Multimedia Learning - Background

Background

Good pedagogical practice has a theory of learning at its core. For many theorists it’s the interaction between student and teacher and student and student in the online environment that enhances learning (Mayes and de Freitas 2004). Pask’s theory that learning occurs through conversations about a subject which in turn helps to make knowledge explicit has an obvious application to learning within a VLE.

Salmon developed a five stage model of e-learning and e-moderating that for some time has had a major influence where online courses and online discussion forums have been used. In her five stage model individual access and the ability of students to use the technology are the first step to involvement and achievement. The second step involves students creating an identity online and finding others with whom to interact; online socialisation is a critical element of the e-learning process in this model. In step 3 students are giving and sharing information relevant to the course to each other. Collaborative interaction amongst students is central to step 4. The fifth step in Salmon’s model involves students looking for benefits from the system and using resources from outside of it to deepen their learning. Throughout all of this the tutor/teacher/lecturer fulfills the role of moderator or e-moderator, acting as a facilitator of student learning.

Some criticism is now beginning to emerge. Her model does not easily transfer to other contexts (she developed it with experience from an Open University distance learning course). It ignores the variety of learning approaches that are possible within computer mediated communication (CMC) and the range of learning theories that are available (Moule 2007).

Best practice has yet to emerge and a single best practice model may be unlikely given the range of teaching styles, the potential ways technology can be implemented and the ways in which that technology itself is changing.