Markus osullivan final

EMERGING LEARNING THEORIES AND DISCUSSION BOARDS 1

Emerging Learning Theories and Discussion Boards

Erin Markus & Nancy O’Sullivan

Boise State University


Abstract

As students and higher education place more emphasis on technology in distance

learning, there is a need for analyzing learning theories to best accommodate this

expansion. This paper is intended to examine the use of emerging learning theories in

building a community of learners through the use of discussion boards in adult online

classes. Learning theories such as social constructivism, connectivism, transactional

distance and andragogy will be explored as a framework in developing a best practice list

for instructors in developing their online discussion boards.


Introduction

Although education is constantly changing and new theories are emerging, nothing has

affected these changes as much as the integration of technology in the educational setting. Not

only are schools integrating computers and multimedia into their classrooms, but workplace

training and professional development has greatly benefited from the advent of technology.

Today we have access to a variety of technologies, both within our educational setting and in

our personal lives. Computer technology is woven into our lives through various means.

Computers are located in everything from cellular phones to cars. Our world is guided by

computer technology over and beyond CPU’s and keyboards. In order for students to grow in

their educational field and become successful, having fundamental knowledge of how computers

affect our lives is crucial. Having the fundamental ability to maneuver through basic computing

and technical equipment will benefit the student by teaching them how to utilize tools that can

greatly enhance their ability to perform well in any situation, both educational and professional.

Community of Learners

There is a need to understand the meaning of community so we may promote the concept in

our learning environments. According to Snyder (2009) learning communities are places where

participants share common interests and sharing of knowledge. “The goal of a learning

community is to advance collective knowledge by supporting the growth of individual

knowledge” (p. 49). It has been suggested that a community has four dimensions:

a. Spirit- there is a sense of belonging, membership and acceptance

b. Trust- establishing group norms, order and trust.


c. Trade- there is a benefit for each member and shared values.

d. Art- there is an emotional connection in time and space (McMillan, 1996).

Gabelnick, MacGregor, Matthews and Smith (1990) suggest that a common definition of

learning communities is:

“Any one of a variety of curricular structures that link together several existing courses---

or actually restructure the material entirely---so that students have opportunities for

deeper understanding and integration of the material they are learning, and more

interaction with one another and their teachers as fellow participants in the learning

enterprise” (p.19).

Benefit of Building a Community

A community of learners is a group of people who support each other in their collective and

individual learning. They are cooperative and can work productively together. Individually, they

are motivated and strive to do quality work. Since they know they are going to be encouraged to

take risks and be supported if they do not succeed the first time they try something new, they

challenge themselves, and they view mistakes as learning experiences which will make their later

attempts successful. A community of learners can include all levels of learners, because

everyone is learning, not competing. And, best of all, a true classroom community of learners

allows the teacher to learn as well as the students (Benson, 2008).

There are two approaches to building a learning community: the top-down structure in which

the hierarchical structure of teacher (boss, leader) and student (employee, follower) stays intact

and the bottom-up structure in which the hierarchical structure is dissolved and all participants

can take on the role of teacher or learner at any given time (Benson, 2008). Benson explains that,


“a bottoms-up approach provides workers and students more control over their environment with

the potential of leading to improved results and more efficient decision making practices” (p.

23).

Emerging Theories

A theory is a hypothesis that describes, speculates, or defines a relationship between a set of

facts by utilizing principles, policies, beliefs, or assumptions. The world in which we live is

increasingly sophisticated, multifaceted and nuanced. People need high-level learning skills to

respond, learn and adjust to ever-changing circumstances. As the world grows increasingly

complex success and prosperity will be linked to people’s ability to think, act, adapt and

communicate creatively (Stratham & Torell, 1996).

With the changes in technology, students’ preferences and our mode of learning (distance

education) we need to look at new instructional designs and/or learning theories to guide us

(Snyder, 2009). Theories act as models or frameworks from which we can effectively design and

implement teaching pedagogies to enhance student learning. In particular, distance education

needs a new framework. As Kearsley (1998) stated, “Educators fail to understand that distance

education is really about creating a different kind of structure for learning and teaching” (p. 49).

