Asynchronous Online Role-Plays Using a Blended Learning Design - Information Communication Technologies for Human Services Education and Delivery - page 65

(i) the type of online tools that are utilised;
(ii) the degree to which the activity is blended
with face-to-face learning; and
(iii) the way that the activity is put into action.

contribution can be amended or deleted without
consent (Fountain, 2005). Wikis could be useful
in online role-play activities in several ways: first,
after the initial student discussion online regarding
reflexive practice and the theoretical approaches
to be used in the role-play, a wiki could be used
by an online discussion group to develop a shared
understanding of the theory. Second, wikis could
be used to develop both the characters and sce-
narios that are the starting point of the role-play.
This would help to develop a shared understanding
among students of the relevant issues, characters
and situation. Third, a wiki could be used after
completion of the role-play to summarise the
students' understandings of critical issues brought
up in the discussion thread.

online tools

There are a number of relatively new software
options that may enhance e-learning design that
are now widely used in the world-wide-web (Rob-
ertson, 2008). Wikis and blogs in particular have
great potential as e-learning tools in online role-
plays as they require the construction of knowledge
by students rather than students passively being
presented with content (Robertson, 2008). The
constructivist approach to learning and teaching
posits that knowledge is constructed by students
based upon what it is that they are doing rather
than what it is that they are being told (Biggs &
Tang, 2007). We now provide definitions of these
online tools, how they may be used to assist with
online role-plays and also canvass a number of
important design issues:

Blog

A “blog”- shortened from the term “web log”- is
a simple online publishing tool that allows diary-
type entries to be published online in chronologi-
cally reversed order without the author needing to
have complex computing skills.Along with wikis,
blogs are a popular social networking tool in the
broader online environment. They are most often
used for keeping journals that are intended to be
read by others (Tekinarslan, 2008). The use of
blogs in higher education is growing, and studies
have shown that students find blog journals easy
and convenient to maintain. One concern raised
by students is where Internet access becomes an
issue, frustrating the writing of the blog (Teki-
narslan, 2008). It is an important therefore to
ensure students have access to the required tech-
nology and are not disadvantaged due to issues
of the affordability of the software or hardware
used in blogs. In recent evaluations of e-learning
options blogs have been found to work effectively
for reflective tasks in higher education (Bouldin,
Holmes & Fortenberry, 2006). They can replace
an offline reflective journal and arguably offer
improved learning opportunities through their
accessibility to other students engaged in the same

Wiki

A wiki' - which means “quick” in Hawaiian (Foun-
tain, 2005) - is a shared online site where published
documents can be added to or amended by anyone
who has access to the site. Wikis are designed to be
simple to use and are ideal for collaborative tasks.
Arguably, the most famous example is “wikipedia”
the free online encyclopaedia which anyone with
Internet access can amend (Wikipedia: 2008). The
premise in wikis is that there is a range of sources of
expert knowledge and that anyone can participate
and contribute (Fountain, 2005). However, the
problem that arises from this approach is that the
information contained in a wiki is not necessarily
reliable. For example, the Wikipedia site contains
a warning to users that new material may contain
misinformation despite the site having a constant
checking system in place (Wikipedia: 2008). An-
other problem with wikis is that another person's