Investigating the socio-constructivist dimension of online interactions: the case of synchronous audio-graphic conferencing systems

This study explores the quality of interactive patterns in audio-graphic conferencing environments and learners' involvement in interaction. Supporters of this technology claim that online interactions support socio-constructivist language learning. However, the existing literature does not indicate whether the quality of interaction required for realising constructivist principles of learning can affectively be ensured in such environments. The study is based on the Open University's online audio-graphic tuition environment, Lyceum. It investigates the verbal and written interactions of adult Open University students learning French. The data is analysed by different models of analysis pertaining to different socio-constructivist and cognitive models of analysis. The results show that students use high forms of thinking to engage in a cyclical rather than a linear process of knowledge construction. However, there is no evidence that this process is supported by the audio-graphic system itself. The tutor's style and task design play a more important role in supporting the learning process

Impact on the knowledge construction process of multimedia online interactions in audio-graphic conferencing systems: the case of adult distance learners of French

Online researchers suggest that synchronous audio-graphic corm encing systems provide different mediational tools that create different mediated educa nal interactions that support the collaborative process of meaning construction, However, the existing literature does not indicate whether the quality of multimodal online interactions as well as the affordances of the use of the synchronous medium can effectively enh ce this process. This thesis brings together two lines of research. The thesis develops a methodological framework for the presentation and analysis of multimodal online interactions that draws on socio-constructivist understanding that the process of meaning construction is social and individual. The second is concerned with the analysis of online multimodal discussions; it examines the interrelationship between the different tools of communication and the different affordances of their simultaneous and single use that may hinder or promote the collaborative process of meaning construction. The design of this research focuses on interaction patterns and examines the extent which online discussions, mediated by the different tools of communication, reach high levels of collaborative meaning construction.This study assumes the knowledge construction process to be empirically observable through analysing online interactions and students' perceptions of the learning experiences. It examines, through interviews, questionnaires and video recordings of online tutorials, the quality of online learning experiences of two different UK Open University tutorial groups learning French. Results show that: participants make different multimodal choices which lead to the creation of different patterns of multi modal interactions and on line exchanges that affect differently participants' engagement in the collaborative meaning construction process; the single and the simultaneous use of the different tools of communication create different affordances for participants to perform different interactive and communicative roles; the multi modal competencies of students and tutors, the tutors' styles and task design play an important role in supporting the collaborative meaning construction process

Quel est le rôle des environnements audio-graphiques synchrones dans les interactions d’un cours de langue en ligne?

Audio-graphic conferencing is becoming an important and an integral part of distance/online language teaching and learning. Based on ten years of research into online experience with such systems, this article directs a critical glance at online teaching and learning practices by examining the relationship between socio-constructivism, communicative tasks, technology and language acquisition, in two specific online training courses. The design of tools and communicative tasks draws on a socio-constructivist theory of learning. According to this theory, the active implementation of communicative tasks by learners is an essential condition for learning. However there has been little research on how these socio-constructivist conditions for learning are realized in the specific setting of synchronous audio-graphic conferencing environments. To explore this question, we examine the implementation of communicative/socio-constructivist tasks on two different audio-synchronous platforms. We conclude that the nature of the scenario (or task), the tool and the users (and uses) all have a role in influencing language acquisition in audiographic settings. Our findings also suggest that future research should look at the transferability of practices from one technology to another