Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
they can learn from both refl ecting on their own experiences and from the insights
of their peers. Whilst the role of the blog is primarily to develop a refl ective habit, it
stealthily introduces processes of collection, selection and critical discernment.
Beale (
2007
) also argues that the fact that students can see the sort of activities done
by other students there is transparency in terms of the amount of work that is
required as well as the quality of work being produced. Because others can also see
their level of activity or inactivity, peer pressure should exert an infl uence and
encourage them to maintain a degree of selectivity in terms of how the students
present their work and their refl ections.
One of the aspirations of the course is to generate an environment where both
student and teacher construct the learning agenda in partnership. A key element of
this construction is a continuous dialogue that is achieved through frequent critique
sessions (or 'crits'). Questioning is often used to guide student thinking. A particu-
lar technique (or style of questioning), gleaned from educational literature
(Schoenfeld
1998
), is used - the refl ective toss. The purpose of the refl ective toss is
to allow the lecturer to interpret the meaning of a student statement but ensure that
the student continues to elaborate their underlying thinking. In such an environ-
ment, the traditional transmissive view of education is replaced with one where the
role of the lecturer is not to supply information to the students but to guide and
facilitate their learning.
The overall goal of the lecturer as facilitator is to move the focus of student learn-
ing away from simply remembering facts towards some form of higher learning,
such as the understanding of underlying principles. Such a goal is appropriate for a
programme that aims to develop graduates with competency at the higher level
skills of analysis, synthesis and evaluation associated with postpersonal and
transpersonal development. In order to achieve this development, the students in the
programme are guided through a range of projects that are designed around differ-
ent rhetorics of play with a view to guiding students through different stages of
personal development.
This playful student-centred learning environment aims to develop the learner's
capacity to be self-directed. Given rapid change, the continuous creation of new
knowledge, and an ever-widening access to information, we endeavour to let stu-
dents identify and choose their own challenges; defi ne their own areas of interest;
decide on methods, focus and direction; form project teams; formulate research
questions; design their own research plan; and develop knowledge of practices in
the particular fi eld or area (Cermak-Sassenrath and Walker
2012
). All of this is
intended to stimulate connective, imaginative and explorative learning. In the
absence of fi xed or predetermined outcomes, students are challenged to learn, to
analyse and to critically discuss their own work and that of others, e.g. by regularly
conducting open peer reviews of project work. Learning happens not only through
participation, by doing, but also by analysing and critiquing the work of one's
peers.
An exhaustive coverage of the projects is impossible; however, the following
section highlights a few examples of playful projects.
