Digital Discourse : New Directions for Technology-Enhanced Learning (Paperback)

1. Learning dialogues: theoretical and analytical frameworks This chapter provides an analysis of the construct of "dialogue" in order to set the scene for this book. It explores the dialogic approach to learning and teaching that has a long history stretching back to Socrates and also plays a role in socio-cultural theories of learning which has been influenced by psychology, linguistics, anthropology and education. Research in the area of pedagogical dialogues provides evidence of the mediating role of such dialogues in the development of thinking and also in the construction of different communities of practice. Features of active co-construction of knowledge have provided a vision for the reforming of pedagogical practices in more interactive ways and raises the question of how e-learning environments can provide the enriched learning opportunities offered by a dialogic approach. 2. Creating digital dialogues with interaction in multimedia systems Research suggests that it does not matter whether one embraces a behaviorist view or a constructivist view of learning ? the role of action plays an important part in most theoretical positions which strive to understand how learning takes place. However, it is often difficult to translate the theoretical notions advocated for an epistemic subject into real pedagogical experiences. Is the ability to interact and manipulate a new environment going to be enough to promote conceptual learning? This question will be addressed with respect to the design of multimedia learning environments developed at the Open University. The emphasis in this chapter will be that interaction accompanied by feedback which results in a dialogue promotes learning. The main examples will be drawn from the Science Foundation Course and other disciplines at the Open University i.e. work that I have personally been involved with. 3. Knowledge building dialogues: computer mediated communication There is an increasing development of courses and course components taught online. This chapter will explore the research regarding the educational quality of the dialogues that are supported with computer conferencing systems. Much of the argument will draw on contemporary socio-cultural research that has been developed to understand face to face educational dialogues and apply this to the context of asynchronous electronic conferencing. Some of the work reported will be drawn from recent research conducted by Karen Littleton and myself. The implications of the findings from the studies discussed for educational practice will be considered. 4. Computer tools for augmenting learning dialogues This chapter examines a number of recent developments, which exhibit innovation in electronic communication for teaching and learning together with specific reference to a suite of tools developed at the UK’s Open University to support this process. These include "Lyceum" which supports audio feedback for language learning and live discussions forums in economics and management courses. The most recent developments from KMI at the Open University which include the following pedagogical communication tools, such as "BuddySpace" and "BuddyFinder", will also be discussed together with the role of mobile technologies to support learning dialogues. 5. The role of formative assessment in the eLearning dialogues cycle Electronic assessment can provide the opportunity to assist students to become more reflective learners. This is largely due to the immediacy of feedback that can be offered. This paper examines a number of recent developments, which exhibit innovation in electronic assessment together with specific reference to a suite of tools developed at the UK’s Open University to support this process. It also raises the issue of what assessment practices should be automated and recommends the introduction of more formative computer assisted assessment in higher education. 6. The role of dialogue in the promotion of reflective teaching With the advent of VLEs students have been encouraged to submit their course work electronically and tutors too can insert comments on the scripts electronically. This often means that feedback to the student and the university administrative system is speeded up which has certainly been the case with the UK Open University’s bespoke electronic Tutor Marked Assignment (TMA) system. However such an infrastructure offers the possibility of adding further services to support the types of feedback that can be offered to students and tutors alike as they learn to write and grade essays and reports. The monitoring system can provide tutors with high quality feedback to assist them and reflect upon their marking skills. "OpenMentor" is a tool that has been developed to help tutors provide the socio-emotive support that students need in their feedback from teaching staff. This chapter will document my pedagogical evaluation of this tool and provide guidelines for training teachers with "OpenMentor" to reflect upon their current practice. 7. Automated dialogues This chapter discusses the development of early automated systems such as the Eliza programme developed by Wiezenbaum through to the more recent feedback systems that have been developed to enhance the use of virtual reality programmes for conceptual learning. This is an area I have been working in collaboration with the BBC. The advances in games technologies will also be discussed and how the techniques used in these systems can be imported to an educational setting. 8. Motivation and dialogue Research suggests that the timing of feedback is essential to the learning process. Therefore engaging in digital dialogues can be timely and also motivating. My investigations in this field have revealed that students are motivated to learn with computerised feedback, since they not only feel as though they are in the presence of A.N.Other, but appreciate the confidentiality of feedback that the computer brings to the learning dialogue. By this they mean that their learning difficulties are not exposed to a tutor and they can repeat their investigations online until they do fully understand the topic. This chapter will assess current research and explore the affective nature and implications afforded by digital dialogues. 9. Using dialogue to promote learning in online systems (new Chapter on Future Challenges and Opportunities for dialogic approaches to teaching and learning) In this the concluding chapter, the main points of the book are revisited in order to bring out the role of digital dialogues in future learning frameworks. The educational theory and the research evidence that supports the use of dialogue will be emphasised. Finally the steps that teachers and developers need to take to implement effective use of dialogue is discussed.