The Zen Art of Teaching

Baumgartner, P. (2004). The Zen Art of Teaching - Communication and Interactions in eEducation. Proceedings of the International Workshop ICL2004, Villach / Austria 29 September-1 October 2004, Villach, Kassel University Press. CD-ROM, ISBN: 3-89958-089-3.

In this paper I outline three prototypical modes of teaching and learning and their consequences for the design of eLearning environments. I distinguish between transfer of knowledge (mode I), acquisition of knowledge (mode II) and construction of knowledge (mode III). Based on this theoretical framework I develop the notion of “educational scenarios” and integrate this concept into a three level perspective: scenarios – interactions patterns – usage of tools.

As a sample demonstration of the usefulness of this approach I explore the workflow structure of different kinds of content management systems (CMS). The workflow with its specific right and role management reveals an underlying action and communications structure, which is important for a categorisation of these tools from an educational perspective. I distinguish 5 different types of CMS suitable for different types of educational scenarios for eLearning: Production systems, Weblogs, Groupware, Portals and Wikis.