The social constructivism theory proposes that groups construct knowledge from one another, learners learn best when interacting with other learners in a group. Given the rising popularity of both distance learning and social networking tools that are linked to socio-constructive pedagogical ethos, it seems logical to merge these two popular technologies with the goal of improving online teaching and learning. The integration seems to hold promise for distance learning mode. To reduce the gap in the literature, the present experimental study explores the educational benefits of social media tools on distance learners’ perspectives and experiences in an online course taught using both elgg and Learning Management System (LMS) platforms. Findings from this study indicate that learners enjoyed the social learning experience afforded by the elgg social media tool better when compared to LMS to support one another in their distance learning experiences. It was also noted that learners, with little experience of social networking and sharing features on elgg, exhibited high involvement in course-related work and graded exercises in most cases. Additionally, learners shared information only at the level required by the instruction mode. Nevertheless, learners noted they perceived their learning experience was enhanced by their interaction with each other and the instructors. Future research on the topic should extend to a larger group of learners, perhaps inclusive of the perspectives from the instructors to help expand the literature in this area.
Material type
Electronic
Notes
Paper presented at the International Conference on Information (ICI 2012)(12-14 December 2012; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
Applying social constructionist theory of learning to improve student educational experience: an elgg experimental study
.png)
Elgg
(636.62KB)
Home