Abstract
While communication, collaboration and critical thinking are, along with information, media and technology amongst the fundamental skills developed in the 21st century educational arena, one questions over how these skills are set in a continuum for a constant knowledge transfer process in a competency based approach, within an equitable access to quality learning tools, in a time when technology-enhanced-learning is on the rise. Media psychology, a thorough combination of psychology, media and technology unlocks the door to discovering which is the secret layer that enhances a non-human environment send new information and tailor knowledge in individuals situated in wide array of contexts, irrespective of time, place and age. More than that, the way gaps are bridged among instructors and all types of learners in the virtual environment simulatenously is another key media psychology holds- all credits go to communication models and how they act upon people, taking into consideration patterns of sending messages tailored to contexts, to the targeted receiver and intended goal.
All the above trigger more than pedagogy or andragogy, more than learning objects and more than a solid apprehension of the content to be taught. While a plethora of research has focused on the virtual learning environments per se, on learning theories or subject matter, on design and software, little has been said on the importance communication has in all this complex process, when the knowledge transfer environment is a medium one immerses by himself in order to discover messages sent via a new type of public space. The present paper is a manifesto for the importance models of communication have within all eLearning experiences, irrespective of the curriculum, of the data chunk or of the small learning objects in the teaching content, irrespective of the learning stage or of the skills developed. |