ENACTMENT

In this section I present the pedagogical strategies to be considered in this learning design and the tools. Pedagogy refers to the art of teaching, which is backed by or founded on epistemological beliefs. While Pedagogical Strategy is: “What instructors or instructional systems do to facilitate student learning” (Dabbagh and Bannan Ritland 2005:203, Dabbagh 2005: 32-33) Dabbagh also goes on to present pedagogical strategies as the “Plans and techniques that the instructor/ instructional designer uses to engage the learner and facilitate learning” (Jonassen, Grabinger, and Harris, 1991:34 in Dabbagh and Bannan-Ritland 2005:203) .I use the term to the things that I have encouraged my learners to do in such as consultation and contributions through blogs, in addition to continuous engagement with material on wikis and also collective contribution towards that material in the discussion and the section on African myths of creation in the process of their learning. The ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍pedagogic strategies‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍ adopted in this initiative are both dialogic and exploratory in nature (Dabbagh and Bannan-Ritland 2005:206-207). By dialogic learning we are referring to the kind of learning which “emphasizes social interaction through discourse, dialogue, conversation, and social negotiation” (Dabbagh & Bannan-Ritland, 2005:189 & 215). And, Exploratory learning is “based on the theoretical construct of discovery learning or inquiry-based learning in which learners are provided with a scientific-like inquiry or an authentic problem in a given content area and are asked to generate a hypothesis, gather relevant information using a variety of resources, and provide solutions, action plans, recommendations, and interpretations of situations” (Dabbagh & Bannan-Ritland, 2005: 185). The pedagogical strategies include the following: Supporting multiple perspectives is a strategy that embodies characteristics of pedagogical models grounded in the situated cognition and constructivist views (Dabbagh and Bannan-Ritland, 2005: 33). As an instructional strategy, it lays e mphasis on the “construction of “flexible knowledge” (Dabbagh 2005:37). This involves: “letting learners to view the knowledge base from multiple view points and find their own connections and explanations (Jacobson, 1994 in Dabbagh and Bannan-Ritland 2005:218). Therefore, exposing students to multiple views enables them to make their own connections and explanations. The multiple views generate cognitive dissonance and it is assumed that students will learn to appreciate that there are numerous perspective held on an issue, which gives semblance to the real world (Dabbagh 2005:37), consequently, new knowledge is created. In this case, by making available the various perspectives on creation thus science, religion, African myths and myths of the ancient near east, the students are presented with an opportunity to interact with the material and it is anticipated that after this process, they would be in position to take a position on the topic of creation. I have chosen this strategy of multiple perspectives because the strategy enables students //Promote articulation // Dabbagh quotes Wilson and Cole stating that: “Articulation involves having students think about their actions and give reasons for their decisions and strategies, thus making their tacit knowledge more explicit or overt” (Wilson & Cole, 1996 in Dabbagh 2005:35). I want my students to be able to think about what creation is and yet be in position to support/defend their views of the same. Thus, by giving my students access to multiple perspectives, they have an opportunity to assess all available views and be able to explain (articulate) to their other peers and learners what they actually know about creation. Dabbagh explains that. “reflective thinking involves asking students to review what they have done, analyze their performance, and compare it to that of experts and peers”(Collins, 1991in Dabbagh 2005:35). I will ask students to reflect on the relationship between the biblical understanding of creation, the theories of science and myths from Africa and the ancient near east. At the end of the day students should be able to make a judgment of whether the different perspectives contradict each other or not. It is my desire that a student will be in position to see and show that the different perspectives do not after all contradict each other as many people think. In hypothesis generation, I will base on the view that if the students has the ability to clearly show and explain the relationship between the different perspectives of creation and how these perspectives affirm each other, and then be able to take their personal stand/position of what they think creation is then that such a student will be taken to have known and understood the subject of creation. The tools adopted are blogs and wikis. The choice of these tools is because they support my pedagogical strategies and they are appropriate for my context. To start with the context, I have already mentioned in the exploratory stage that my students have access to cheap internet through cafes and some of their mobile phones are connected to the internet. I have also pointed to the fact that I have already been engaging with these students for the past six months through face book ( URL: []) and a wink-site ([]). Similarly, I also pointed to the fact that 7 out of 14 colleagues of mine active on face book. This being the case one sees that the use of ICT in my context (Makerere University) is not new and it is supported. Among the challenges I have also noted at Makerere University are large student numbers and globetrotting lecturers. Therefore the need to ensure interaction between learners and educators is real. Using blogs and wikis, interaction between learners and educators regardless of time and space can be possible. Remember also, that it is my desire to promote articulation and reflection from the multiple perspectives that will be presented to the students. I will use wiki-spaces because of the different affordances they avail. Using wikis, one can create content around a specific theme or need. In this case, using wiki-spaces, I have created content on the theme of creation []. Besides, the wikis provide the affordances of Readability, View-ability, Write-ability, Accessibility, Browse-ability, Share-ability, Search-ability, Link-ability, permission-ability‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍ (Bower 2008:12). The wikis-paces I created is a resource where my students are able to share, read, view and also search from the provided internet links. Wiki content typically grows around a theme, topic or need. Besides, in the section on discussion I have implored my students to add on myths of creation from their different ethnic setting. That way, students are able to share and create a resource which is made available to both peers and educators as a resource. In additions to that, through blogging, ideas are built thus the users are able to construct a personal knowledge base on the topic. This is in line with cognitive constructivism which is Premised on the view that “whatever gets in the mind has to be constructed by the individual through knowledge discovery” (Hung, 2001 citing Piaget, 1960 and Bruner, 1990). Therefore, when people interact through blogs by leaving comments other individuals discover knowledge from their peers or expert posts and the individuals are in position to shape their own knowledge or ideas. Lastly, blogs and wikis are easy to operate (use-ability), they are available as open and free software (availability, permission-ability‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍), yet they do facilitate interaction and learning support regardless of time and space. These are affordances that do support the Makerere University context in the sense that as long as one is on internet, they do not need to pay an extra fee. The students are first introduced to the use of blogs and wikis and how they work. They will also be guided through the rules of the activities in a face to face session. Furthermore, to guide the students’ engagement, a topic for discussion is posted on the blog page and students will be advised on how to engage with it making reference to the content which is posted in wiki-spaces of RSD 2103. All content on creation from multiple perspectives (Science, Biblical creation accounts, myths of creation from African indigenous knowledge systems and the Ancient near East epics of creation) will be posted on this site for students to engage with. After the engagement they will then be invited to contribute to a discussion on the topic on a blog. The specific blog to be used in this study is the word press on site: []. ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍ Bower,M. 2008: Affordance Analysis -matching learning tasks with learning technologies, Education Media International, 45 (1),3-15. Dabbagh, N (2005) Pedagogical Models for E-learning: A theory based design framework. //IJTTL,// Vol 1(1), 25-44.
 * ENACTMENT **
 * Pedagogical Strategies **
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Promote multiple perspectives //**
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Promote reflection //**
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Promote Hypothesis generation //**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Tools **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">References **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Dabbagh, N., & Bannan-Ritland, B. 2005: //Online learning: Concepts, strategies, and application//. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey : Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall.

<span style="font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Dabbagh, N., & Bannan-Ritland, B. 2005: //Online learning: Concepts, strategies, and application//. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey : Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall.