Re-conceptualising culture in Virtual Learning Environments: from an ’essentialist’ to a ’negotiated’ perspective
نویسندگان
چکیده
The notion of ‘culture’ as an essential attribute of individuals and groups, owed to national or ethnic background, is critiqued in this paper as unhelpful to the project of understanding how diverse participants in virtual learning environments (VLEs) individually and jointly construct a culture of interaction. An alternative conceptualisation of culture in VLEs is proposed, which views online discussion as just one of the sites in which the culture of a VLE is negotiated. Other sites are to be found in institutional practices of teaching and learning at a distance, and in the wider cultural narratives of the Internet. Examples from two online Masters courses in online and distance education are used to contextualise this concept of culture, exploring the differences in patterns of participation that are produced by contrasting institutional cultures, despite the fact that such participation is explicitly valorised as the means and the subject of the learning that goes on in both these courses. Some implications for the understanding and management of student diversity in these environments are considered, in particular the need for emerging cultural narratives around VLEs to reflect all aspects of student engagement in distance education, not just those which relate to online interaction.
منابع مشابه
Study of the Factors Affecting on the Quality of Virtual Learning and Education from the Perspective of Dental Students of Zahedan University of Medical Sciences
Abstract Background & Aim: Nowadays the use of digital technology in dental education hasdramatically increased. The growth and development of educational models shows that it is important to change the approach of education from traditional methods to electronic methods and virtual education. We conducted the present study in aims of investigating the effective factors on the quality of vir...
متن کاملThe Effect of Explicit Negotiated Syllabus on Developing Speaking Ability and Affective Variables
History of language teaching methodologies is characterized by variety of syllabuses equal to the number of teaching methods. Following the ups and downs in teaching methods, syllabuses have had the same destiny. In line with the humanistic trend in this arena, whole learner involvement received prime significance to the extent that many favor negotiated syllabus in language teaching and learni...
متن کاملRe-Conceptualising Public Health Interventions in Government: A Response to Recent Commentaries
متن کامل
Quality of Virtual Learning during COVID-19 Pandemic from the Perspective of Dental Students in Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences
Background and purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has widely forced universities to provide electronic education, so, it is necessary to examine the quality of this type of education. The aim of this study was to investigate the quality of virtual learning during COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of dental students in Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. Materials and methods: A descrip...
متن کاملتعیین عوامل مؤثر برتوسعۀ آموزش الکترونیکی در دانشگاه علوم پزشکی جهرم
There is an increasing use of technology in an attempt to enhance teaching and learning in medical education, from the use of websites and virtual learning environments (VLEs) to interactive online tutorials to blogs and podcasts. Beneficiaries of CME programs did not show interest in e-learning subjects and they showed more tendencies to traditional education. We conducted this study to assess...
متن کامل