Enactment

**Enactment**
==**This focuses on the pedagogical strategies,Affordances of the ICT tools selected, and the affordances of the webquest online design.**The enactment phase allows the online learning developer to align his or her perspectives with the established views of learning by guiding him or her to review the instructional characteristics of the models and to select powerful instructional strategies that can be implemented with the available technological features( Dabbagh& Ritland,2005:144). == = = = = =**Pedagogical strategies used** = = =

==In the exploration phase I stated that learning happens through an active,engaged and interactive teaching and learning process.This assumption of how learning happens has laid a basis(foundation) for me to enact the instructional strategies that support a constructivist based pedagogical model.The first instructional implication of constructivist -based pedagogical model is to' embed learning in complex, realistic and relevant contexts'(Dabbagh&Bannan-Ritland,2005:204). == =Dialogic strategies = ==**Dialogic strategies** which promote articulation, collaboration, social negotiation, multiple perspectives together with **supportive strategies** which promote scaffolding where selected for this online learning activity.Under the dialogic strategies, promoting articulation involves having students think about their actions and give reasons for their decisions and strategies which leads to indepth understanding of knowledge(Wilson& Cole,1996 cited in Dabbagh&Bannan-Ritland,2005). == ==In the webquest activity, students searched for the information from selected websites. They then analyzed and made a judgment of the right information and then responded to the questions put forward. The students were free to consult from each other and come up with the right answers to respond to the task. As students articulate their knowledge to one another, they share multiple perspectives and generalize their understanding and knowledge so that it is applicable in different contexts( Collin,1991 cited in Dabbagh& Bannan-Ritland,2005). In collaboration and social negotiation, the goal is to share different view points and ideas and to collaborate on problem solving and knowledge building activities.The collaborative strategy can be defined as an instructional strategy that encourages interaction between and among two or more learners to maximize their own and each others' learning (Dabbagh& Bannan-Ritland, 2005). Further still, in the online learning activity the students obtained multiple points of views through exploring the given links(webquest) which enabled them make judgements to construct meaningful knowledge. == ==For the case of supportive strategies, students were provided with websites to access information which ranged from the lower order questions to the higher order questions.This was done to engage students to critically think about their responses from the known to the unknown. This seems to concurr with Dabbagh&Bannan-Ritland, (2005) who claim that in online learning, scaffolding can be supported through providing a link to a search engine so that students are encouraged to search for required information. == =**ICT tool selected and its affordances** = ==In consideration of my context(MU,history education unit) i made a choice between the discussion forum, chats and webquests. I finally selected a webquests as my ICT tool because of the its affordances and ability to suit my contextual situation(See Table 1). ==

==The term 'affordances' refers to the perceived and actual properties of the the thing ,primarily those fundamental properties that determine just how the thing could possibly be used. A chair affords(is for) support and, therefore, affords sitting. A chair can also be carried(Norman, 1998 cited in Bower,2008:5). A consideration was made on the technologies and the affordances that they offer as presented in table 1 below ==

Table 1

 * =**Technology** = |||||||||||||| **Affordances** ||
 * || ==Reliability == || ==<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Accessibility == || ==<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Search-ability == || ==<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Ability to motivate learners == || ==<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Think-ability == || ==<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Share-ability == || ==<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Write-ability == ||
 * ==<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Discussion forums == || <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;">√ || <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;">√ || <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;">× || <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;">× || <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;">× || <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;">√ || <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;">√ ||
 * ==<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Chats == || <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;">√ || <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;">√ || <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;">× || <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;">× || <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;">× || <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;">√ || <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;">√ ||
 * ==<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Webquests == || <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;">√ || <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;">√ || <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;">√ || <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;">√ || <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;">√ || <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;">√ || <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;">√ ||

