Chris Procter

Online Communication and Information Technology Education

Blended Learning, a learning facilitation that incorporates different modes of delivery, models of teaching, and learning styles, introduces multiple media to the dialog between the learner and the facilitator. This paper examines online communication as the link between established theory of learning and literature on e-learning in order to better understand the appropriate use of blended learning in an actual Information Technology course. First, previously defined theoretical constructs that utilize communication as a facilitator for learning are considered. Then, using the Interpretivist standpoint, we examine data gathered from focus groups and interviews to gauge the experience of staff and students who were participants in a Blended Learning course. There are four previously defined theoretical constructs of greatest relevance to blended learning. Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development highlights the importance of communication with capable peers who can provide stimuli and feedback to a learning individual. Wegner’s Communities of Practice are groups of individuals who share a common practice interest and rely on a dialogue to facilitate learning. Laurillard’s Conversational Framework includes a pragmatic 12- step model that teachers can use to structure their learning facilitation. Finally, Salmon’s EModeration considers five stages of online communication in terms of how the moderator might facilitate dialogue among learners. These four theoretical models form the basis for understanding the implementation of blended learning discussed here. The course studied was a part-time Bachelor of Science degree in Information Technology (IT), delivered using Blended Learning. Students were required to attend one evening per week and make substantial use of Web based learning over a period of five years. Students were mature, some already working in the IT field. Forty students in a first cohort and eighteen students in a second cohort were studied during the first year of their course. While students in the first cohort who succeeded in the course often found the discussion boards to be of considerable value in discussing assignments and sharing learning, the boards also could discourage those with less technical backgrounds. There is data to suggest that a high rate of dropouts and failures among the first cohort after just one year may have been influenced by discouragement felt by those who could not keep up with the technical level of the discussion board posts. As a result of this data, for the second cohort, the number of online communications was reduced to one assessed online discussion that was closely monitored. As a result, discussions were more on-topic; however students reported significantly less sense of community. Again, a high dropout rate resulted. Our results suggest that communication is both a challenge and an enabler for facilitating a successful blended learning course. Blended learning is not simply a matter of the combination of face-to-face and online instruction, but it has to have elements of social interaction. It appears to be important to allow students to bond together and to socialize. Knowing each other eases the communication barriers and reduces the fear of posting messages into an open forum. At its best, online communication can provide study help, social interaction, and a sense of community. We have evidence that when students are required more frequently to cooperate online, they share a common problem and on some level create their own “problem solving” community. However, our data from the first cohort indicates that unguided communication of a Community of Practice can lead to undesirable effects. At the same time, our data from the second cohort indicates that a very structured approach is also undesirable. The ideal situation, it seems, is somewhere in the middle. However, the middle is not easily defined. Because the community depends on the individuals who are the main components of it, it is difficult to predict how the same environment would influence different individuals or different cohorts. Thus, the ultimate responsibility is on the lecturer to listen to the students and engage in continuous dialogue.

Use of conversation theory to underpin blended learning

Our work is concerned with the search for a viable pedagogical theory for a part time information technology course facilitated in blended learning. It was initially thought that the Conversational Framework (Laurillard, 1993) would provide this, and could be examined utilising action research. We examine the Conversation Theory related literature (Scott, 2001; Harri-Augstein and Thomas, 1991) and our action research data, including staff and student interviews and focus groups. The findings suggest that despite some theoretical alignment with Blended Learning, there is a need to amend and enrich the Conversational Framework in order to make it more applicable.

Explaining contextual factors affecting e-commerce adoption progression in selected SMEs: evidence from Botswana

This paper provides an interpretive account of contextual factors that affect the progression of e-commerce in six Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in a developing country context of Botswana. The methodology followed multiple in-depth case studies, using semi-structured face-to-face interviews, website analysis, observation and document analysis. Results show that contextual factors peculiar to each SME provide better explanations on how SMEs progress in e-commerce adoption. At the high level of adoption, managerial innovativeness and the nature of the external e-commerce market has contributed to success in two SMEs, whereas the local business environment in combination with some organisational factors can explain the low-level and non-adoption in the other four SMEs. Future implications indicate that managers need to pay particular detail to the unique and idiosyncratic nature of SMEs in guiding decisions for e-commerce adoption in their firms.

