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

attention as we frequently discuss notions such as learning management systems, courseware, chat room, streaming
media and blogs. At the same time we can easily find many examples of stable educational genres in traditional (non
technology mediated) education. Concepts such as lectures and seminars dates back to the very beginning of schools
and education, but also more novel examples such as multiple-choice exam or term paper are widely recognized with
respect to form and structure across institutions and countries.
A genre framework for techno-pedagogical design concepts
This section outlines a tentative framework for description of techno-pedagogical genres. The framework is
organised as a table with three rows – one for each of the primary genre dimensions (form, content and
functionality). The framework uses the narrative structure, i.e. a series of activities organized, sequentially or
parallel, in time as the primary structural element. The narrative, being an observable structural feature obviously
relates to the form of the genre. Each activity in the narrative generates a column in the framework, where
information on content and functionality can be added. Figure 2 shows how the narrative structure can be illustrated
graphically. The symbols used to illustrate the narrative structure also capture additional form elements. Rectangles
imply information activities, whereas circles relate to communicate activities, and by tilting a rectangle 45 degree it
is possible to differ between student-centered and teacher-centered information activities. A specific symbol is also
used to mark the position of a synchronization point (Lundin, 2003), i.e. a point in time in the sequence of activities
where participants need to be temporally coordinated (typically a deadline).
Synchronization
Point
Figure 2. Graphical illustration of the symbols used to describe the narrative structure of techno-pedagogical genres
In the following sub-sections three different techno-pedagogical genres that has been developed in connection with
various design-oriented research projects at Laboratorium for Interaction Technology (University West, Sweden) is
presented in order to highlight how the framework can be used to describe a techno-pedagogical genre. These design
concepts have not been chosen on merits of innovation and novelty, but rather as examples where IS-design and
instructional design are integrated.
Web Lecture
Teacher
Information
Activity
Student
Information
Activity
Communication
Activity
Group
The web lecture design concept was developed through a grounded approach where existing “web lecture practice”
in four different courses were examined. The study identified central design elements which subsequently were
evaluated through a student survey and through comparison with design theories (Hung & Chen, 2001; Herrington &
Oliver, 1995) (see Svensson & Östlund, 2005 for further details).
The first activity is when a lecture guide document is published on the course web-site. The document typically
contains student support for engaging with central concepts, and supplements to text books such as examples,
exercises etc. Shortly after the lecture notes (powerpoint-file) are published on the web, and can be used for lecture
preparations and as a basis for more detailed lecture notes. The lecture is a student controlled video-stream, typically
consisting of three frames (1) Video of teacher, (2) animated slides, and (3) interactive table of content (fig 3). One
of the closing modules of the video lecture typically specifies the assignment that the students should work on,
relating to the topic of the web lecture. Assignment-work is coached and tutored using a discussion forum and the
module closes with the students getting feedback on their submitted work. In table 1, the web lecture genre described
above is deconstructed into a genre framework matrix with three rows corresponding to the genre dimension of form,
content and functionality.
Work
Parallel
Activities
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