Students' participation in virtual learning environments

The development of computer technologies, the popularity of the Internet in higher education, and its rapid growth into a pervasive and almost omnipresent technology have made it an affordable technology that fosters learning. The Internet is creating a complex environment which provides access to an almost unlimited amount of information and easy access to communication. From Activity Theory perspectives, the Internet can be seen as not simply a tool to carry out an activity but rather as an environment that shapes the activities. From this perspective, the tools/environments do not simply facilitate actions that could have been done without their presence. Rather, they could alter the entire flow and structure of mental functions; they transform human thinking (Wertsch, 1998; Vygotsky, 1978). This study was designed as a multiple case study and sought to examine students' participation in Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) by uncovering the activities and online facilities they accessed, and the way they appropriated them for their learning. The VLEs in this study are defined as web-based system environments that integrate communication space and resources databases. The findings of this study were drawn from the analysis of interviews, transcripts of online discussion forums, log-tracking, and surveys. The data analysis suggested that the students defined learning as access to communication and information. The computers were no longer characterized as drill-and-practice machines; instead, they were all about page I viii the connecting people and an interactive space. The computer was a medium that connected students with broader ranges of information and wider communities. In this regard, learning participation was not limited to occur in an isolated classroom or a certain tutorial meeting; rather, the students could customize their learning participation by having access to broader environments to explore wider resources and interact with more communities. What begins to emerge is a new paradigm of learning that focuses on interconnected learners directing and managing their own learning. From Activity Theory perspectives, the successful learning participation does not rely on a sole activity or an individual effort but on the collaboration from the participating stakeholders including the students and their peers, the teachers, and the supporting environments provided by the institution.