Self-Regulated Learning in Technology Enhanced Learning Environments

Part 3 of 3: The Role of Technology in Self-Regulated Learning

While the topic of self-regulated learning has become more and more important in the last three decades, technological developments have played a major role in designing and implementing environments that had the potential to actually support the acquisition and improvement of self-regulated learning. A major advantage of technology enhanced learning environments (TELEs) is that they can individualise learning processes to an extent that is impossible to achieve in a traditional classroom. Not only do they allow students to personalise their learning environments, they also give them more freedom to decide when and where to learn, and they are able to provide students with feedback quickly and on time to a much better degree than a teacher can in a traditional school setting. Finally, TELEs allow students to directly communicate with each other and the teacher thus giving them the opportunity to establish communities of practice.

Learning Managements Systems (LMSs) are one way of creating a technology enhanced learning environment. The research group from the Instituto Piaget in Portugal will report on their study of a Massive Online Closed Course for teaching higher education teachers to use Moodle. According to the authors, the main purpose of the course was to promote self-regulated learning through interaction and the creation of a community of practice among the participants.

Moodle was also used in a study by Ana Remesal from the Universidad de Barcelona in Spain. The LMS was part of a blended learning course for teacher students at the university in which they were supposed to develop their SRL learning strategies through collaborative problem solving. According to the author, peer assessment and consultation played a key role in the process of developing SRL learning strategies and group learning.

The research group from the University of the Sacred Heart in Italy used blogs in an online training to promote creativity, self-esteem and critical thinking. The training involved students from a master degree programme in management and economics. The authors assume that the online training will foster SRL which in turn will increase creativity, self-esteem and critical thinking. Results of the training will be presented at the conference.