Elearning

Re-learning through e-learning: Changing conceptions of teaching through online experience
Reem Al-Mahmood Faculty of Education The University of Melbourne Catherine McLoughlin Faculty of Education Australian Catholic University, Canberra What can the duality of experience of being an online student/ online educator afford? This paper draws on recent literature on reflective practice principles of online learning and teaching to explore experiences from those who have been on both sides — online educators and online students. Educators and online course developers need to hear from student voices in order to inform online pedagogical directions, create innovations and enrich and expand on how to provide stimulating and challenging online learning environments. Educators can do so through engagement in learner roles through experiential online learning, thereby enabling a reframing/ reconceptualisation of online teaching. By listening to student experiences, allowing for a heightened sense of awareness of learner needs, educators gain insights to improve pedagogical practice. By using qualitative in depth interview techniques with 5 online educators/ students across two Australian states, the study explores the vantage points afforded by these experiences. The findings can inform how educators can provide engaging and empowering online teaching and learning environments that move beyond traditional comfort zones and established pedagogies. Keywords: Reflective practice, online teaching and learning, professional practice, student online experiences, metaphors of learning online, phenomenology, qualitative methods.

Introduction: Finding the reflective zone
Re-learning through e-learning is about reflecting on teaching and learning practices in a creatively different way by changing roles from online teacher to online student. This moves beyond traditional paradigms of staff development programs that tell how to improve online practice or prescribe online...