From learning community to community learning: pedagogy, technology and interactivity

Abstract

The authors of this article discuss three pedagogical approaches, learning community, community of practice and community learning, and analyse their significance for knowledge acquisition and construction in higher education. The authors also explore the roles of technology in creating adequate environments for educators to implement teaching practices supported by these approaches and explain, through an illustrative course example, how technology and teaching methods can be used together to promote interaction among learners and help them achieve course goals.

De la communauté apprenante à l’apprentissage communautaire: la pédagogie’la technologie et l’interactivité

Les auteurs de cet article examinent trois approches pédagogiques:la communauté apprenante, la communauté de pratique et l’apprentissage communautaire et analysent leur signification pour l’acquisition et la construction des connaissances dans l’enseignement supérieur. Les auteurs étudient aussi le rôle de la technologie pour créer les environnements adéquats permettant aux éducateurs de mettre en place des pratiques d’enseignement reposant sur ces approches et ils expliquent au moyen d’un exemple de cours significatif,comment la technologie et les méthodes d’enseignement peuvent être utilisées ensemble pour favoriser l’interaction chez les apprenants et les aider à atteindre les objectifs du cours.

Von der lernenden Gemeinde zum gemeinsamen Lernen: Pädagogik, Technik und Interaktivität

Die Autoren dieses Artikels erörtern drei pädagogische Ansätze: Lerngemeinschaft, Übungsgemeinschaft und lernende Gemeinschaft. Sie analysieren ihre Bedeutung für Wissenserwerb und Aufbau einer höheren Ausbildung. Die Autoren erklären außerdem die Rolle der Technik beim Schaffen von adäquaten Umgebungen für Pädagogen, damit diese von diesen Ansätzen unterstützte Lehrübungen durchführen und durch ein illustratives Kursbeispiel erklären, wie Technologie und Lehrmethoden zusammen verwendet werden können, um Interaktion unter Lernern zu fördern und ihnen zu helfen, Kursziele zu erreichen.

Notes

* Center for Research on Learning and Teaching, University of Michigan, 1071 Palmer Commons, 100 Washtenaw Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109‐2218, USA. Email: [email protected]

1. The Evergreen State College is a public liberal arts college that was founded in 1971 in Olympia, WA. Its mission is to help students realize their potential through innovative, interdisciplinary educational programmes in the arts, humanities, social sciences and natural sciences.

2. The University of Michigan was founded in 1817 as one of the first public universities in the USA. The mission of the University of Michigan is to serve the people of Michigan and the world through preeminence in creating, communicating, preserving and applying knowledge, art and academic values and in developing leaders and citizens who will challenge the present and enrich the future.

3. The Edward Ginsberg Center is home to multiple community learning programmes, including America Reads Tutoring Corps, Michigan Community Service Corps, Michigan Neighborhood AmeriCorps Program, Project Community, Detroit Initiative and SERVE.

4. Ann Arbor–Ypsilanti Reads is a community initiative to promote reading and civic dialogue through the shared experience of reading and discussing a common book.

5. The Detroit Initiative, established in 1995, seeks to provide opportunities for students and faculty to engage in further education, service and research in the Detroit area through a focus on community‐identified priorities.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Erping Zhu*

* Center for Research on Learning and Teaching, University of Michigan, 1071 Palmer Commons, 100 Washtenaw Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109‐2218, USA. Email: [email protected]