textbook chapter that takes some modest steps in a direction suggested by the vision of an active and interactive, question-led textbook. (The demonstration chapter is

Abstract not found

Abstract not found