A Holistic Approach Towards the Use of an Integrated Online Delivery and Management System

Drawing upon our understanding of the importance of situating education innovations in a socio‐cultural‐historical context, this paper aims to provide a descriptive and interpretive account of how an integrated online delivery and management system, Blackboard™, was used in a pre‐service teacher training module, PED503/513. We trace the transformation of the module over a five year period; from a conventional mass lecture and tutorial approach to its current hybrid of online and onsite learning activities. The mediated learning model was adopted to afford a holistic approach towards the use of Blackboard™ in the course. The model guided the design and planning of the module to optimise the potential of Blackboard™, and to address its limitations. The module consisted of four major components: anywhere/anytime lecture, onsite laboratory tutorial, onsite independent laboratory work, and online asynchronous discussion. The method of delivery shifted from cognitivist‐oriented to social‐constructivist oriented, and was complemented with a shift in the mode of assessment from summative to more formative evaluation. Based on this account, the importance of adopting a holistic approach towards the use of an online learning system was highlighted