Staff–Student Experience and Web 2.0
Reflecting on the tutors’ responses, the principle of an open learning experience, where students are seen as experts in their own right, co-constructing meaning, seems at odds with the approach of the strategic learner (Kress & Pachler, 2007). However, use of the schoolroom metaphor (see Siemens, 2008) to exemplify an online forum indicates a lack of awareness by staff of the extent to which past structures influence their work with students in the online environment. Staff also felt that the study guide lent coherence and strength to the learning process, especially for the ESOL students. What is not recognised is that student ownership of the process (Dysthe, 2007) is advanced when less reliance is placed on prescribed texts. The principle underlying Web 2.0 is that students should question fixed knowledge, creating in the process a sense of shared ownership of learning (see O’Reilley, 2009). The sense of seeing others as doing the sharing, reported on above, may reflect the dislocation felt by students who did not engage in the discussions.