Employability and entrepreneurship embedded in professional placements in the business curriculum

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explain how employability and entrepreneurship embedded in the practice of professional placements in a large UK Business School, grounded in literature and research concerning the relationship between professional experience and employability. It explores possible further developments of this practice into student entrepreneurship.Design/methodology/approach – The paper outlines the relevant literature and then describes the operation of the scheme in practice. It identifies relevant problems and discusses opportunities for both development and research.Findings – Professional experience is of immense value to both students and the organisations that host them. Despite reluctance on the part of some of these two key stakeholders, it has the potential for further expansion in terms of number of students on placement, their location, their experience and integrating placements with entrepreneurship education.Practical implications – Organisations may see the benefi...

Peer mentoring to secure student placements

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe a case study where student peer mentors were employed to motivate and assist undergraduates to secure optional professional placement positions.Design/methodology/approach – The paper describes the reasons for establishing the project, the recruitment and work carried out by the mentors. It explains a survey of students who had not undertaken placements the previous year to try to identify the activities that would be most effective on the part of the mentors. The mentors, together with the placement co‐coordinator, devised support ranging from one‐to‐one mentoring, drop in “clinics”, online support and large group talks. It discusses the results of this work and evaluates the responses of both mentors and mentees.Findings – Those mentees who took part in the mentoring were typically those who were already enthusiastic about placement opportunities. The majority of students did not take advantage of mentoring support, including support on a drop‐in basis ...

The Significance of the Reflective Practitioner in Blended Learning

This paper examines the introduction of blended learning on a part-time higher education programme for mature students. The interpretive work draws on four action research cycles conducted over two years with two student cohorts. Discussion is based on observations, staff and student focus groups and interviews examining the students’ expectations and experiences. The initial focus of the action research was on the introduction of technology into the teaching and learning experience. However, the advantage of an interpretive approach is allowing the findings to determine the course of the research. During the first action research cycles, the focus of the research changed from the use of technology in blended learning to the role of the practitioners involved. The authors advocate the key role of reflective practitioners in facilitating blended learning and suggest that action research is a useful framework.

Realising the Threshold of Employability in Higher Education

A substantial body of work has tested and developed ‘Threshold Concepts’. A Threshold Concept may be considered “akin to a portal, opening up a new and previously inaccessible way of thinking about something … it represents a transformed way of understanding, or interpreting, or viewing … without which the learner cannot progress” (Meyer and Land in Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge 1—Linkages to ways of thinking and practising in improving student learning—Ten years on. OCSLD, Oxford, 2003). Little research however exists on the relevance of the concept to employability. Employability is fundamental to Higher Education, yet its role in the curriculum is unclear and contested. Our practice suggests that developing knowledge about employability is a threshold which, when reached, empowers and gives confidence to the student. To achieve this means embedding this knowledge in the curriculum. The paper discusses the delivery of a large module with this aim, explaining how the design of assessment was fundamental in guiding students to a transformed way of understanding employability.

E-commerce and entrepreneurship in SMEs: case of myBot

The adoption of e-commerce in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is a much researched topic in developed and developing nations. The application of mobile devices, and social media networks (SMNs) such as Facebook has revolutionalised the e-commerce adoption process in SMEs. However, research into this area is still developing and there is a dearth of knowledge on how SMEs in developing countries enact and apply this phenomenon. The purpose of this paper is to explain how e-commerce entrepreneurship using SMN is conceptualised and applied in SMEs, and to highlight factors that influence this e-commerce innovation.,An interpretive and qualitative case study approach was adopted as a methodological foundation in a firm pseudo-named, myBot. The study employed the contextualism theory as a meta-theoretical framework to conceptualise and analyse the e-commerce entrepreneurship process in the firm. The study employed face-to-face semi-structured and unstructured interviews with the manager as primary means of obtaining in-depth information. Further information was obtained through website content analysis and document analysis of the firm’s reports and observations.,The results unearth a socially constructed feature of e-commerce entrepreneurship that draws from myBot’s manager’s innovative ability to use Facebook and e-mail to increase sales through its niche market. Factors that propelled e-commerce entrepreneurial activities using Facebook include trust, commitment and innovativeness.,The revelation of this study may have changed due to the dynamic changes in the information and communication technology industry and how these are employed in a particular country and region of the world. Thus, results may not be generalised to other contexts. The study has a methodological limitation as it only had one informant who could respond to the study questions.,The study provides a practical application of using the contextualism theory to analyse e-commerce entrepreneurship in SMN.,The application of e-commerce using SMNs such as Facebook widens the scope of tools that SMEs may use.,The study provides a theoretical lens into the understanding of an e-commerce entrepreneurship process using a contextualism theory. The paper showcases how e-commerce using Facebook can be portrayed in a developing country context.