ABSTRACT
The development of highly communicative online communities that engage in effective educational discourse leading to conceptual – or belief – change and development, or ‘deep learning’, presents a significant challenge to researchers and practitioners in e-learning. Thus far much research into collaborative online dialogue in the context of virtual learning communities has focused on particular cases. The emphasis has been given to describing these operations and contexts, rather than penetrating deeper issues, through considering more fundamental approaches to learning and communication or systematically comparing different discursive contexts. In contrast I argue that progress can be made by conceptualising online dialogue in terms of relevant theories, considering findings from empirical work in discourse analysis and evaluating the development of dialogical cognitive tools. So this chapter has four main aims. First, it will critically review socio-cognitive and socio-cultural approaches to learning (for example, Vygotsky 1978; Engeström 1987) and more analytic community and situated perspectives (for example, Wenger 1998; Lave and Wenger 1991). It will also consider behavioural1 – or ‘environmental’ – perspectives (for example, Bandura 1977; Gibson 1977). This will assist our conceptualisation of effective educational dialogue and how it can be brought about. Second, I will consider the findings from empirical work in educational discourse analysis and dialogue modelling (for example, Pilkington 1999; Ravenscroft and Pilkington 2000) to examine our current understanding of educational dialogue processes and interactions. Third, I will evaluate work in dialogue design and cognitive tool development (for example, Ravenscroft 2000; Ravenscroft and Matheson 2002; Pilkington et al. 1992) to establish the progress made in fostering and promoting favoured dialogue processes using specially designed software systems. Finally, through reflecting on, applying and synthesising this previous and ongoing work, I will build upon my previous work (Ravenscroft 2004, 2002) to outline the state of development of a socio-cultural framework for cognitive change that is suitable for e-learning communities, which
holds that learning should be redefined as the transformation and development of cognition, identities and communities.
