Review by: Zawacki-Richter, Olaf (2004-10-25)

This book is published as part of the Open University UK course “Understanding Distributed and Flexible Learning” within the Postgraduate Programme in Open and Distance Education. It comprises of 12 chapters written by authors from different academic backgrounds. They draw on their extensive practical experiences to present and reflect on a number of conceptual models and describe best practices in distributed learning. The volume is aimed at practitioners who intend to use technology in a higher education setting and also helps those who may have been using it for a few years to rethink their approaches to online learning and teaching. The reader is introduced to several theoretical concepts based on different disciplines and perspectives, e. g. anthropology, psychology, sociology, philosophy, economics and pedagogy. The specific focus is on the social and cultural aspects of learning.

What does the term distributed learning mean? It describes practices on the continuum between traditional distance education and campus-based face-to-face education (cf. flexible learning, blended learning). With the proliferation of information and communications technology (ICT) in campus-based educational settings the boundaries between distance education and face-to-face education are fading. A strength of the book is that the authors come from both distance teaching as well as from campus-based institutions and thus different views on the continuum are presented.

The editors take the time to provide a solid overview of the changing contexts of tertiary education in which distributed learning is emerging. In the book distributed learning is concerned with the following dimensions:

• the fading boundaries between traditional higher education and distance education contexts and the breaking down of distinctions between formal and informal sites of learning,
• the potentials and limitations of new ICTs for learning, especially for social, communicative, and collaborative activities in the learning and teaching process,
• a focus on globalisation, commodification of education, lifelong learning and the spread of English as the global language and main medium in globally offered courses,
• the new literacy demands and expectations on the learners and faculty in the light of the “knowlege society” particularly in relation to changing technologies and the opportunities they afford,
• the distribution of knowledge across “communities of practice” and learning in virtual communities.

The first chapter, “Information, knowledge and learning”, contributed by Lankshear, Peters and Knobel is a scholastic exploration of the implications of ICTs on the status of knowledge, learning, teaching, and researching. Their hypothesis is that traditional educational practices and epistemological assumptions are being challenged by the use of ICTs in postmodern contexts.These theoretical considerations are followed by the chapter “Informed opportunism” in which Morgan, Russel and Ryan explore the changed nature of educational practices in terms of the complex mix of literacy, learning and technology.

In Chapter 3 Lave and Wenger describe learning as a social collaborative activity. Learners participate in a community of practice whereby knowledge is not a product of individual minds, but rather is distributed across the members of the learning community.

Chapter 4, “Looking beyond the interface: activity theory and distributed learning”, by David R. Russell, is the first chapter in the book which draws upon activity theory to analyse distributed learning processes. Russell sets the basis with a succinct description of Vygotsky’s concept of cultural tool mediation, the basic principles of activity theory and the elements of an “acitivity system”. He explores three projects to illustrate how instructional designers and educational researchers apply activity theory in order to study the design and application of distributed learning scenarios.

Chapter 5, written by Stephen Billett, takes us away from academic institutions, exploring learning processes at the workplace. He too draws from activity theory to examine learning as participation in work practice and applies Lave and Wenger’s “communities of practice” concept to workplaces.

Chapter 6, “Distribution and interconnectedness – The globalisation of education”, introduces us to another dimension of distributed learning. Richard Edwards puts distributed learning in the context of globalisation.

The following seventh chapter addresses in detail some of the questions raised, particularly with regard to global and local contexts. This chapter is very helpul to motivate course designers as well as lecturers and tutors involved in online distance education to consider and reflect on cultural issues that are of growing importance in international online courses.

I was pleased to read chapter 8, “From independent learning to collaborative learning: new communities of practice in open, distance and distributed learning”, written by Mary Thorpe, a well-known name in distance education literature. She distinguishes two levels of communities of practice which are of course overlapping: the learning community, i. e. the teachers or tutors and their students working together, and the academic community, i. e. university staff, for example, sharing their reflected accounts of practice in journals or at conferences etc.

In chapter 9, Charles Crook examines “Learning as cultural practice” and reports findings of his own research. He does not doubt the advantages and opportunities of online learning for distance learners at “traditional” distance teaching universities such as the UK Open University. However, Crook is concerned about the practices of new emerging virtual universities and the wholesale transition to virtual higher education. Crook argues that learning needs to be conceptualised as a cultural practice and campus-based universities and provide an appropriate environment for these social experiences.

Chapter 10, “The university campus as a ‘resourceful constraint’”, by James Cornford and Neil Pollock, is closely related to the theme of the previous chapter. The authors explore the role of the campus and in which ways the campus works to support higher education. They argue that many virtual universities are based on a view of education as a informational process in which content is “delivered” from one point to the other.

Chapter 11 examines the issue of identity as a product and process of learning. Gill Kirkup iterates Wenger’s (1998) social model of learning, which comes from a focus on work-related learning. She explores in how far this concept can be applied to virtual learning communities.

In the final chapter, Richard Edwards, Kathy Nicoll and Alison Lee address the important theme of literacy and place the notion of flexibility in the broader context of educational, economical and social changes.

As someone involved in online distance education I enjoyed reading this book. However, educational managers, planers and administrators may probably prefer to read Bates’ “Managing technological change” (2000) or Collis’ and Moonen’s “Flexible Learning” (2002). These works are more planning and application-oriented and more concerned with organisational, technical and managerial aspects of distributed learning or online distance education systems. However, we should not keep our eyes off the ball. Processes of collaborative learning with networked computers in a global context are profoundly influenced by social and cultural implications. The editors of this volume are to be commended for the fine selection of papers that explore these important dimensions of distributed learning. This publication is not only a valuable resource for philosophers of education, educational researchers, instructional designers and faculty. Although perhaps somewhat theoretical this book should also be read by people coming from educational management and leadership in order to support a broader understanding of the opportunities (and limits) afforded by distributed learning.