We look to new learning theories, such as connectivism, transactional distance and andragogy to

help guide us through this educational shift. There are many reasons why a new theory is

created; perhaps an older theory doesn’t quite answer questions about learners or maybe the old

theory leaves out an explanation for cognition within the brain (Fouts, 2000).

Constructivism

Constructivism is a philosophy of learning founded on the premise that, by reflecting on our

experiences, we construct our own understanding of the world we live in. Each of us generates


our own “rules” and “mental models,” which we use to make sense of our experiences. Learning,

therefore, is simply the process of adjusting our mental models to accommodate new

experiences. Constructivism calls for the elimination of a standardized curriculum. Instead, it

promotes using curricula customized to the students’ prior knowledge. Also, it emphasizes

hands-on problem solving.

Under the theory of constructivism, educators focus on making connections between facts

and fostering new understandings in students. Instructors tailor their teaching strategies to

student responses and encourage students to analyze, interpret, and predict information. Teachers

also rely heavily on open-ended questions and promote extensive dialogue among students.

Constructivism calls for the elimination of grades and standardized testing. Instead, assessment

becomes part of the learning process so that students play a larger role in judging their own

progress.

Connectivism

In 2005, George Siemens founded the theory of connectivism. Siemens (2005) states,

“Learning occurs through the diversity of opinions and that the “capacity to know is more critical

than what is already known” (p. 1). An important skill that will aid in learning is the ability to

connect different ideas and concepts between varieties of fields (Siemens, 2005). Kop and Hill

(2008) suggest that being in a variety of learning communities will help students make

connections between different sources and increase their knowledge base.

“The learning process is cyclical, in that learners will connect to a network to share and

find new information, will modify their beliefs on the basis of new learning, and will then

connect to a network to share these realizations and find new information once more.

Learning is considered a . . . knowledge creation process . . . not only knowledge


consumption. One’s personal learning network is formed on the basis of how one’s

connection to learning communities are organized by a learner” (p. 2).

Another skill critical to connectivism is the ability to filter out information and make

decisions on what is credible and important to know (Siemens, 2005). New information is

growing exponentially and the life of knowledge is now measured in months and years

(Gonzales, 2004). What is known as fact today will not necessarily be fact tomorrow, therefore it

will be important for students to stay up- to- date with quality information and have the ability to

organize this information.

Connectivism is an emerging theory that helps integrate our new world of ongoing changes

in information, technology, and our knowledge of learning. Students will learn by creating

environments where copious information can be discussed, reviewed and “experienced” through

connections in a group environment. A good example of applying the theory of connectivism

into our own course objectives is our weekly discussion postings. In this course, we have used a

weekly discussion board to focus on a topic and learn from each other. The discussion boards

give us, as students, a chance to view others’ opinions about the topic, and to share our

comments and ideas with our classmates. When using discussion boards, we learn about new

ideas, best practices, and personal experiences of classmates. All of this information helps us

grow in our own education and profession.

Transactional Distance

Transactional distance was defined by Moore (1993) as “the universe of teacher-learner

relationships that exist when learners are separated by timespace and/or time” (p. 22).

Transactional distance theory is a pedagogical concept that helps explain patterns of learner and

teacher behaviors when distance and space are presented. Moore (1993) states “With separation


there is a psychological and communications space to be crossed, a space of potential

misunderstanding between the inputs of instructor and those of the learner. It is this

psychological and communications space that is the transactional distance.” (p. 22).

It is possible for transactional distance to happen in the classroom, but it is usually thought

of as a way to research and understand variables in distance education. The importance of

learning about transactional distance theory (TDT) is to enable instructors and students to be

effective at distance learning.

There are three key variables in TDT, which include: dialog, structure and learner autonomy.

