Research into Distance Learning and Technology
There have been a number of studies that examine
distance learning technologies in constructivist terms. Two recent studies
that use ethnographic methods to show that distance learning has rich potential
for collaboration and community building are S. English and M. Yazdani’s
"Computer-supported cooperative learning in a Virtual University" in the
Journal
of Computer Assisted Writing and Rupert Wegerif’s "The Social Dimension
of Asynchronous Learning Networks" in the Journal of Asynchnronous Learning
Networks.
Rena Palloff and Keith Pratt argue for a constructivist approach
to the online classroom in Building Learning Communities in Cyberspace,
and they provide evidence from interviews with teachers and students to
support their position. In a recent issue of Educational Technology,
David Squires discusses constructivist uses of educational software in
distance learning. David Jonassen’s Learning with Technology: A Constructivist
Perspective also examines ways the technology of the online classroom
can be used in a constructivist framework. My research uses the same constructivist
framework of student-centered learning and collaboration found in these
recent studies.
Research into Distance Learning and Technology