Technology in the Name of Belonging

By Brian Smith


I recently came across this interesting article from Ireland's National Training and Development Institute. I think it's worth a read as it outlines how Educational Learning Extensions must move forward in the use of technology so as to engage students with disabilities at a relational level as well as educational.

Here's the conclusion, "While appreciating the enormous task of developing and implementing study supports online, it is nonetheless important to ensure that any online implementation, while striving for quality through innovative use of media and design, would also be such that would foster the development of community between students. The result for people with disability - reduced isolation, increased motivation and self-esteem, and in turn a greater sense of belonging."

Before you move down to read the full article, I wanted to share a link to the work being done at the University of Victoria Assistive Technology Team.


1. Introduction
Our sense of identity is a reflection of the many communities to which we belong, family, social
groupings, learning, work, and society at large. This sense of being interconnected with the world is
important to all of us. Many people with special needs however often find themselves excluded, because
of their disability, from membership to some of these communities. The result – isolation, lack of
motivation, low self-esteem, and in turn further exclusion.
This paper will briefly discuss the National Training and Development Institute’s (NTDI) distance
learning programme for people with disabilities and the services and supports the organisation currently
provides as an integral part of the programme. The programme is currently largely print based. However
current technological and pedagogical transformations are leading to changes in the way that people learn,
with increased focus on the educative value of interaction and the social factors involved in the learning
process. This paper examines how these changes are being reflected in the development of communities
as a medium for learning.
2. Background
2.1 NTDI’s Current Distance Learning Programme for People with Special Needs
NTDI is Ireland’s largest non Government specialist training organisation and has more than 50 training
centres around the country catering for around 2,500 students annually.
The aim of NTDI is to assist people who face major obstacles in their search for employment by offering
training that takes into account the personal, social and environmental needs of the individual.
As well as offering a number of centre based courses, each year our training organisation offers a number
of places to people with disability, who are unable to attend the centre, to join a distance learning programme.
The course participants are provided with a multimedia PC, including whatever assistive technology best
suits their needs, for the duration of the course. While on the course they learn basic word processing,
spreadsheet and database skills, as well as becoming familiar with e-mail and internet usage.
2.2 Course Delivery
At present course delivery relies mainly on the use of printed manuals, supplemented with home visits by
the tutor to each student. Students work through the printed course material and submit exercises to the
tutor via e-mail as they progress. Further assistance is given to the student through an Individual
Programme Planning process. This goal focussed and holistic approach allows the student to focus on
his/her specific educational needs and vocational goals, while at the same time acknowledging and
dealing with any environmental and social constraints that exist.
While the existing framework of supports provides a unique opportunity for people who experience
isolation through disability, the course itself is rather limited in its scope, relying heavily on the use of
printed text for course delivery. Given that multimedia PCs are available to each student for the duration
of the course, there is an opportunity to enhance course delivery by developing additional supports online.
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Many aspects relating to the structure of the course are currently under review by the organisation.
However, the challenge now for NTDI is how to further maximise learning by developing additional
innovative online learning supports to meet the needs of these particular students.
3. Changing Technologies – Changing Pedagogies
3.1 From First Generation to Third Generation
NTDI’s current distance learning programme is reminiscent of the traditional Distance Learning approach
cited by Soren Nipper. Nipper (1989) refers to traditional print based courses as ‘first generation’ distance
learning. This type of learning relies heavily on the instructivist model of learning. It tends to be
“authoritarian” by presenting learners with written learning material from which they can elaborate on the
points raised in the printed text. The required learning outcome is seen as the “acquisition of the
information given by the study material” with the student having the opportunity to reflect this learning in
written course assignments. This type of environment views learners as passive recipients of knowledge.
3.2 From Instructivist to Constructivist learning
As French (1999) points out however, there is a move away from this traditional view of learning to a
more self directed learning approach, one in which learning is not just about the acquisition of knowledge
but one that also acknowledges the social processes involved in the construction of meaning. More and
