Why is interaction key in online learning? Initial observations from UNPOSMC blended learning course
Oittinen, Tuire; Rautiainen, Iira; Haddington, Pentti (2024)
Oittinen, Tuire
Rautiainen, Iira
Haddington, Pentti
Maanpuolustuskorkeakoulu
Puolustusvoimien kansainvälinen keskus
Maanpuolustuskorkeakoulu
2024
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-25-3438-8
https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-25-3438-8
Tiivistelmä
Planning future activities, tackling problems, and progressing work-related tasks and activities together with others always involve and require talk and interaction. The joint progression of tasks and the establishment of shared understanding is particularly important in situations that involve or attempt to resolve crises. The PeaceTalk group, based at the University of Oulu, is a research team composed of experts in language use and interaction. The group has collaborated with FINCENT since late 2016 (see Haddington et al., 2020) and studied interaction in various crisis management training courses (Haddington et al., 2021; Rautiainen et al., 2021; Oittinen, 2021). The researchers in PeaceTalk use qualitative, video-based methods and ethnographic field notes to study the trainees’ conduct during their work. Video recordings are crucial in forming a truthful and reliable perspective on the unfolding of activities in the courses. The analyses focus on what trainees do, and how they do it through talk and other actions, such as gestures, facial expressions, and body movement. The aim is to identify and describe in detail the visible and joint interactional practices that are used to progress the teams’ tasks and activities, and how the participants establish a shared understanding as part of these activities (see, e.g., Haddington & Oittinen, 2022; Kamunen et al., 2023; Oittinen, 2022; Rautiainen, 2022; Rautiainen et al., 2023). Technology- or video-mediated environments present a unique context for interaction and collaborative work, and social interaction research in such settings is still relatively scarce (but see Stokoe et al., 2021). Therefore, the possibility to participate in and conduct research on the Basic phase of the UNPOSMC course in autumn 2023 offered us an exciting opportunity to fill in this gap.
Our interests and aims regarding the UNPOSMC course were multifaceted. First, we aimed to collect recordings from the online sessions for our research and to gain a comprehensive view of this unique learning environment, which would then be transformed into a series of analyses and research papers. Second, we were interested in the practices and guidelines the course organizers had recently developed; we had heard great things about the course (e.g., regarding the carefully drafted design for online learning) and took it as an invaluable learning opportunity. Our work gained significant support from the motivated group of course designers, coordinators and instructors, who welcomed us in their meetings already in the preparation phase of the course.
Video recordings were made in the Basic (i.e., online) phase of UNPOSMC. We used screen capture software to record the lectures and syndicate work that took place online. In addition, we video-recorded the events in the course instructors’ coordination room in Santahamina. At the outset, we had the following questions in mind:
1. What kind of instructors’ interactional practices in the online learning environment(s) enhance team building and teamwork?
2. What features of interaction support equal participation, joint negotiation, and effective decision-making?
3. How do interactional practices change or develop during the Basic phase?
4. How are diverse linguistic and professional expertise visible in interaction, and what is their impact on group dynamics, collaborative thinking, and learning?
Our interests and aims regarding the UNPOSMC course were multifaceted. First, we aimed to collect recordings from the online sessions for our research and to gain a comprehensive view of this unique learning environment, which would then be transformed into a series of analyses and research papers. Second, we were interested in the practices and guidelines the course organizers had recently developed; we had heard great things about the course (e.g., regarding the carefully drafted design for online learning) and took it as an invaluable learning opportunity. Our work gained significant support from the motivated group of course designers, coordinators and instructors, who welcomed us in their meetings already in the preparation phase of the course.
Video recordings were made in the Basic (i.e., online) phase of UNPOSMC. We used screen capture software to record the lectures and syndicate work that took place online. In addition, we video-recorded the events in the course instructors’ coordination room in Santahamina. At the outset, we had the following questions in mind:
1. What kind of instructors’ interactional practices in the online learning environment(s) enhance team building and teamwork?
2. What features of interaction support equal participation, joint negotiation, and effective decision-making?
3. How do interactional practices change or develop during the Basic phase?
4. How are diverse linguistic and professional expertise visible in interaction, and what is their impact on group dynamics, collaborative thinking, and learning?
Kokoelmat
- Julkaisut [502]