Volume Two - Academic Conferences

Chien-hwa Wang and Cheng-ping Chen
information suitable for their own learning purposes. Therefore, learner control strategies should not
be self-defeating, becoming an invisible constraint that limits learners’ freedom while navigating within
Web 2.0 environments. To solve the aforementioned problems, further study is necessary to identify
more effective learner characteristics and to design the guiding algorithms that can adequately adapt
individual differences to Web 2.0 environments.
2. Unique media attributes of Web 2.0
The effectiveness of educational media was debated for more than 15 years, from approximately
1980 to the mid-1990s. The original debate was probably initiated by Salomon (1979) who argued
that it was not the medium that influenced learning, instead the attributes of a medium that can be
modelled by learners are what shapes the development of unique cognitive processes. Clark (1994)
concluded that the media not only does not influence learning, but it also does not motivate learning.
His argument is that only adequate instructional methods can influence learning, and the instructional
methods should be developed according to the unique attributes of a particular medium. These early
debates over media were primarily hardware oriented. With the convergence of digital media since the
late 1990s, the term media has become increasingly software oriented. Studies emphasizing digital
media and eLearning have shifted the evaluation of hardware effectiveness to the development of
eLearning environments. Subsequently, research on computer-based instruction (CAI), Internet
application, and Web 2.0 have been conducted, and the effectiveness of instructional strategies
embedded in eLearning systems is frequently evaluated.
However, in accordance with media attributes theory, a careful re-examination of the unique attributes
of Web 2.0 is necessary. Web 2.0 provides a platform that allows learners to not only build their own
virtual learning society, but also enables the freedom to navigate, communicate, and construct
information within cyberspace. As stated by Reinartz (2009), the new instructional design paradigm
moves from providing learners with systematic knowledge-acquisition models for learning to providing
learners with learning-environment accommodation. He also asserted that the learning process
requires learners to be actively involved decision makers, knowledge builders, and designers, rather
than simply receivers of information, to develop higher cognitive skills. This study suggests that
additional research should be conducted from the learner control perspectives and more adaptive
strategies should be developed. A similar suggestion can be found in the research by Scheiter and
Gerjets (2007). They asserted that the results of studies on the effectiveness of eLearning were
ambiguous because self-controlled learning is difficult to demonstrate due to usability issues and
moderating learner characteristics. More recently, Uzunboylu, Bicen, and Cavus (2011) also
recommended that students’ expectations and individual differences should be analysed before
integrating an eLearning environment into educational applications. Before developing additional Web
2.0 instructional systems and strategies, it seems greater attention should be given to the learner
perspective, and more learner characteristics that affect motivation toward Web 2.0 learning activities
should be identified.
3. Learner characteristics
Learner characteristics have been widely discussed in research over the past 10 years. Scheiter and
Gerjets (2007) categorized the main learner characteristics for hypermedia environments as prior
knowledge, self-regulatory skills, cognitive style, and attitude toward learning. Scheiter et al. (2009)
then found that learners with greater favourable characteristics tended to display increased adaptive
example utilization behaviour, reported less cognitive load, and solved more problems correctly than
learners with less favourable characteristics. They defined the favourable characteristics as higher
prior knowledge, more complex epistemological beliefs, greater positive attitude, and better cognitive
and metacognitive strategy use. This line of research has focused on hypermedia instruction with
specific built-in instructional content and the drawback is that the research was limited to a Web 1.0
perspective. Luckin et al. (2009), however, provided a more Web 2.0-perspective; they determined
that Web 2.0 learners could be categorized into four main groups: researchers, collaborators,
producers, and publishers. They further argued that few learners were familiar with the complete
spectrum of Web 2.0 activities and only a small number were producing and publishing self-created
content for wider consumption; therefore, learners’ self-management or metacognitive reflection
cannot be found. From a Web 2.0 perspective, the recognition of hypermedia instruction should be
extended from “information utilization” to “knowledge construction,” and the higher order thinking skills
of student must be encouraged. However, higher order thinking skills, such as cognitive style, selfregulatory
skills, and attitude towards learning, cannot be activated or inspired unless motivational
factors are initiated. These factors may affect learners’ motivation and willingness to participate in the
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