Introduction
Since its inception,
MirandaNet has developed online forums as both learning resources and a
medium for learning. MirandaNet Fellows have conducted evidence-based
research projects evaluating the ways in which online environments can
contribute to, and enrich, a range of learning situations. Many of
these have been written up as case studies and can be downloaded from
the MirandaNet site (www.mirandanet.ac.uk).
These case studies cover
five main areas, although there are obvious overlaps, and findings and
conclusions can be applied across a wide range of learning contexts.
One set of studies looks at the ways in which classroom teaching and
environments can be enhanced through online work. A number of these
look at the ways in which Think.com and Grid Club (available free of
charge to educational institutions from Oracle) can be used as a focus
for both classroom and out-of-school activities.
The issue of home-school
links builds on some of these studies. Ways in which young learners can
use such environments for their own learning communities is explored.
Other case studies look at the ways in which online forums and
environments can be used to support staff in their continuous
professional development (CPD). Some of these look at uses within an
institution, others, within a specific curriculum context, and another,
at the ways in which evidence can be gathered and analysed to
contribute to our understanding of concept formation in children.
The final case study
uses observational evidence to reflect on the ways in which e-learning
contributes to the overall pedagogical and developmental process.
Enhancing classroom teaching and environments
A number of these
studies utilised Think.com, a web-based environment available from the
Oracle Corporation that is free to schools. Think.com underpins Grid
Club, a freely available resource for Primary pupils.
Jim Fanning used this
environment in his school during the Autumn (Fall) Term and evaluated
the impact on both the pupils and his own teaching. He found that the
use of Think.com in the classroom changed teaching methods. During the
time span of the project teachers used the system to distribute
teaching materials via class web pages; they collected and returned
homework by email; they set up online assessment tasks for students. A
move towards a constructivist method, where teaching becomes more
learner-centred and the teacher assumes the role of facilitator,
required appropriate training for teachers, a change in
classroom/school organisation and new methods of assessment. His full
case study can be downloaded here:
Fanning,
J. (2004) : Can the use of think.com transform classroom teaching?
Keith Turvey also used a
Think.com environment for his study, based in a one and a half form
entry primary school with Year 5/6 children (10 to 11 years of age).
The aim of this project was to investigate the perceived advantages and
disadvantages of an online community within the primary school setting.
He examined the use of discussion forums to facilitate the construction
of knowledge in a range of contexts, bringing together individuals with
common ground to share and exchange information. Much has been
established regarding the stages of progression within online
collaborations through socialisation to knowledge construction and
development (Salmon, G: 2002). Turvey was keen to determine whether
these models of e-learning could be successfully emulated within the
context of the primary school, and whether they herald the introduction
of a potentially new teaching and learning style. Download the study:
Turvey,
K. (2003): Online communities within the Primary School Context
Nigel Riley used the online discussion forums available in World Ecitizens (www.worldecitizens.net)
available from MirandaNet. His case study focuses on e-learning as a
tool for extending and enriching pupils' learning through dialogical
learning that online forums support, and the concomitant key
life-skills that are developed. In embedding e-learning into the
curriculum the existing practices of communities of enquiry provide
guidelines for implementation. By using online discussion environments
pupils are given opportunities to develop the exploratory talk required
to promote collaborative knowledge construction through dialogical
learning. Evaluation and assessment of learning requires the use of
innovative techniques of concept mapping and content analysis of
discussions based on phenomenography theory.
The case study
establishes that critical learning and key skills development takes
place to a significant degree. Analysis of attitudes and intentions
towards e-learning established that pupils were highly motivated and
found e-learning to be a valid and valuable learning tool. The use of
the Internet as a resource as well as a forum and publication interface
aligns with Stephen Heppell's Model of e-learning as a library, forum
and publishing house.
Riley,
N. (2004): An investigation using online environments and
collaborative e-learning with primary pupils.
Richard Robinson's study
looked at the ways in which Think.com could extend and enrich student
learning outside the timetabled structures of a large secondary school.
The core group of students that became part of this study were all year
nine students, aged 13 to 14 years old. As a major emphasis was the
role of the Gifted and Talented student, the students he chose to
concentrate on were primarily from the Gifted and Talented register in
year nine, based on teacher assessment, test scores and identification
of specific learning skills. The register identified two levels of
gifted students, 'A' students, seen as gifted and talented in more than
one subject area, and 'B' students, seen as having a talent in an
individual subject area. There was a conscious effort to obtain a
gender balance within the core group.
To create a form of
control students who were not considered gifted were chosen either
because they had been part of a writing group through their enthusiasm
for English or had particular interests that were felt would motivate
them to be part of the group. The study can be read at:
Robinson,
R. (2003): The impact of Think.com on the learning of gifted students
in English.
Home-school links
Karen Hanrahan used an
online forum on World Ecitizens to establish an environment to
encourage pupils to develop independent communication skills in Modern
Foreign Languages. Each strand in the discussion forum constituted a
homework task: pupil threads within each strand were contributions to
the task.
The project involved two
groups of Year 7 (11 to 12 years old) students (a French class of 29
students and a German class of 28) within a large 11-18 comprehensive
school in East Sussex. The idea for this project germinated from two
distinct and (fairly common!) difficulties she had encountered, namely
access to the IT suites in school and the setting of meaningful yet
interesting homework. Therefore, the project's aims were to investigate
the viability of students' use of ICT for Modern Foreign Languages at
home (including their response to their own private forum) and whether
this had any impact on their attitude to language learning. In
addition, she proposed to examine her own e-learning throughout the
project.
