Learning technology beyond positivism and criticism: Reconnecting learning with society through online teaching

Abstract

In recent years, literatures related to the use of technology for teaching and learning have proliferated, which can be divided into two groups: technology positivism and technology criticism. The technology positivism literatures posit that communities can be created in online platforms whereas the second group of literatures argue that learning technologies can detach learning from human societies. Despite criticisms, creating an online learning community has become the focus of technology positivism literatures whereas the notion of learning society that connected learning with society has disappeared. Drawing on key sociological theories of learning such as constructivism, social cognition, and communicative actions, this paper argues that the notion of learning society is a better alternative of online learning community. It proposes online learning society as an alternative model for online teaching and discusses its three key components: social construction of knowledge, situated cognition and social integration.