Donna Gibbs

Guiding or Hiding? The Role of the Facilitator in Online Teaching and Learning

This article explores how the role taken by the facilitator in the teaching of an online postgraduate unit affects student interaction and learning. An observer and the facilitator of the unit analyse, in the form of a dialogue, the teaching and learning experiences that occurred. A wide range of “evidence” is used as a basis for reflection, including a detailed analysis of the online entries posted to the bulletin boards, printed records of e-mails and phone conversations, student results and student evaluations. It clearly emerges that teaching in an online environment involves far more than simply transferring teaching skills from the classroom. The successful facilitator will need to learn strategies for developing online “antennae”, for humanizing the electronic environment, and new ways to guide students to discuss, critique and reflect together as they engage in the construction of meaning.

Comparative information technology : languages, societies and the internet

Globalisation as a new dimension of political economy and culture has depended on a fusion of capitalism and advanced technologies, leading to ‘technodeterminism’ (Zajda, 2008) , and what Kellner (1991) has called ‘techno-capital’ (see also Langman & Morris, 2007) . Sassen (1998) and Castells (2001) have argued that one of the essential moments of globalisation consists of vast flows of electronic information. The rapid and ubiquitous proliferation of ICT has resulted in profound changes in society and culture, especially those affecting social identity (Morris & Langman,2005; Gibbs & Krause, 2007 ; Zajda, 2008) . Castells (2001) notes that the Internet facilitates the structured aspects of the network society. Yet, Antikainen (2005) argues that in a network society the power and influence of traditional political institutions are weakened (Antikainen, 2005 , p. 53).

E-learning in schools : making successful connections

This chapter aims to provide a snapshot of a selection of online projects carried out within the last 5 years in order to describe the diversity and range of practices that the medium of e-learning can facilitate and to identify the factors most likely to contribute to their success or failure. Four online projects that shared the goal of aiming to improve learning opportunities for school students through the use of e-learning are discussed. The projects represent a series of initiatives hosted by three different Centres (The Centre for Flexible Learning, the Macquarie University ICT Innovations Centre and the Macquarie University e-Learning Centre of Excellence) located within an Australian University. They involve collaboration between staff from these Centres with technical support staff and academic staff from a range of disciplines at Macquarie University, Australia; with technical and teaching staff from schools in New South Wales; and with research staff from organisations such as the Australian Centre for Astrobiology (ACA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in America and the Centre for Astronomy and Science Education (CASE) at the University of Glamorgan.