Dialog is described as the positive interactions between the teacher and the student. The second

variable is course structure. There are many elements that are taken into consideration when

designing the structure of the course such as, philosophy and personality of the instructor,

characteristics of the learners, environment and media will all have an effect on the design of the

course (Moore, 1993). As Moore (1993) states “Structure expresses the rigidity or flexibility of

the programme's educational objectives, teaching strategies, and evaluation methods. It describes

the extent to which an education programme can accommodate or be responsive to each learner's

individual needs” (p. 23). The third component of the TDT is learner autonomy. How

independent is the learner and to what extent are they willing to determine their own goals. It is

up to instructors to move students from being dependant on the teacher to being more self-

sufficient as the class progresses.

Though, Grosky and Caspi (2005) do not believe TDT is a theory, they do suggest that

understanding transactional distance is important to understanding learning in distance

education. It is important to understand the variables that contribute to transactional distance so


that we are able as instructors and instructional designers to bridge the gap of space and time in

order for students to feel connected and able to learn and explore during online classes.

Andragogy

Malcolm Knowles introduced the student centered andragogy model for adult learning in

1973. It is important to understand this theory in terms of distance education (DE) since the

majority of DE students are between the ages of 25 and 50. These students tend to be highly

motivated and task-oriented. Many have careers, family and other obligations. They bring to the

class unique life experiences that can be a valuable resource in the class community. It is

reasonable to assume that a different framework for designing and teaching should be

incorporated (Cercone, 2008).

There are five assumptions at the center of the andragogy model. Learners should: (1) know

why they should learn the material, (2) be shown how to direct themselves through information,

(3) relate the information to their personal experience, (4) know that they only learn when they

are ready and motivated to learn, and (5) ask for help in overcoming inhibitions, and beliefs

about learning (Cercone 2008). Since adult learners tend to be more autonomous, instructors

should act as facilitators and provide an organized framework to guide the students through the

instruction (Cercone, 2008).

Another characteristic of adult learners is the biological change in memory. As age

increases, there is a decline in short-term memory, which is the memory that creates links

between new and old information (Merriam & Caffarella, 1999). It is important for instructors to

“chunk” information into small sizes and create reflective opportunities to link new and old

information.


This model suggests that instructors provide learning activities that are grounded in real

world, case-base situations that are meaningful to adult learners (Huang, 2002). Adult learners

have more responsibilities requiring the use of their time, so instructional materials need to be

pertinent and structured to increase success among students (Huang, 2002). Huang (2002)

describes six instructional principles for adult learners:

Interactive Learning- it is important to interact with the instructor and peers and avoid

isolated learning

Collaborative Learning- constructing collective knowledge and social negotiation

Facilitative learning- providing a safe positive environment for sharing ideas and

concepts

Authentic Learning- create real-life learning experiences for students

Student Centered Learning- student constructs their own knowledge

High Quality Learning- emphasizes critical thinking skills and guided reflection

Andragogy learning theory is a way to better understand how adults learn. As Snyder (2009)

suggests, “These theories seek to explain how the process of learning as an adult differs from

learning as a child. They focus on describing how various social, psychological, emotional and

physiological factors affect adult learning” (p. 49).

Discussion Boards

A discussion board is an asynchronous environmental tool that provides an opportunity for

each individual to post a statement as well as to respond to the postings of other students; thus,

creating a discussion (Cox & Cox, 2008). Discussion boards are used in almost every online

educational platform as a place for student-student and student-teacher interaction and idea


sharing. The interactive discussion boards used by online courses create a sort of “social

network” that is contained within the class.

This tool is relatively simple for students to master and offers a means for electronic

dialogue. The instructor generally posts an open-ended, thought-provoking question that supports

the particular course material under consideration. Students then post a response to the initial

query. Postings in a discussion board are threaded. This means that within a discussion there can

be several topics being debated simultaneously and when students make their initial post, other

students can reply to a post by having the discussion appear indented under the main post thus

making it possible to reference original responses. Discussion boards can help students in

collaboration projects. As with face-to-face interactions, discussion boards give students an

additional social context to discern information about each other (Baker & Lund, 2007; Slagter

van Tryon & Bishop, 2009).

Discussion boards are widely used in online education. The level of interaction depends on

what the instructor deems necessary to achieve the common goal of the lesson. Below is a chart

of Discussion Board Best Practices to consider when designing a lesson around a discussion

board activity.

