Most current definitions of blended learning refer to a blend of online and face-to-face instruction. It seems that few authors notice the irony that the definition of blended learning does not include the concept of learning at all. The problem with these definitions is that they are devoid of theory and thus lead to trial-and-error research. This paper argues that the definition of blended learning should be built around learning theory and should refer to a blend of d irect instruction and learning-by-doing. The paper reports on research conducted to validate a model that puts behavioural and constructivist learning at right angles and considers if the two can occur simultaneously. The model is then placed in the context of a framework of knowledge management and from there a definition is derived that includes context, theory, methodology and technology.

This article proposes a model that integrates the traditionally conflicting objectivist and constructivist approaches to instructional design. I argue that these two approaches are complementary rather than oppositional. I present and analyze two learning programs in order to show how learning events can contain both objectivist and constructivist elements. By plotting the two approaches at right angles to one another, I produce four quadrants which I then discuss and explain. What follows after that is a discussion of comments that were received from members of a prominent instructional technology mailing list about the feasibility of the model. Finally I present two case studies. The first describes a two-day workshop that was designed to be high on both axes, while the second shows how the model could be used as a decision-making tool. Initial findings suggest that it is both feasible and useful to plot objectivism and constructivism at right angles to one another rather than at opposite ends of a continuum.There has been considerable debate over the past few years about the traditional practice of labeling approaches to learning as either objectivist or constructivist. The implication of this is that the two terms are exclusive and that the pendulum of fashion or emphasis swings periodically from the one extreme to the other. Practitioners will then support either one approach or the other, or else they may advocate taking a middle path (Cook

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The establishment of an online community is widely held as the most important prerequisite for successful course completion and depends on an interaction between a peer group and a facilitator. Beaudoin reasoned that online students sometimes engage and learn even when not taking part in online discussions. The context of this study was an online course on webbased education for a Masters degree in computer-integrated education at the University of Pretoria. We used a mixed methodology approach to investigate how online activity and discussion postings relate to learning and course completion. We also investigated how student collaborative behaviour and integration into the community related to success. Although the quantitative indices measured showed highly significant differences between the stratifications of student performance, there were notable exceptions unexplained by the trends. The class harboured a well-functioning online learning community. We also uncovered the discontent students in the learning community felt for invisible students who were absent without reason from group assignments or who made shallow and insufficient contributions. Student online visibility and participation can take many forms, like read-only participants who skim over or deliberately harvest others' discussions. Other students can be highly visible without contributing. Students who anticipate limited access due to poor connectivity, high costs or other reasons can manage their log-in time effectively and gain maximum benefit. Absent and seldom contributing students risk forsaking the benefits of the virtual learning community. High quality contributions rather than quantity builds trust among mature students. We suggest how to avoid readonly-participation: communicate the required number of online classroom postings; encourage submission of high quality, thoughtful postings; grade discussions and give formative feedback; award individual grades for group projects and rotate members of groups; augment facilitator communication with Internet-independent media to convey important information. Readonly-participants disrupt the formation of a virtual community of learners and compromise learning.Keywords: higher education; web-based learning; participation; lurkers; virtual community of learners BackgroundAs more formal education courses are available online, quality and noncompletion remain problems:

Thumbnail sketches on idea development: The drawing board vs computer generation absTraCTThis article is an outcome of a survey that sought to determine the extent to which graphic design students are inspired by Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in using thumbnail sketches in their design process in a university in the developing world. In situations where idea development in graphic design moves into the digital domain, with developing countries also embracing ICT and its technologies, change in pedagogy in graphic design education should be envisaged. The possibilities of design students avoiding the rigorous traditional use of thumbnail sketches were put to test as students these days spend long hours on the computer in their design development. Using analytical survey, data were analysed in reference to students' perception on ICT in the design process. It emerged that students go through their idea development now using computer-generated ideas in their development stages against the traditional thumbnail sketches. The findings highlight a review of current pedagogy of design education, especially in the area of idea development, to reflect the emerging trends of ICT in graphic design education in developing countries.