Toward a Theory of Online Learning - Centre for Distance Education ...

Figure 2-3.Educational interactions.Learner-learnerLEARNERLearner-teacherLearner-contentTEACHERTeacher-teacherTeacher-contentCONTENTContent-contentStudent-student InteractionTraditionally, student-student interaction has been downplayed asa requirement of distance education as a result of constraints on theavailability of technology and an earlier bias among distanceeducationtheorists toward individualized learning (Holmberg,1989). Modern constructivist theorists stress the value of peer-topeerinteraction in investigating and developing multipleperspectives. Work on collaborative learning illustrates potentialgains in cognitive learning tasks, as well as increases in completionrates and the acquisition of critical social skills in education (Slavin,1995). Work by Damon (1984) and others related to peer tutoringillustrates the benefits to both the tutor and the tutee that can resultfrom a variety of forms of “reciprocal” teaching. Finally, peerinteraction is critical to the development of communities oflearning (Wenger, McDermott, & Snyder, 2002) that allow learnersto develop interpersonal skills, and to investigate tacit knowledgeshared by community members as well as a formal curriculum ofstudies.46 Theory and Practice of Online Learning