Discussion Board Best Practices Chart

Best Practice Recommended Ideas Reference

Define and Communicate Convey the purpose of the discussion Snyder, 2009
Discussion Board Purpose board (DB) in your syllabus, email, Brown, 2001
podcast/vodcast and add announcement. Huang, 2002

Instructor Interaction There needs to be instructor interaction on Paloff & Pratt,
the DB, but too much interaction can have 2007
a negative effect on length and student-


student interaction. Convey your intended
interaction to the students.

Etiquette Guidelines Provide students with a set of guidelines Slagter van
that describe your expectations and Tryon & Bishop,
etiquette for DB. 2009

Time Guidelines for Posts It is helpful to post guidelines for initial posts and Ruey, 2010
reply posts concerning when and how many are
due.

Students Input Ask students to post their expectations of Snyder, 2009
the DB. This encourages them to clarify
its purpose.

Build Rapport The first discussion on the board should Brown, 2001
be about building rapport and discovering
commonalities between students and
instructor.

Public Sharing/Build Trust Early on, have students share a piece of Snyder, 2009
information that will contribute to the Huang, 2002
community’s goal. Have other students Slagter van
comment on the positives of the Tryon & Bishop,
information. 2009

Instructors need to be careful of harsh Gulati, 2008
grading as this may lead to distrust and
isolated learning.

Encourage Students to ask Create a separate discussion board for Huang, 2002
Questions questions to the instructors so all can learn
from other students’ questions. Also,
create a “student lounge” where students
can ask other students for help or
clarification.

Student Ownership Have students take turns in creating the Gulati, 2008
DB questions (instructor approval) and Allen, 2005
have students summarize the discussions Ruey, 2010
at the end.

Provide a Summary A summary of the DB is useful for Ruey, 2010
students and can be done by the instructor


or students taking turns to provide the
summary

Time for Reflection Set the last DB as a time for closure and Snyder, 2009
reflection. What did they learn and how do
they plan to apply their new knowledge in
the real world.

Conclusion

Technology integration, if done properly, can do many things to help in the process of

creating more authentic learning environments. Many of the studies report, if the learning

environment is technologically rich, it can increase self-esteem and enthusiasm for learning

(Fouts, 2000). This can lead to more positive attitudes for learning, as well as lower absentee and

dropout rates. In fact, one study proved that having a more technologically rich learning

environment eventually lead to a higher rate in college attendance and scholarships (Stratham &

Torell, 1996). Technology integration has also been shown to help create more authentic learning

environments where the students are more motivated to attend, have a greater chance of

communication and collaboration and have more opportunities to use higher order thinking and

problem solving skills connected to real world applications (Fouts, 2000).

Online learning is changing the way we educate ourselves. There are not many professions

or jobs that do not utilize some sort of online, or computer integrated training. Online learning

has streamlined the process of educating others. In this paper we discussed how emerging

theories have contributed to the success of online education, specifically the use of discussion

boards being utilized in online courses. The success of online learning would not be possible


without a community of learners and educators working together towards a common goal.

According to Cercone (2008),

“Online learning will continue to grow in importance for adult learners. The challenge for

educators is to learn how to provide a positive “social” environment using an electronic

medium. Technology will continue to change as new technologies are developed.

Instructors will need to adapt, change, and continue to learn about how this “electronic”

environment can be used to foster a social atmosphere, and they will need to recognize

their role as change agents” (p. 152).

Social constructivism, connectivism, transactional distance and andragogy are important

learning theories to understand when incorporating a discussion board in higher education online

classes. Understanding these theories help instructors incorporate sound discussion board

guidelines that encourage building a community of learners. This connectedness will encourage

students to complete class objectives. To build a community of learners, it is suggested that

instructors follow researched practices regarding discussion boards such as: Defining the purpose

of the discussion board, expected interactions & etiquette, encouraging students to take

ownership, allowing time for building rapport and giving students time to reflect. These

guidelines along with understanding emerging learning theories will help provide the basis for

building a cohesive online learning community.


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