Adult online learning – A dialogic perspective

Abstract

Dialogic education pedagogies trace their roots back to a framework developed by Soviet-Russian philosopher and literary theoretician Bakhtin (Matusov & Lemke, 2015). In Bakhtin’s thought, the place from which we speak plays an essential role in determining what we say. Moreover, Bakhtin says that “…In order to understand, it is immensely important for the person who understands to be located outside the object of his or her creative understanding-in time, in space, in culture” (p.xiii). This chapter aims to unpack and map some of the many meanings of dialogic education and their relationship with technology-mediated learning. While the research study is mainly focused on what roles chatbots can assume in online adult education and precisely what needs must they meet for online learners, the chapter starts by delving into the theory of dialogic learning.