Learner Support in Distance and Networked Learning Environments: Ten Dimensions for Successful Design

How do educators and instructional designers assess the effectiveness of the learning environments they design? One important means of ensuring the effectiveness of instruction in distance and face-to-face settings is through provision of learner support. Increasingly, as learners utilize the World Wide Web for collaborative learning, support systems contribute to the processes of learning and assist the learner in developing competencies and conŽ dence in self-regulated learning and social interaction. Originating in the socio-cultural perspective of Vygotskyan theory, the term scaffolding refers to learning support based on social constructivist models of learning. As the World Wide Web becomes increasingly integrated into the delivery of learning experiences at primary, tertiary and secondary levels, the concept of scaffolding needs to be reconsidered because it is not readily translated into contexts where the teacher is not present, such as in online learning environments. The aim of this paper is to offer a conceptualization of the term scaffolding in distance learning, to provide examples of how learners can be supported in the processes of constructivist inquiry in a range of learning settings, and to offer principles for the design of learning support that can be applied across a range of instructional settings. Why Do We Need Learning Supports? Educators are the Ž rst to admit that not all learners are willing to execute the tasks and activities that lead to successful learning, and that learners need support and structured learning experiences (Collis, 1998; Laurillard, 2002). The recognition that teaching has a supportive dimension has long been recognized (Biggs, 1999). Scaffolding is the term widely used to describe effective learning support with an interesting history. Wood, Bruner and Ross (1976) originally coined the term scaffolding as a metaphor to describe the effective intervention by a peer, adult or competent person in the learning of another person. The term can be traced to Vygotsky’s concept of the zone of proximal development, which refers to a learner’s optimal developmental potential, if assistance that is timely and appropriate is provided by another person (Vygotsky, 1978). The appeal of the concept of scaffolding lies in the fact that it directs attention to the need for support in the learning process, and does so in a way that emphasizes that good teaching is necessarily responsive to the state of understanding achieved by particular learners. In distance learning settings, the metaphor of scaffolding is appealing in principle, yet elusive and problematic. With reference to distance learning, Garrison and Baynton (1987) ISSN 0158-7919 print; 1475-0198 online/02/020149-14 Ó 2002 Open and Distance Learning Association of Australia, Inc. DOI: 10.1080/0158791022000009178