October 2007 Volume 10 Number 4 - Educational Technology ...

Svensson, L., & Östlund, C. (2007). Framing Work-Integrated e-Learning with Techno-Pedagogical Genres. Educational
Technology & Society, 10 (4), 39-48.
Framing Work-Integrated e-Learning with Techno-Pedagogical Genres
Lars Svensson
Forum for Work-Integrated Learning, University West, Sweden // lars.svensson@hv.se // Tel: +46 733 975133
Christian Östlund
Laboratory for Interaction Technology, University West, Sweden // christian.ostlund@hv.se // Tel: +46 520 223567
ABSTRACT
Distance Educational Practice is today supported by a range of information systems (IS) design theories. Still,
there are surprisingly few strong pedagogical ideas and constructs that are communicated across distance
educational institutions. Instead it is often the technology, the software and the medium that is at the centre of
attention as we frequently discuss notions such as learning management systems, courseware, chat room,
streaming media and blogs. This paper argues that design concepts should be used to bridge the gap between
design theories and distance educational practice. It is also argued that genre theory could be instrumental in
framing the characteristics of such techno-pedagogical genres in a way that constitutes a powerful level of
communicating and disseminating new ideas within and across educational communities.
Keywords
Genre, IS design theory, Design concept, Techno-Pedagogical Genre
Introduction
Looking back on the last decades of development within the field of distance education reveals a rich spectrum of
initiatives that has been implemented and evaluated in educational as well as organisational settings. It is probably
fair to state that the extent to which these initiatives and innovations are related to, or derived from, theory varies to a
large degree. In an influential paper from 2002, Markus, Majchrzak and Gasser (Markus et al., 2002) presented a
model for IS design theory (based on the work of Walls (1992)), where they stated that a design framework should
be firmly rooted in a kernel theory that guides the elicitation of requirements, consequently transformed into
principles for design and development. Examples of work that use this (or similar) approaches to design for learning
and competence development are Herrington & Oliver (1995), Hung & Chen (2001), and Hardless (2005). Applying
the approach suggested by Markus et al., (2002) is likely to generate design frameworks (i.e. theories) that are
theoretically sound. Still, a central problem is to bridge a generic design theory with the specific contexts and content
where theory is to be applied in actual design practice. Hardless (2005) suggest that design concepts could be
instrumental to that effect.
“Design concepts served the role as an intermediate conceptualization between design theory and
concrete prototype. A design concept is here a collection of general ideas and principles for a type of
CDS [Competence development system]. In other words, a definition of a particular type of learning
intervention abstracted beyond specific instances or realizations based on the design concept.”
(Hardless, 2005)
Hence, design concepts are to be derived from, and evaluated against the design framework where the kernel theory
(fig 1:1) generates requirements for the phenomenon design is intended to support and develop. Requirements (fig
1:2) are then transformed into design guidelines and design concepts (fig 1:3) are derived from the design theory.
Design concepts (fig 1:4) are realized into prototypes and systems in various practices and the system evaluation (fig
1:5) feeds back to design concepts and design theory. In the context of e-learning we believe there is a need for this
type of intermediary level of abstraction in between educational practice and IS design theory. However, the question
of how to describe and frame a design concept still remains. In this paper we argue that the notion of genre is a
promising approach in framing new and innovative techno-pedagogical ideas, and provide a structured approach to
how such ideas should be deconstructed and presented. The ideas are illustrated through the presentation of three
simple design concepts for work-integrated e-learning: (i) Web Lecture, (ii) Blog Reflection, and (iii) Competence
Kick-off.
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