By Karin Levinsen (kale@dpu.dk)
In the thesis, Virtuel uddannelsespraksis - or, if translated into English, Virtual Pedagogic Practice, with the subtitle Contribution to the Theory of IT Pedagogic Practice at University Level based on a case study of module II at the blended mode master programme Master in ICT and Learning during the autumn 2002 - I have identified a series of fields of awareness which are important for the teacher to observe during the course of online teaching and collaborative learning processes. Insight into the development of these fields of awareness can support the teacher in handling the ongoing learning process while it is emerging over time.
This is especially important regarding the negotiation among the students, while they socially construct and consolidate the rules and structures of their learning community as it unfolds in practice. These dynamic processes and structures take on other appearances in online environments than in on-campus teaching. Additionally, the case study found that they are also invisible from the teacher’s point of view, within the short horizon of time which frames both synchronous and asynchronous communication in collaborative learning processes.
The fields of awareness support the teacher in the process of identifying a need for intervening, thus taking a proactive approach to decision making regarding the choice of eg to: adjust the pedagogic-didactic design of a course; coach; scaffold or deliver reactive feedback. In continuation of this theme, the thesis contribute a series of design proposals for developing proactive IT-tools for online learning environments along with a didactic planning model for organizing e-learning courses. The model helps establishing observation positions for the teachers’ ongoing evaluation and monitoring of the chosen fields of awareness.
