Faculty of Education - Theses

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Author: Blanksby, Vivienne × Start date: 1981 × Type: Masters Coursework thesis × Subject: Case studies ×

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    A case study in computer mediated communication in a vocational education context
    Blanksby, Vivienne ( 1999)
    This thesis documents the experiences of a group of teachers and students in vocational education settings who used computer mediated communication (CMC) during the course of three trial online learning programs in 1998. These students were studying certificate level subjects in electrical and electronics courses - a group which has received little attention from the research community as participants in CMC. This is an interpretive study exploring the phenomenon of CMC from the participants' perspectives. It also analyses their online discussion contributions to attempt to discover the educational and social influences which operated in the conferencing environment. It has looked at the nature of the tasks teachers devised to stimulate contributions, perceptions of the role of the teacher in online discussion, and the educational and motivational potential of both synchronous and asynchronous conferencing. Key findings were that, despite difficult circumstances, one of the programs was able to use asynchronous conferencing to involve students in serious online discussion of problems related to their coursework. Participants acknowledged an extension of their thinking, although student acceptance of the format varied significantly. Factors which could contribute to negative attitudes have been identified. In the other two programs, synchronous conferencing was shown to be an attractive medium for participants because of its immediacy and its potential to create a supportive environment for isolated students. Some of the characteristics of synchronous conferencing were found to create a challenging environment for instructional activity. The educational potential of this medium is a relatively unresearched area that would benefit from further study. It is hoped that the experiences described in this case study can provide insights to assist vocational and other educators, in planning for the use of CMC in their program offerings.