TY - BOOK

T1 - A Study of Students' Conceptions of Networked Learning in a Developing Country Setting

AU - Nguyen, Tan

PY - 2017

Y1 - 2017

N2 - Institutional initiatives to foster networked learning practices, based on ‘Western’models, are increasingly prominent in developing countries; yet, to date, very littleresearch has explored campus-based students’ conceptions or experiences of thoseinitiatives. This study investigates students’ conceptions of networked learning in aparticular developing country setting: Can Tho University, Vietnam. The study startedfrom the conviction that we should not assume that aspects of networked learning willbe conceived by the students there in the same ways as in the countries where themodels were developed.The study adopted a phenomenographic research approach to elicit and describe thequalitatively varied ways in which undergraduate students experienced and perceivedfour different (though related) phenomena that are associated with networked learningin the literature and promoted within institutional initiatives. Those four phenomenarelate, in turn, to: a) learning in relation to others and resources; b) the roles oftechnology in mediating learning through connections; c) cooperation with others inlearning; and d) working together towards a common goal.Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews and analysed according toDahlgren and Fallsberg’s (1991) seven-stage cycle of data analysis inphenomenography, so as to elaborate the range of ways in which the phenomena ofstudy were perceived across the sample of participants. The findings of the study arepresented as outcome spaces, representing the variation in conception of eachphenomenon.With regard to learning in relation to others and resources, three categories ofdescription were identified: resource access, knowledge transmission and knowledgeconstruction. Regarding the roles of technology in mediating learning throughconnections, three categories emerged: flexibility, tool and medium. These categoriesare argued to demonstrate a conceptual variation in the perceived extent andsophistication of the technological mediation occurring. Concerning cooperation withothers in learning, the analysis of the data led to the emergence of three categories.These categories identified that cooperation in learning was perceived as group work,exploratory learning and directing learning.viIn addition, qualitative differences in students’ accounts on their conceptions ofworking together towards a common goal were constituted by three issues related tobenefits of working together towards a common goal (diversity awareness, increasedunderstanding and increased performance) and three issues related to challenges ofworking together towards a common goal (technological availability, interpersonaldifferences and unproductive learning).The significance of the study derives from how it provides insight into howundergraduate students experience and perceive ‘networked learning’ in developingcountry contexts where learners typically have rather different values and educationalhistories than in the ‘West’. For example, the students in this study perceived networkedlearning as partially an act of knowledge transmission from teacher to students, contraryto the Western literature, where the dominant conception invokes an image of students’active involvement in knowledge construction. On the other hand, students alsoexperienced networked learning as making-meaning-through-connections, which isreasonably consistent with findings from studies of Western settings.It is hoped that the findings will provide new insights of value to practitioners andeducators seeking to design or integrate the networked learning concept into thecurriculum in higher education in the developing world; and, at a higher level ofgranularity, empirical knowledge of use to educators and policy makers who wish topromote more student-centred learning approaches such as networked learning in thedeveloping world.

AB - Institutional initiatives to foster networked learning practices, based on ‘Western’models, are increasingly prominent in developing countries; yet, to date, very littleresearch has explored campus-based students’ conceptions or experiences of thoseinitiatives. This study investigates students’ conceptions of networked learning in aparticular developing country setting: Can Tho University, Vietnam. The study startedfrom the conviction that we should not assume that aspects of networked learning willbe conceived by the students there in the same ways as in the countries where themodels were developed.The study adopted a phenomenographic research approach to elicit and describe thequalitatively varied ways in which undergraduate students experienced and perceivedfour different (though related) phenomena that are associated with networked learningin the literature and promoted within institutional initiatives. Those four phenomenarelate, in turn, to: a) learning in relation to others and resources; b) the roles oftechnology in mediating learning through connections; c) cooperation with others inlearning; and d) working together towards a common goal.Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews and analysed according toDahlgren and Fallsberg’s (1991) seven-stage cycle of data analysis inphenomenography, so as to elaborate the range of ways in which the phenomena ofstudy were perceived across the sample of participants. The findings of the study arepresented as outcome spaces, representing the variation in conception of eachphenomenon.With regard to learning in relation to others and resources, three categories ofdescription were identified: resource access, knowledge transmission and knowledgeconstruction. Regarding the roles of technology in mediating learning throughconnections, three categories emerged: flexibility, tool and medium. These categoriesare argued to demonstrate a conceptual variation in the perceived extent andsophistication of the technological mediation occurring. Concerning cooperation withothers in learning, the analysis of the data led to the emergence of three categories.These categories identified that cooperation in learning was perceived as group work,exploratory learning and directing learning.viIn addition, qualitative differences in students’ accounts on their conceptions ofworking together towards a common goal were constituted by three issues related tobenefits of working together towards a common goal (diversity awareness, increasedunderstanding and increased performance) and three issues related to challenges ofworking together towards a common goal (technological availability, interpersonaldifferences and unproductive learning).The significance of the study derives from how it provides insight into howundergraduate students experience and perceive ‘networked learning’ in developingcountry contexts where learners typically have rather different values and educationalhistories than in the ‘West’. For example, the students in this study perceived networkedlearning as partially an act of knowledge transmission from teacher to students, contraryto the Western literature, where the dominant conception invokes an image of students’active involvement in knowledge construction. On the other hand, students alsoexperienced networked learning as making-meaning-through-connections, which isreasonably consistent with findings from studies of Western settings.It is hoped that the findings will provide new insights of value to practitioners andeducators seeking to design or integrate the networked learning concept into thecurriculum in higher education in the developing world; and, at a higher level ofgranularity, empirical knowledge of use to educators and policy makers who wish topromote more student-centred learning approaches such as networked learning in thedeveloping world.

KW - Networked Learning

KW - Phenomenography

KW - developing countries

KW - collaborative learning

KW - Learning

KW - Higher education

U2 - 10.17635/lancaster/thesis/46

DO - 10.17635/lancaster/thesis/46

M3 - Doctoral Thesis

PB - Lancaster University

CY - Lancaster

ER -