more it is being recognised that learners need to be actively engaged in creating their own meaning from
their learning experiences, and developments in computer technology are allowing them to do that. The
construction of meaning is not however an individual process and relies heavily on collaboration. That is
not to say that constructivist learning ignores the needs of the individual, but rather it acknowledges the
influence of factors external to the individual as an integral part of the learning process.
3.3 The Need for Dialogue
According to Mayes (2001), learning occurs in three stages. During the first stage, conceptualisation, the
learner is exposed to new material and comes to “an initial understanding through contact with, and
exploration” of the new material. The learner then moves into a construction stage. Construction
“involves some activity in which the new understanding is brought to bear on a problem, and feedback
about performance will be gained”. In the third stage, consolidation, the learner integrates the new
knowledge into their existing framework of knowledge. Dialogue is central to Mayes model of learning.
If we are to ensure quality in online education we must embrace the need for dialogue. Presenting
information is not enough on its own. Providing a tutor with whom the student has infrequent access is
not enough on its own. There must be dialogue, an opportunity for learners to share their learning
experiences, insights and difficulties, an environment where learners can support each other in achieving
a deeper understanding of their topic of study. In other words there must be an opportunity for learning
that acknowledges the social factors which may not be directly related to formal learning but which
nonetheless influence learning.
4. Learning Communities
4.1 What is Community?
According to Kok and Brown (1998) “community is needed to create and achieve goals that could not be
achieved by an isolated individual”. A community is formed where people who have something in
common form a group together. This might be shared interests, goals, experiences or values. Community
is strengthened through interaction between people in the group, as well as support and encouragement
from within for its members. It is this sharing in a supportive environment that enables community to
thrive, as well as serving to validate and strengthen individual identities.
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4.2 Communities of Practice (CoPs)
Communities have been around for a long time, but acknowledging the benefits of communities is
becoming more important, particularly as knowledge is now seen to be the key to competitiveness in the
information age. How often have we heard it said that people are an organisation’s most valuable
resource? But what exactly does this mean? Within any organisation there will tend to be a formal
organisational structure. Yet studies indicate that the way that people actually work usually differs from
the way that the organisation describes this work in manuals, training programmes and organisational
charts (Brown & Duguid, 1991). Something else is going on – communities within – and it is often within
these communities that significant learning and innovation takes place. Lave and Wenger (1991) first
introduced the concept of Communities of Practice to describe these informal groups. This model
distinguishes between the ‘knowledge’ that the organisational structure generates, and the ‘dynamic
knowing’ that comes about as people communicate, share ideas and find new ways of doing things.
4.3 How are the Members bound together in CoPs?
While CoPs are informal, they generate a great deal of learning, learning that reflects the members’
understanding of what is important. Learning is seen as a social process. Wenger (1998) defines the
model along three dimensions
•
Joint enterprise – a sense of what the community is about
•
Mutual Engagement – the way in which the community functions so that the members are bound
together into a social unit
•
A Shared Repertoire – the communal resources that the members have developed over time
While this model of learning has often been applied to the learning that occurs within organisations, it has
also been successfully applied to formal education (Wegerif, 1998). Indeed constructivist learning
requires community in order for learners to get the most out of their learning experience.
4.4 The Virtual Classroom – Online Community Building
When students enter a college classroom for the first time, they may have little knowledge of the subjects
they are about to study. However ultimately their academic success will be a measure in part of how well
they become integrated into the academic community. An important part of this integration relies on the
extent to which the students’ social needs are met. According to Bauman (1997) “social factors can be as
powerfully motivating as can be intellectual ones in keeping students in school”. In a physical setting the
process of community building is largely ignored, as the physical presence of teachers, students and other
staff, makes community development quite easy. Students may mingle in corridors, have informal
discussions about course issues in the cafeteria, make friends with other like minded people, offer
support, validation, respect and acceptance. According to Kok and Brown (1998) “a healthy community is
built on open interaction, interdependence, commitment from the members, shared interests and respect”.
