Towards Innovative Virtual Learning in Vocational Teacher Education: Narratives as a Form of Meaningful Learning

The purpose of the research was to get insights into the ways learning strategies typically used by adult learners can be taken into consideration when designing web-based courses to facilitate learning in teacher education. Teacher students wrote narratives in discussion forums by completing various types of group projects. The relevant theoretical frameworks regarding the transfer effect, learning strategies and meaningful learning are discussed. The narratives of the teacher students are then analysed. In order to achieve meaningful learning in online teacher education, careful pedagogical principles need to be followed. The learning environment should provide the students possibilities to utilize effective learning strategies like reflection, prior experience, conversations and authentic experiences in order to achieve better learning results. Finally conclusions and recommendations are presented.