A Design ramework and Research Program for Enacting Science Cyberlearning.docVIP

A Design Framework and Research Program for Enacting Science Cyberlearning Cindy L. Kern University of New Haven United States ckern@newhaven.edu Kent J. Crippen University of Florida United States kcrippen@coe.ufl.edu Abstract: In this paper we detail the 5-Featured Dynamic Inquiry Enterprise (5-DIE), a framework for enacting cyberlearning and describe a program of design-based research intent on enacting this innovation in the complex and constrained reality of contemporary science classrooms. The results of two recent studies that were completed as the first iterations of the design-test-redesign process are used to illustrate the concurrent generation of theoretical and practical knowledge. Introduction The continued evolution of learning technologies has created a need for innovative ways to leverage networked resources to support the enactment of more authentic science learning (National Science Foundation [NSF], 2008). The current trend of blended learning, coupled with the continued evolution of online learning adds further need. However, addressing the bigger issue of cyberlearning, “learning that is mediated by networked computing and communications technologies (p. 10), is neither simple nor straightforward. In the context of a contemporary classroom, enacting cyberlearning is often complicated by restrictive school policies that limit access and curriculum models that have not considered the pragmatic constraints of technology integration (Keengwe, Onchwari, Wachira, 2008). When science classrooms are evaluated, technology facilitated, inquiry-based instruction seems to be more the exception than the norm (Kim Hannafin, 2011). However, addressing the issue of using inquiry as the recursive, reflective, and collaborative learning strategy in a cyberlearning environment is not as simple as adopting inquiry-based methods (Kern, Crippen Skaza, In Press). Thus, design frameworks are needed that: (a) work within the constraints of a typical school env