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Affordances of the webquest online design
=As demonstrated by table 1 above, <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">webquests provide affordances of Reliability,Accessibility,Ability to motivate learners, Think-ability,Share-ability and write-ability as opposed to Discussion forums and chats highlighted above. Further still, the webquest was selected because of the different 'affordance abilities' that it can offer to the teaching and learning of History Education. These are discussed by Bower(2008:6): = = Overview of the webquest = ==<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Bernie Dodge had an idea about incorporating the world wide web in to the classroom and he coined the term **'webquest.'**A webquest can be defined as an instructional tool for inquiry oriented learning in which learners interact with resources on the internet,develop small group skills in collaborative learning and engage in higher level thinking(Zheng et al 2004,cited in <range type="comment" id="35237">Castronova ,nd). Tom March(2008) a co-creator of webquests defined a webquest as a scaffolded learning structure that uses links to essential resources on the world wide web.The webquest was developed by Bernie Dodge and co-created by Tom March at San Diego state University in 1995.Castronova,(nd) claims that, **the disadvantage of class sizes being too large can be addressed by using a webquest because large classes can be broken in to small groups rather than whole class and the small groups can collaborate and share their learning.** Webquests enable teachers and students to work as a team, participate in interactive processes of knowledge construction that fulfills individual and group interests( IADIS Conference,2002 Retrieved from http://www.webquest.com.br).This presents a need for a 'sheltered learning environment' called a webquest where students are helped to navigate the web( Segers&Verhoeven,2009). I envisage that the use of webquests as an online learning activity in the history education classroom would provide an interventi<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">on to these contextual challenges highlighted above.Webquests can facilitate students' skills in reading and understanding all the endless amounts of information presented on the internet(Halat ,2008). ==
 * ==<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Media affordances**- the type of imput and out forms,such as text( 'read-ability' and 'write-ability'), images ('viewability'), audio(listen-ability) and video 'watch -ability.' The implies that webquests emphasize affordance abilities of reading, writing, they are easy to view, listen to and can also be watched in a video. The prototype webquest contained selected websites on group work and inquiry based approach that could be read and case study students responded to the questions given to them by writing(typing) their responses in the provided coloured spaces. ==
 * ==<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Spatial affordances - the ability to resize elements within an interface (resize-ability), move and place elements within an interface('move-ability'). This implies that the webquest can be easily resized to accommodate different elements. ==
 * ==<span style="color: #404040; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Temporal affordances -access any time anywhere(accessibility), ability to be recorded ('record-ability') and played back ('playback -ability'). The webquest protype could be access from 'anywhere' at 'anytime'. The case study history students were in different places but could easily access the webquest at any time. Webquests can also be recorded and played back on the CD- ROM. This implies that, one does not need to be online to use it; it can be used on and offline. ==
 * ==<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Navigation affordances-capacity to browse to other sections of the resource and move back/forward('browse-ability'),capacity to link to other sections with in a resource(link-ability), ability to search ('search-ability'). The History education webquest prototype, contained 'selected websites' focusing on the Group work and inquiry based method of teaching history. The 'selected websites' were easily searched,browsed and linked to a relevant historical resources. ==
 * ==<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Emphasis affordances- capacity to highlight aspects of a resources('Highlight-ability') ,explicitly direct attention to particular components ('focus-ability). The webquest highlights and specifies particular websites which are particularly focused on a particular topic.For example the prototype History Education webquest highlighted a topic of interest; interactive methods and then focused on the using group work and inquiry based methods of teaching history. ==

==<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">My webquest was short designed to be completed in one week. In webquest prototype, the questions(using Bloom's taxonomy of objectives,1956) were provided with hyperlinks below each one. The case study students had to click on the hyperlinks or type the hyperlinks in the address bar of their web browser which in turn open the reference to websites that was explored by the learners. The respondents typed their answers in the coloured spaces provided.Most webquests contain, a captivating introduction,a task block,process block,evaluation and a conclusion. ==
 * ==<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Introduction-orients students and captures their interest. ==
 * ==<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Task-explains strategies students should use to complete the task and may contain scaffolding activities which will assist students in their understanding . ==
 * ==<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Resources -are the websites students will use to complete the task. ==
 * ==<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Evaluation -measures the results of the activity. ==
 * ==<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Conclusion -sums up the activity and encourages students to reflect on what has been learned(Dodge ,1995;2004 Retrieved from http://webquest.sdsu.edu/designsteps). ==

==<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Castronova ,J(nd) Discovery Learning for the 21st century: What is it and how does it compare to the traditional Learning in effectiveness in the 21st Century. ==

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Dodge, B.(1995). Some thoughts about webquests (online). Available:http://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/edtec596/about-webquests.html
= = =IADIS International conference,(2002). Retrieved from http://www.webquest.com.br=