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TopCommunities Of Practice And Online Learning
Although Web 2.0 applications were not widely available in 1998, the theoretical concept and pedagogical models applied using ICT were learner oriented, focusing on collaborative and co-operative learning. Between 1998 and 2005 Jukka Orava coordinated the European Schoolnet's Virtual School Art Department developing an extensive range of online projects in cross cultural contexts (Orava, 2006). During this time early theoretical concepts were built around experiential learning (Kolb, 1984; Räsänen, 1997) and problem based learning, in a socio-constructivist knowledge paradigm.
A web-based online learning structure had also been developed in 1998 for the University of Art and Design Helsinki (UIAH) as a learning model and concept for media education and web-based media related studies (1998-2007) for teacher training in art. These learning models and structures were further developed and implemented through international curriculum development partnerships between Schools’ of Art at the University of Art and Design Helsinki (UIAH), the University of Central England in Birmingham (UCE) and the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Belo Horizonte, Brazil (Worrall, 2000; Davies, et al., 2003; Orava, 2006). In contrast to the popular models of online learning developed over the last ten years, that could be described as highly organized and reliant on the use of professional learning management systems, our models harnessed the web based sources and built upon specifically tailored structures using ordinary web pages (Orava, 2006). The use of web pages and standard code, (HTML, PHP and CGI-programming) kept the focus away from the learning management system, allowing users to concentrate fully on the learning process and develop online learning as a collaborative, holistic and integrated process resulting in collaborative knowledge creation.