Abstract
While there has been extensive research on online communities of enquiry, little work has been done on the extent to which cultural factors can inhibit studentparticipation. In this study of a ‘blended’ model of learning in which students attended face-to-face lectures but were required to take part in online seminars,we found that although most students felt that they belonged to a community of enquiry, there were considerable obstacles to their readiness to respond fully to the views of others. We ascribe these difficulties to the particular cultural contex tin which the learning occurred in Northern Ireland and contend that course designers should take account of such ‘cultural inhibitors’ in designing online or blended courses.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 451-465 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Irish Educational Studies |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published (in print/issue) - 9 May 2012 |
Bibliographical note
Reference text: Anderson, J., G. Brown, and S. Spaeth. 2006. Online student evaluations and response rates reconsidered. Innovate 2, no.3.http://innovateonline.info/pdf/vol2_issue6/Online_Student_Evaluations_and_Response_Rates_Reconsidered.pdf
Austin, R., and J. Anderson. 2008. E-schooling; global messages from a small island. London:Routledge.
Benton, S., R. Webster, A. Gross, and W. Pallet. 2010. IDEA technical Report no. 16: An
analysis of IDEA student ratings of instruction using paper versus online survey methods,
20022008 data. Manhattan, KS: The Idea Center. http://www.theideacenter.org/sites/
default/files/Technical%20Report%2016.pdf
Black, R. 2006. Language, culture, and identity in online fanfiction. E-Learning and Digital
Media 3, no. 2: 17084.
Brooks, J., and M. Brooks. 1995. The case for constructivist classrooms. Alexandria, VA:
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Canning, C., and K. Swift. 1992. Connecting the university and the field of practice:
Computer conferencing in education at the University of Michigan. In Empowering
networks: Computer conferencing in education, ed. D. Waggoner, 134. Englewood Cliffs,
NJ: Educational Technology.
Conole, G., and M. Dyke. 2004. What are the affordances of information and communication
technologies? ALT-J, Research in Learning Technology 12, no. 2: 11324. http://repository.
alt.ac.uk/596/1/ALT_J_Vol12_No2_2004_What%20are%20the%20affordances%20of%20in.pdf
Dewiyanti, S., S. Brand-Gruwel, andW. Jochems. 2005. Applying reflection and moderation in an asynchronous computer-supported collaborative learning environment in campus-based higher education. British Journal of Educational Technology 36, no. 4: 6736.
Fassinger, P.A. 1995. Professors’ and students’ perceptions of why students participate in class.Teaching Sociology 24: 2533.
Gherardi, S., and D. Nicolini. 2000. The organisational learning of safety in communities of
practice. Journal of Management Inquiry 9, no. 1: 7-18.
Gibson, J. 1977. The theory of affordances. In Perceiving, acting and knowing, ed. R. Shaw and J. Bransford, 6782. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Hargie, O., D. Dickson, and S. Nelson. 2003. Working together in a divided society. Journal of Business & Technical Communication 17, no. 3: 285.
Hargie, O., D. Dickson, and S. Rainey. 2002. Religious difference, inter-group trust, attraction, and disclosure amongst young people in Northern Ireland. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth 10, no. 3: 21335.
Hughes, M., and N. Daykin. 2002. Towards constructivism: Investigating students’ perceptions and learning as a result of using an online environment. Innovations in Education and Teaching International 39, no. 3: 21723.
Issroff, K., and M. Eisenstadt. 1997. Evaluating a virtual summer school. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning 13: 24553.
Kanuka, H., and D.R. Garrison. 2004. Cognitive presence in online learning. Journal of
Computing in Higher Education 15, no. 2: 3049.
Kollock, P., and M. Smith. 1996. Managing the virtual commons: Cooperation and conflict in
computer communities. In Computer-mediated communication: Linguistic, social, and
cross-cultural perspectives, ed. S. Herring, 10928. Amsterdam, Netherlands: John
Benjamins. http://www.connectedaction.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/1996-managingthe-virtual-commons.htm
Lefoe, G., C. Gunn, and J. Hedberg. 2002. Recommendations for teaching in a distributed
learning environment: The students’ perspective. Australian Journal of Educational
Technology 18, no. 1: 4056.
Levinson, P. 1989. Media relations; integrating computer telecommunications with educational media. In Mindweave: Communication, computers and distance education, ed.
R. Mason and A. Kaye, 409. New York: Pergamon.
Lewis, R. 1997. An activity theory framework to explore distributed communities. Journal of
Computer Assisted Learning 13: 2109.
Means, B., Y. Toyama, R. Murphy, M. Bakia, and K. Jones. 2009. Evaluation of evidence-based practices in online learning: A meta-analysis and review of online learning studies.
Washington, DC: US. Department of Education, Office of Planning, Evaluation and
Policy Development.
McAteer, E., A. Tolmie, C. Duffy, and J. Corbett. 1997. Computer mediated communication
as a learning resource. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning 13: 21927.
Meishar-Tal, H., and P. Gorsky. 2010. Wikis: What students do and do not do when writing
collaboratively. Open Learning: Journal of Open and Distance Learning 25, no. 1: 2535.
Muilenburg, L., and Z. Berge. 2005. Student barriers to online learning: A factor analytic
study. Distance Education 26, no. 1: 2948.
Nelson, S., D. Dickson, and O. Hargie. 2003. Learning together, living apart: The experiences of university students in Northern Ireland. Qualitative Studies in Education 16, no. 6: 77795.
Renninger, K., and W. Shumar. 2002. Building virtual communities. Cambridge, NY:
Cambridge University Press.
Rickly, R. 1999. The gender gap in computers and composition research: Must boys be boys?
Computers and Composition 16, no. 1: 12140.
Rourke, L., and T. Anderson. 2002. Exploring social communication in computer conferencing.
Journal of Interactive Learning Research 13, no. 3: 25773.
Salmon, G. 2003. E-moderating: The key to teaching and learning on-line. London: Routledge.
Sullivan, P. 2001. Gender differences and the online classroom: Male and female college
students evaluate their experiences. Community College Journal of Research and Practice 25:80518.
Tu, C.H. 2000. On-line learning migration: From social learning theory to social presence
theory in CMC environment. Journal of network and computer applications 23, no. 1: 2737.
Tu, C.H. 2001. How Chinese perceive social presence: An examination of an online learning environment. Educational media international 38, no. 1: 4560.
Vaughn, S., J.S. Schumm, and J.M. Sinagub. 1996. Focus group interviews in education and
psychology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Wenger, E. 1998. Communities of practice: Learning, meaning and identity. Cambridge:
Keywords
- online learning
- classroom communications
- technology
- Northern
- Ireland
- blended learning
- communities of enquiry
