The Handbook Dilemma in Higher Education

This article examines adult online education by investigating the complex relationship between technology and community. The aim was to explore online teaching in relation to the handbook dilemma teachers meet in their teacher profession by focusing on participation and sharing opportunities. This study analysed several handbooks that aim to help teachers design and implement online education. The advice in the handbooks was contrasted against two empirical cases. Specifically, the study examined how two cases – online adult education courses and special needs teacher training courses – implemented online education with respect to participation and sharing. The analysis suggests that pedagogy is the crucial point and a planned pedagogy is absolutely necessary for designing and implementing effective online education, education that encourages participation and sharing. The findings showed that some handbooks offer meaningful guidance regarding the development of online education, but other publications were not helpful which creates a dilemma for teachers. DOI: 10.4018/ijcee.2011100102 International Journal of Cyber Ethics in Education, 1(4), 10-21, October-December 2011 11 Copyright © 2011, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. online students located at different places can become part of a community of learners, an online learning community (OLC). This view of a community assumes that users of an information system necessarily constitute a community, a view that was expressed in the 1990s: “critical to the rhetoric surrounding Internet use is the promise of a renewed sense of community and, in many instances, new types and formations of community” (Jones, 1998, p. 3). However, recent empirical studies have shown that developing an OLC is more complex than merely connecting people through technology (e.g., Bishop, 2007; Helleve, 2010; Söderström, Hamilton, Dahlgren, & Hult, 2006). Although today technology users are aware of the complex link between technology and community, the emergence of Web 2.0 technologies lends support to the assumption that technology by itself can create a community. Hamilton, Dahlgren, Hult, Roos, and Söderström (2004) conclude that “[t]he technologisation of the learning society assumes that learning environments are technical systems that deliver learning” (p. 844). Williamson develops this view further: “Technology is often touted as a means for providing new opportunities for learning, economic development, and participation in digital-age citizenry – especially for those who have limited access to high-quality learning environments and who have historically been marginalized in decision-making processes.” (2011, p. 12) In many cases, Web 2.0 technologies are portrayed as the tools that will build online learning communities since they promote participation and knowledge sharing opportunities (Hara, Shachaf, & Stoerger, 2009). To manage these new technologies and to create “good teaching with technology”, a large variety of handbooks are marketed to teachers. However, the large number of handbooks for teachers also reveals that pedagogy and technology are intertwined in a complex relationship where, in a postmodern sense, no standpoint is more prevalent than the other. Because the rapid speed of technology development continually creates new educational conditions, new handbooks are continually being written. As a consequence, teachers are left to manage individually the jungle of handbooks to find answers to their questions about online teaching. In this article, I will look more closely at this complex relationship between technology and community as it is practised in online adult education. As a way of addressing this question, I intend to investigate the participation and sharing opportunities in online adult education courses and discuss these opportunities in relation to the handbook dilemma. I report data from two online courses – an online adult education course and special needs teacher training course – that will work as a foundation for my arguments about possible consequences of the handbooks and their relationship to online education as it is practiced in higher education. This article is written in a spirit of inquiry and clarification. My argument falls into four sections. First, I give an overview of online learning and online learning communities with reference to the literature surrounding online participation and community. Second, I examine different handbooks directed to teachers. Third, I report results from research projects directed at two online education courses. Fourth, I discuss the prominence of handbooks in relation to the design and implementation of online education. Online Learning Community: A Background The understanding of online community derives from understandings of traditional community. Saville-Troike claim that “all definitions of community used in the social sciences include the dimension of shared knowledge, possessions, or behaviours derived from the Latin communitae, ‘held in common‘” (2003, p. 15). Likewise, Keller (2003) suggests that there are standard dimensions that form the bedrock of a community and sharing is one major dimension. Similarly, Bauman sees a community as a collection of people bound by mutual understanding: 10 more pages are available in the full version of this document, which may be purchased using the "Add to Cart" button on the product's webpage: www.igi-global.com/article/teaching-online-handbookdilemma-higher/62635?camid=4v1 This title is available in InfoSci-Journals, InfoSci-Journal Disciplines Library Science, Information Studies, and Education. Recommend this product to your librarian: www.igi-global.com/e-resources/libraryrecommendation/?id=2