Re-Thinking E-Learning Research

The Author: Norm Friesen is Canada Research Chair in E-Learning Practices at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia. He has been developing and studying Web technologies in educational contexts since 1995, and is the author of several editions of books on the effective use of instructional software and on the implementation of technical standards for online collections of learning resources. He is co-editor of Phenomenology & Practice, an online peer-reviewed journal (www.phandpr.org), and is a member of the Canadian delegation to the International Standards Organization (ISO) Subcommittee for Learning, Education, and Training. Dr. Friesen holds a Ph.D. in education from the University of Alberta.

«For many years, e-learning has been characterized by a lot of hype and relatively little thorough theorization and empirical research. In this context, Norm Friesen’s book provides us with a refreshing theoretically and methodologically grounded approach to rethinking e-learning research (...). He draws on and adapts a broad set of ideas and theories that were originally developed in areas such as cultural studies, discursive psychology, phenomenology, and critical research. In the process of unfolding his perspective on e-learning research, Friesen critiques some of the still-dominant paradigms such as cognitivism and its constructivist variants. He assists readers to focus instead on ideas and understandings coming from ethnomethodology, conversation analysis, and discursive psychology, which all emphasize how human beings make and remake society in and through their actions and interactions. This book is a must-read for all who want to unleash the real potential and possibilities that e-learning media provide to teachers and learners.» (Wolff-Michael Roth, Lansdowne Professor, University of Victoria, Canada)