Transforming e-Learning into ee-Learning: The Centrality of Sociocultural Participation

Traditional e-learning uses information and communication technologies to facilitate participant connections, expand access, and provide learning opportunities not necessarily constrained by time or distance (e.g., Evans and Powell 2007). ee-Learning leverages e-learning technology with the philosophy and methodology of experiential education, promoting inquiring forms of community that engage learners in the experiences through which knowledge is created (Trevitte and Eskow 2007; Riedel et al. 2007; Doering 2007). Like experiential education, ee-learning places great emphasis on learner participation in authentic tasks. Indeed, experiential education models now being adapted for ee-learning, such as service-learning (Chisholm 2007) and knowledge-building paradigms (Philip 2007), place learner participation and reflection at the center of pedagogical practice. Nevertheless, such models are often vague in defining the specific role of learner participation in the processes of knowledge production and meaning making. This article explores the impact that a sociocultural understanding of participation can have on instructional design for and with ee-learning partners.