Whose e-learning is it anyway? A case study exploring the boundaries between social networks and VLE courses.

by Mr Michael Cameron, Dr Jo Fox

Background

Student use of 'Web 2.0' social networks (e.g. Facebook and MySpace) has provoked a variety of responses from teachers and educational institutions. The 'decentred' control is simultaneously the strength and danger, depending on perspective. Some American schools have banned social sites while educators' blogs expound the pedagogic benefits of these tools. Regardless of teachers and institutions, students are running social networks. Their role in student life and learning is growing.


Method and contribution

We use a specific case study to illustrate important questions for educators and institutions. What activity is occurring in the Web 2.0 environment and what pedagogic benefit does this bring? Are students creating and reflecting on their own learning individually, with the tutor, or both? Does Web 2.0 better facilitate independent, reflective student learning, giving them ownership of the learning process? Can and should we bring these activities in-house? Are there legal implications? What is the relationship between institutional pages and student sites? How can teachers rationalise the two? We must address these questions to understand how we support e-learning in the future.

The paper compares interactions occurring in a VLE course with that on a Web 2.0 site associated with a History module. The paper draws on Etienne Wenger's concepts of legitimate peripheral participation in communities of practice to offer an explanation for full participation of students in social sites, and more measured participation in the class VLE. Foucault also provides a lens to explore the power structure inherent in Web 2.0 sites and institutionally owned systems.


The case study

The paper examines the experiences of one teacher (Jo Fox) and her final year history students studying Propaganda in Britain and Germany (1939-1945). With permission from her students, Jo delved into their Facebook sites to find some surprising activity. Jo encountered much she would not want to encourage, alongside the sort of activity she had been crying out for in Blackboard forums. Within Facebook, informal, sometimes inappropriate activity co-exists with highly appropriate learning interactions. Alongside humorous slights on teachers were book reviews and in depth analyses not evident in the VLE interactions. Is this because Web 2.0 tools have affordances not found in Blackboard? Is familiarity and control the key to participation?

Rather than worrying about the loss of control, Jo accepted the social and academic activity occurring naturally in Facebook, whilst seeking to learn from it. By monitoring Facebook, Jo can see what motivates and concerns students and reflects this in her teaching. The formal business of the course remains within Blackboard's boundaries, with its annual archive, audit trail and teacher-centred approach. Less formal, more varied interaction is occurring in Facebook, enabling students to construct their own learning in their own terms.


Evaluation and reflection

The paper will acknowledge that this is a specific case study, and is therefore strong on 'validity', but not 'generalisability'. It is supported however by survey data exploring Durham students' motivations for using Web 2.0 sites. Further research may build an understanding of post Web 2.0 e-Learning.

ID Number: 1233

Date: Tuesday, 4th September 2007

Time: 1700

Location: Law and Social Sciences Building, Room B63

Theme: Learning technology for the social network generation

Presentation: Alt4.ppt (The file which you can access from this link is the responsibility of the author of the Abstract to which the file relates, not ALT.