UNDERGRADUATES’ CONCEPTIONS OF ONLINE EDUCATION AND TECHNOLOGICAL MEDIATION

Cüneyt Bildik, Sertel Altun

Abstract


In the process of learning, the learner and the environment have a mutualistic relationship as a change in one affects the other. Inevitably, the increasing digitalization of the educational environment in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic has altered the way learners learn. Understanding this change through learners’ eyes is crucial for questioning the educational value behind this transformation. Adopting this student-centered stance and using the notion of technological mediation, the present study aimed to investigate the various ways students conceptualize online education and discuss technology mediation accordingly from the perspective of sociocultural learning theory. Designed as a phenomenographic study, it was carried out with fifteen undergraduates undertaking online courses during the fall semester of the 2021-22 academic year at a state university in Turkey. The data gathered through face-to-face interviews was analyzed using phenomenographic data analysis. The results showed that the students experienced online education in four distinctive ways as (a) a way of displaying information; (b) a way of acquiring information; (c) a way of exchanging information; (d) a way of enhancing self-learning, with each affecting technology mediation in particular ways. As a result, it was concluded that students’ perceptions of online education and the way technology mediate their learning are strongly related, and for technology to mediate students’ learning as intended, it might be necessary to develop students’ conceptions first.

 

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Keywords


technological mediation, phenomenography, conceptions of online education, sociocultural learning theory

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejoe.v7i2.4530

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