Things I have been writing about...

This weekend I was working on my dissertation. Here are some of the things that I have been thinking about:

Technology also makes it possible for multiple forms of communication to occur simultaneously allowing more people to have a voice in the discussion. Technology can also increase the size of collaborative networks than those provided in face-to-face environments because it gives users access to a larger networked community of learners (Pea, 1999). “The ease with which computer mediated communication connects friends of friends can also increase the density of interconnections among clusters of network members within communities” (Wellman, 1999, p. 203).

Technology can allow for a larger network of individuals and can make it easy for groups with similar interests to self-organize and have meaningful interaction around a shared practice.

The Internet decentralizes power and authority which conflicts with transmission pedagogy. Expertise is shared and this flattens hierarchical relationships.