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CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS FOR AN OPEN DISTANCE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT


Distance learning is the provision of education by a mode other than the conventional face-to-face method, the goals of which are similar to, and as noble and practical as, those of residential institutions of higher learning. Jegede (2009:14) posits that it is a system characterised by the physical separation of the lecturer and the student, in which instruction is delivered through a variety of media, including print and other information communication technologies (ICT). Open learning refers to the flexibility of and access to instruction by the mode of distance education in order to ensure that educational opportunities are made available to as many students of the population as possible.


Panda (2010) developed an ODL framework with specific variables in mind. This particular framework is constructed on variables of context and community of practice (Lave and Wenger 1991), culture, collaboration and dialogue (Boyd and Ellison 2008; Pallof and Pratt 1999), transformative practice (Mesirow 1991) and identity (Wenger 1998). These variables provide a framework based on a social constructivist paradigm, which thus explains the individual cognitive structure of the student teacher which is shaped by culture, situated learning and transformative learning. From this framework, it is evident that a deeper approach to learning and transformative development, as well as the transformation of identity, is enabled through the enhanced facilitation of blogs for learning and encouraging reflection in an ODL teaching practice environment.


The context for this study involves the ODL community (open distance learning – an African university), school-based learning (teaching practice at school level), the social (diverse student population) and cultural identities (race groups, mother tongue, language of instruction) of student teachers (digital natives and digital immigrants). In this study, the variables of collaboration and dialogue require an environment of shared objectives, peer learning, dialogical spaces, personal experiences of and relationships between fellow student teachers. One particular variable, culture, is an important component of the ODL context and space.


In view of these comments, this study investigates the way in which blogs, a Web 2.0 social media tool, influenced student teachers' personal experiences in real-life situations. The teaching practice dialogical space is a system of knowledge, beliefs, behaviours and customs of a PGCE community of practice at an ODL institution of higher learning. Furthermore, as Pallof and Pratt (2003) and Mesirow (1991) argue, transformation is the most important variable in this conceptual design and is the final form of “real” learning that takes place in an ODL setting (communities of practice).


Blogging as an E-Learning Tool in Teaching Economics 286


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