Meaningful interaction: toward a new theoretical approach to online instruction

ABSTRACT

Taking full advantage of the educative benefits of interaction in digital learning environments will require the development of new theoretical frameworks that can contribute to a richer understanding of interaction. Literary theory provides an excellent place to develop such a framework and advanced understanding. Literary theory enables us to reconceptualise online courses as ‘texts’, thereby equipping us with more sophisticated modes of analysis for the teaching and learning process. By rethinking online courses as texts, and better yet as what Roland Barthes has described as ‘writerly’ texts, we can improve interaction in the online classroom. More importantly, we can move toward a more meaningful form of interaction, where learners interact with course content at the level of meaning and meaning making, where interaction becomes a full participation in the production of a lesson’s meaning. Indeed, this aim of co-producing meaning should be the primary objective of all learning.

KEYWORDS:

• Interaction
• online learning
• literary theory
• writerly texts
• quality
• evaluation

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Robert Gray

Robert Gray is Associate Professor of University Pedagogy in the Department of Education at the University of Bergen in Bergen, Norway. He holds a PhD in Instructional Technology from the University of Alabama. He has over 15 years of experience in the professional development of university faculty, particularly in regard to online learning and other uses of technology in the teaching and learning process, and he has also taught composition, literature and research writing at several universities. His research interests include digital assessment practices in higher education, interaction in online learning, and conceptions of quality in teaching and learning.