However, online, things are very different. Devoid of the visual, auditory and other non verbal cues that
are present in the classroom, students are denied a great deal of affective information which forms an
important part of the exchange between them. They cannot mingle in the corridors or have prolonged
‘synchronous’ chats in the café. Their entire communication is based on written text. This is the only
means by which students can get to know each other. Yet it is important that students develop a sense of
community that will encourage them to work collaboratively and learn in a constructivist way. Special
attention must therefore be paid to incorporating social factors into the learning environment so that the
development of communities is promoted, and quality learning achieved. In what ways can this be
achieved online?
4.5 Social Factors – The Development of Successful Learning Communities Online
As already mentioned the nature of many traditional distance learning programmes has meant that many
students work in isolation, maybe meeting their tutor and fellow students only a few times for the
duration of the course, or maybe not having the opportunity to meet up with anyone at all. Online learning
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provides a unique opportunity for the student to become part of a learning community. According to Kok
& Brown (1998) “Isolation may cause an individual’s research or learning to be less productive, less
informed, or myopic. Community helps to motivate students as well as inform and broaden their
learning”. So the development of community online is an important factor in helping the student to
optimise his/her learning experience.
But how can this be achieved when the online environment is so very different to that of the classroom?
First of all students must feel comfortable with the idea of using computer technology for communication,
to the extent that the technology itself becomes transparent. It is also important that students recognise the
benefits of becoming members of an online community, as opposed to the benefits derived from learning
in more traditional forms of distance education.
To compensate for the lack of face to face contact, it is important that regular contact, between tutor and
students and between students themselves, be maintained. Bauman (1997) suggests that one way of doing
this is by setting up facilities online to enable everyone to interact on an ongoing basis. As well as
allowing students to ‘voice’ their opinions, this type of facility also enables students to see what others are
thinking and to either learn from it, or build on it, by making their own contributions to the conferences.
It is also important to create space where students can interact in a more informal way, a place where
discussion can take place about day to day happenings in their lives. This can quite easily be achieved by
having a virtual café where people can communicate in a more casual and relaxed manner. An e-mail
facility is also useful for this purpose.
Students should also be able to avail of additional support services online. For example, in the case of the
NTDI’s distance learning students, a special study support and advice conference could be available, as
well as a technical support area.
Discussion opportunities should also be made available to enable students to meet with visiting lecturers
and guest speakers. Again this is particularly important for students with disability, enabling them to
make contact with others outside of their immediate learning environment – people within the wider
community who may be able to help them in achieving their educational and vocational goals.
5. Conclusion
While appreciating the enormous task of developing and implementing study supports online, it is
nonetheless important to ensure that any online implementation, while striving for quality through
innovative use of media and design, would also be such that would foster the development of community
between students. The result for people with disability - reduced isolation, increased motivation and self-
esteem, and in turn a greater sense of belonging.
References
1. Bauman, M. (1997) ‘Online Learning Communities’, Writing Programme, University of Michigan-
Dearborn, http://www-personal.umd.umich.edu/marcyb/tcc-l.html
2. Brown, J. S. & Duguid, P. (1991) ‘Organisational learning and communities-of-practice: Toward a
unified view of working, learning, and innovation’
http://www2.parc.com/ops/members/brown/papers/orglearning.html
3. French, D. (1999) ‘Internet-based learning’, in French, D., Hale, C. Johnson, C. and Farr, G., Kogan
Page, London.
4. Kok K, & Brown R. (1998) Isolation and Belonging in a Distance Community,
http://www.ahea.org/isolation_and_belonging.htm
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5. Lave, J. & Wenger, E, (1991) Situated Learning – Legitimate Peripheral Participation, Cambridge
University Press
6. Mayes, T. (2001) Learning Technology and Learning Relationships,
http://webfeedback.mdx.ac.uk/_lmlseminar/_private/_abstract7/tm.htm
7. Nipper, S. (1989) Third Generation Distance Learning and Computer Conferencing,
http://www-icdl.open.ac.uk/literaturestore/mindweave/chap5.html
8. Wegerif (1998) The Social Dimension of Asynchronous Learning Networks,
http://www.aln.org/publications/jaln/v2n1/v2n1_wegerif.asp
9. Wenger, E. (1998) Communities of Practice, Learning as a Social System,
http://www.co-i-l.com/coil/knowledge-garden/cop/lss.shtml
Author
Mary Bolger
Distance Learning Instructor
National Training and Development Institute
The Faythe, Wexford
Ireland
marytpower@eircom.net