Abstract
When converting from a paper-based distance mode to an online mode of teaching, certain expectations arise that students may engage not only in the development of extended research activity but that the quality of discussion and thinking will change. With access to open-ended discussion within the online forum the opportunity is afforded to students to share ideas and in turn develop their shared knowledge, a facility denied to them when in the paper distance mode. However, in a recent study conducted in New Zealand, it was shown that despite having access to online forums students moving to an online platform refrained from participation in this social exchange. A possible explanation for this indifference was thought to be the students realising that the online exchange made no impact on their assessment. Hence, the collaborative rhetoric of Web 2.0 made little impact when the summative evaluation remained unchanged from previous paper-based assessment. This paper reports on the introduction of online learning at a private tertiary college in New Zealand and describes the response of students who found difficulty in reconciling a community of learners and openness within what was perceived as an evaluation that remained individualistic and competitive in nature.
Highlights
This paper arose from a two-year longitudinal study of staff and students as they changed from a correspondence, paper-based course to an online provision
The students were based in New Zealand and were all early childhood student teachers taking a six-month degree upgrade
The term strategic, in this paper, is similar to the term used by Marton and Säljö (1976), Entwhistle (1981), and Biggs (1993), for whom a strategic learner is seen as impersonal and working at a surface level
Summary
This paper arose from a two-year longitudinal study of staff and students as they changed from a correspondence, paper-based course to an online provision. This broad definition of learning is seen to have a significant impact on students sharing ideas and gathering knowledge in a more informal context (Gulati, 2004) These characteristics of the learner as open, engaging, and willing to discuss and develop new thinking was the hope of the WEDL research team. Education is concerned with learning how to share information, and seeing oneself as a learner within a human endeavour of seeking change, in advancing the needs of ethical living (Lave & Wenger, 1991) While these aspirations were held in relation to the ambition of Web 2.0 implementation, the project had less ambitious goals and was intended to open to the students an opportunity to work online with tools provided as in Web 2.0 platforms but without a specific grounding in Web 2.0 as a philosophy of learning
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