The homework tasks
included going onto different language websites to complete various
activities, writing reviews and reports of chosen language sites and
games which students would then email to her, and participating in a
language forum that was set up specifically for the project on the
MirandaNet site. Other questions included: How effectively can online
homework be monitored? What effect, if any, does this e-learning
project have on students' attitude to language learning? How successful
was the Year 7 discussion forum and how does it differ from an adult
forum?
Hanrahan,
K. (2004): Modern Foreign Languages Elearning Project
Continuous Professional Development
Dai Thomas' study was
initiated by the need to ensure that CPD gains could be embedded.
Continued professional development (CPD) through professional dialogue
is difficult to maintain over diverse groups. Groups such as PGCE, GTP
and existing teaching staff of varying levels of experience have a
valid contribution to give any professional development group. Time to
talk within any stage in the profession is always at a premium. His aim
was to enable staff to develop professional dialogue after focused
professional sessions on issues. The time to talk is sometimes
difficult or impossible to find as the groups of people involved are
diverse and on different time allocations and levels of professional
experience. Dai was keen to change the reflective professional dialogue
that in part takes place as a plenary of a session to an asynchronous
online activity
Dai used open source
solutions such as PHP BB, which allowed him to develop his own online
community with little or no funding, and also to control and customise
his community solution to the needs of his organisation and its users.
He also used solutions such as Mambo Server technology, Moodle
groupware, Groove Workspace and PhpWebsite.
Thomas,
D. (2003): Continued professional development (CPD) through dialogue
online
Neil McDonald's study
examines the impact of a subject association online community on his
own professional development, and on others. He describes the community
as ‘the largest history department in the UK', and examines the ways in
which its users contribute, and draw from the community.
McDonald,
N. (2004): Teachers' Use of Forums for E-Learning
Dave Wallbanks and Neil
McDonald collaborated on the forum. Dave's separate study examines ways
in which the teachers used the forum for e-learning.
Wallbanks,
D. (2004): Teachers' Use of Forums E-learning
A slightly different
professional development forum is examined by Benjamin Semwayo. The
discussion forum formed part of a joint project between MirandaNet and
Select Education to train supply teachers as e-facilitators. These
e-facilitators would then work on the Select Education discussion
forums to support supply teachers and contribute to online CPD. Ben's
study examines the ways in which the discussion forum progressed and
how it compared with other discussion forums.
Semwayo,
B. (2005): The Select Education Discussion Forum
A project of a rather
different type was initiated by Alan Witherington. The project,
conducted over a six-week period in the summer term, involved setting
up and facilitating an online discussion forum for all 200 staff at his
school. The project aimed to establish the feasibility, effectiveness
and sustainability of such a forum and to investigate whether it could
help to build a one-school ethos in a school created from two
institutions. Evidence from questionnaires, interviews and from the
analysis of transcripts was used to form some conclusions. The
processes necessary to set up a forum were clearly established and a
community of mutually supportive staff, reflecting on professional
issues began to develop. Although only a small number of staff were
actively engaged in the forums, the support for the idea and its
potential was much more widespread. Barriers to wider use were the
inevitable ‘lack of time' and a number of other tensions for staff in a
school facing challenging circumstances. The school has now formed a
hard federation with two other schools and the need for such a forum
for sharing of good practice within the federation is enhanced.
Witherington,
A. (2004): Creating an online community in a large secondary school
Pushing boundaries
Maulfry Worthington's
research question was whether working with a colleague online (from the
same setting) supported both individual's learning? The study explored
ways in which context and language supported learners in constructing
understanding, and assessed the impact of involvement in collaborative
discussion, on classroom practice. A further concern was to evaluate
the extent to which e-learning provides an effective means of
professional development. Innovative online facilities were used within
a MirandaNet discussion forum to enable staff to exchange and critique
images of children's work.
Worthington,
M. (2004): Collaboration and co-construction through on-line
socialization
e-learning
Mike Smith's paper's
central theme is an investigation of what constitutes e-learning, and
it concludes with a model of e-pedagogy, with particular reference to
the school environment. From a case study of the observation and
description of a pupils' online community, phases in the e-learning
process are identified. A key theme is transformational learning.
E-learning is seen as an emancipatory knowledge creation process in
which teacher and pupil interchange roles in a collaborative learning
environment. The teacher as facilitator guides the learners through the
process of acquiring skills to the collection of information, which is
then developed into knowledge streams for group analysis. The Internet
offers a global information network and ICT hardware assists in
maintaining an interactive learning environment. An important part of
successful e-pedagogy is effective e-facilitation.
Smith,
M. (2005): An investigation into what constitutes e-pedagogy and
e-learning
The MirandaNet Academy
A number of MirandaNet
Fellows have developed projects that they have published on MirandaNet
and have submitted them for post-graduate accreditation through the
MirandaNet Academy, working in conjunction with Bath Spa University.
Their innovative post-graduate programme enables teachers to obtain
postgraduate qualifications for evidence-based curriculum and
development work they are undertaking in their schools. For further
information about the MirandaNet Academy email us.
For further information about Dr John Cuthell, please see:
http://www.virtuallearning.org.uk/research/index.html
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