This book is located at the interface of online learning within a context of English language studies and academic literacy and is underpinned, from a critical theoretical perspective, by an understanding of the implications of the digital divide for developing countries worldwide. The work is an exploration of online learning in an undergraduate English language and academic literacy classroom at a university in South Africa, and theorises the need for technology in developing countries as a means of social inclusion. The aim is to explore the extent to which communities of practice are enabled in an online environment, among English non-mother tongue speakers from technologically under-resourced backgrounds. This study examines the extent to which the students participate, negotiate meaning, and construct identities in online spaces.
From a sociocultural perspective this book locates learning as a form of interaction and co-participation, and argues that learning occurs within specific contexts, hence the focus on how individuals become members of 'communities of practice'.
ISBN: | 9783039111053 |
Publication date: | 27th June 2008 |
Author: | Leila Kajee |
Publisher: | Peter Lang an imprint of Peter Lang AG, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften |
Format: | Paperback |
Pagination: | 267 pages |
Genres: |
Higher education, tertiary education Teacher training Literary studies: general Communication studies Teaching of students with different educational needs Study and learning skills: general Information technology: general topics |