RSA #5 Thinking and Learning Online
Collaborative online learning transcends the typical pedagogical method of presenting information and testing students. Instructors who promote learning communities in which students have more control of their own learning take the role of facilitators. When online students work together, they learn from one another while developing knowledge and critical thinking skills. Instructors who assign discussion posts enable students to develop their social presence while expanding their knowledge and solving problems. According to Palloff and Pratt (2007) in their book, Building Online Learning Communities, learning communities give students opportunities “to extend and deepen their learning experience, test out new ideas by sharing them with a supportive group, and receive critical and constructive feedback” (p. 158). This process of learning is transformative learning.
Transformational learning engages students’ thinking and reflection. Instead of merely taking information in, a transformational learner engages in thinking, reflecting on information and interpreting it. Palloff and Pratt (2007) say that learning is more permanent when students engage in self-reflection (p. 191). Students take more responsibility for the information they learn or construct. “When students are empowered to become experts at their own learning, they cannot help but be transformed as people.” (p. 202).
In the article, Engaging and Supporting Problem Solving in Online Learning, David Jonassen states, “the medium of learning is social negotiation of meaning, not content … so knowledge emerges in the discourse of the community.” (p. 2). He is critical of most online learning because he believes it continues to follow a “teach-and-test” (p. 1) paradigm. His model of instruction focuses on solving problems that cause students to construct ideas and engage in the learning process. In his view, it is in this thinking process, this problem solving process, that learning takes place.
Jonassen agrees with Palloff and Pratt’s ideas that learning communities enhance the learning process. Both agree, too, that instructors should allow students to take more responsibility for their learning. While Jonassen does not specifically use the term reflection in his article, his thinking process ideas are very much like those of Palloff and Pratt. These authors would agree that learning is an active process that creates new knowledge through thinking and reflecting about ideas in new ways.
References
Jonassen, D.H. (2002). Engaging and supporting problem solving in online learning. The Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 3(1), 1-13.
Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2007). Building online learning communities: effective strategies for the virtual classroom. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
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