Transformative education through technology: facilitating social construction of knowledge online through cross-cultural e-mentoring

Abstract

The Government of Sri Lanka funded a six-year Distance Education Modernization Project (DEMP) implemented by the Ministry of Higher Education through a loan obtained from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), to develop a National Online Distance Education Sendee (NODES) for the country (DEMP, 2003-2009). One type of training conducted by DEMP was the professional development of tutors and mentors who would be responsible for facilitating online courses offered through NODES. In the first four rounds ol this training alone, 103 Sri Lankan academics and professionals in 21 institutions were trained to tutor and mentor online using a learner centered, inquiry based, community of practice framework. Subsequently, there have been 7 other rounds of this training, with the Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL) continuing this training even today. The authors of this paper served either as instructors, ementors, and/or proteges in this professional development experience online, and now members of a cross-cultural research team comprised of eleven researchers at the University of New Mexico in the U.S., the Open University of Sri Lanka, and the University of Moratuwa.