Re-exploring democratic education through virtual learning communities

Öz Democratic pedagogy has been a concern in education for over a century. Although it has been interpreted in a variety of ways in different epochs, the main underpinning values have remained the same throughout the century. Now, in the information age, there has been considerable debate over whether the technology facilitates the democratization of education. With regard to this, in this article, in the first place, it was aimed to present the democratic education in a historical context, and then the virtual learning communities as a model which has the potential in democratizing the education was discussed. In doing this, a neutral approach was taken and pedagogical challenges were discussed. In reexploring the concept of democratic education, a critical in-depth literature review was taken in an emergent area of educational technology

___

  • Boud, D (1988). Moving Towards Autonomy. (Editör: D. Boud). Developing Student Autonomy in Learning (ikinci baskı) içinde (ss.17 - 39). Londra: Kogan Page.
  • Boyd, G. M. (1987). Emancipative educational technology. Canadian Journal of Educational Communication, 16 (2), 167 – 172.
  • Brookfield, S. D. (1994). Tales from the Dark Side: a Phenomenography of Adult Critical Reflection. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 13(3), 203– 216.
  • Brown, T. H. (2005). Beyond constructivism: Exploring future learning paradigms. Education Today, (2), 1 – 11.
  • Bruffee, K.A. (1999). Collaborative learning: Higher education, interdependence, and the authority of knowledge (ikinci baskı). Baltimore, MA: Johns Hopkins University Press.
  • Conlon, C. (2000). Visions of change: information technology, education and postmodernism. British Journal of Educational Technology, 31 (2), 109–116.
  • Cooke, B. & Kothari, U. (2001). Participation: The New Tyranny? Londra: Zed Books.
  • Dewey, J. (1903). Democracy in Education. The Elementary School Teacher, 4 (4).
  • Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and Education. New York: The Macmillan Company.
  • Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and Education. New York: Kappa Delta Pi.
  • Dewey, J. (1939/1991) Creative Democracy—the Task Before Us. John Dewey: The Later Works, 1925–1953, (14), 224–230 Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press.
  • Dillenbourg, P. (1999). Collaborative Learning. Cognitive and Computational Approaches. Amsterdam ; New York : Pergamon.
  • Ferreday, D., & Hodgson, V. (2010). Heterotopia in Networked learning: Beyond the shadow side of participation in learning communities. Lancaster University Management School Working Paper. 21 Şubat 2011 tarihinde http://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/49033/1/Document.pdf internet adresinden erişilmiştir.
  • Ford, L., Branch, G., & Moore, G. (2008). Formation of a virtual professional learning community in a combined local and distance doctoral cohort, AACE Journal, 16(2), 161-185.
  • Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
  • Freire, P. (1998). Pedagogy of freedom. Ethics, Democracy, and civic courage. US: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
  • Garrison, D. R. (1997). Computer conferencing: the post-industrial age of distance education. Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 12 (2), 3 -11.
  • Gore, J. M. (1999). On the limits to empowerment through critical and feminist pedagogies. (Editörler: D. Carlson, & M. W. Apple). Power/Knowledge/Pedagogy: The Meaning of Democratic Education in Unsettling Times (ss. 271 - 288). Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
  • Giroux, H. A. (1992). Border crossings: cultural workers and the politics of education. New York: Routledge.
  • Hine, C. (2000). Virtual Ethnography. Londra: Sage Publications.
  • Hodgson V. (2002). Issues for democracy and social identity in CMC and Networked Learning. (Editörler: C. Steeples & C. Jones). Networked Learning: Perspectives and Issues içinde (ss. 229-242). Berlin: Springer.
  • Hodgson, V., & Watland, P. (2004). Researching Networked Management Learning. Management Learning, 35(2), 96 -116.
  • Hodgson, V., & Reynolds, M. (2005). Consensus, difference and ‘multiple communities’ in networked learning. Studies in Higher Education, 30 (1), 11 - 24.
  • Hodgson, V. (2008). Learning Spaces, context and auto/biography in online learning communities. Journal of Web Based Communities, 4(2), 159-172.
