Transmission, Transformation and Ritual
| Title | Transmission, Transformation and Ritual |
| Author(s) | Timmis, Joubert, Manuel, Barnes |
| Organisation | A research article from University of Bristol Graduate School of Education |
| Date | November 2010 |
| No. of pages | Pages 307 – 322 in a journal Learning, Media and Technology |
| Key words | digitised learning; digitised technology; information sharing; social networks; internet connectivity |
| Description | An investigation of students’ and researchers’ digitally mediated communications and collaborative work |
| Select quotations | “This article explores the use of multiple digital tools for mediating communications, drawing on two recent empirical studies in which students and researchers in UK higher education worked on collaborative activities: how different tools were used and the quality of the communications and their contributions to collaborative working and knowledge construction are outlines. We draw on Pea’s proposition that communications can be understood as transmissive, ritualised or transformative depending on their impact on other participants. Most of the students’ communications were either transmissive or ritualistic, although there were also generative conversations offering mutual support. Researchers’ conversations were also generative conversations offering mutual support. Researchers’ conversations were more often transformative, using tools consistently, for specific purposes. Researchers matched the tool to the specific needs of the task whereas the students chose tools based on friendship groups and lifestyles. Transformative communications were powerful in co-configuring new knowledge and resources, and the importance of the ritual communications in maintaining the social order was also essential to communications in collaborative settings. We conclude that close attention to protocols, social norms and patterns of use in digitally mediated ‘conversations’ is required to develop collaborative partnerships and support transformation practices among higher education ‘workers’.” |
| Link | http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17439884.2010.509354?journalCode=cjem20 |
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