  • Jones, S.G. (1995). Understanding community in the Information Age. (Editör: S. G. Jones). Cybersociety: Computer-Mediated communication and community (ss. 10 -35). Thousand Oaks: CA: Sage Publications.
  • Knight, T., & Pearl, A. (2000). Democratic Education and Critical Pedagogy. The Urban Review, 32 (3), 197—226.
  • Kowch, E., & Schwier, R. (1997). Characteristics of Technology-Based Virtual Learning Communities. University of Saskatchewan, 27 Şubat 2011 tarihinde http://www.usask.ca/education/coursework/802papers/communities/communiti es.htm internet adresinden ulaşılmıştır.
  • Lankshear, C., Peters, M., & Knobel, M. (1996). Critical pedagogy and cyberspace. (Editörler: H. A. Giroux ve diğerleri). Counternarratives: Cultural Studies and Critical Pedagogies in Postmodern Spaces (ss.149 -189). NewYork: Routledge
  • Levy, P. (2004). A methodological framework for practice-based research in networked learning. (Editörler: P. Goodyear, S. Banks, V. Hodgson & D. McConnell). Advances in research on networked learning. Computer- Supported Collaborative Learning (ss. 43-66). Londra: Kluwer.
  • Levy, P. (2007). Towards a community of inquiry for inquiry-based learning: a CETL perspective. Practising the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Proceedings of the SoTL 6th Annual International Conference, City University, Londra, 18-19 Mayıs 2006.
  • Lewis, D., & Allan, B. (2005). Virtual Learning Communities: A guide for practitioners. Berkshire: Open University Press.
  • Mantovani, G. (1994). Is computer-mediated communication intrinsically apt to enhance democracy in organisations? Human Relations, 47, 45-62.
  • McConnell, D. (2000). Implementing Computer-supported Cooperative Learning. (ikinci baskı). Londra: Kogan Page.
  • McConnell, D. (2005). Examining the Dynamics of Networked E-Learning Groups and Communities. Studies in Higher Education, 30 (1), 25-42.
  • McConnell, D. (2006). E-Learning Groups and Communities. England and New York: The Society for Research into Higher Education & Open University Press.
  • Neill, A. S. (1962). Summerhill: a radical approach to education. Londra: Gollancz.
  • Neill, A. S. (1992). The New Summerhill. Londra: Penguin Books.
  • Pearl, A., & Knight, T. (1998). The Democratic Classroom: Theory to Guide Practice. Cresswell, NJ: Hampton Press.
  • Pedler, M. (1981). Developing the learning community. (Editörler: Tom Boydell & Mike Pedler). Management self-development: concepts and practices (ss. 68 - 84). Aldershot: Gower Publishing Company Limited.
  • Reynolds, M. (1999). Grasping the Nettle: Possibilities and Pitfalls of a Critical Management Pedagogy. British Journal of Management, 9, 171–184
  • Reynolds, M., & Hodgson, V. (2002, Mart). Network learning and ideas of community. Third International Networked Learning konferansında sunulan bildiri, Sheffield, UK.
  • Riel, M. (1995). Cross-classroom collaboration in global learning circles. (Editör: S. Leigh Star). The Cultures of Computing (ss. 219-242). Oxford: Blackwell Publishers/The Sociological Review.
  • Schwier, R. A. (2001). Catalysts, emphases, and elements of virtual learning communities. Implications for Research and Practice. The Quarterly Review of Distance Education. 2(1), 5-18.
  • Schwier, R. A. (2007). Did We Become a Community? Multiple Methods for Identifying Community and Its Constituent Elements in Formal Online Learning Environments. (Editörler: N. Lambropoulos & P. Zaphiris). User- Centered Design of Online Learning Communities (ss. 29 – 53). Hershey: Information Science Publishing.
  • Schwier, R.A. (2011). The elusive metaphor of virtual learning communities. (Editör: G. Anglin). Instructional technology: Past, present, future (3. baskı). Englewood Cliffs, CO: Libraries Unlimited
  • Smith, R. O. (2008). The paradox of trust in online collaborative groups. Distance Education, 29 (3), 325–340.
  • Sorensen, E. K., & Murchu, D. (2004). Designing online learning communities of practice: A democratic perspective. Journal of Educational Media, 29(3), 189 – 200.
  • Öztürk, H. T. (2011). Conflict in Virtual Learning Communities in the Context of a Democratic Pedagogy. Yayımlanmamış Doktora Tezi, Lancaster University, UK.
  • Warschauer, M., & Lepeintre, S. (1997). Freire's dream or Foucault's nightmare: Teacher-student relations on an international computer network. (Editörler: R. Debski, J. Gassin, & M. Smith). Language Learning Through Social Computing içinde (ss. 67-89). Parkville, Avustralya: Applied Linguistics Association of Australia.
  • Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice. Learning, meaning and identity. Cambridge, U.K. ; New York, N.Y: Cambridge University Press.