Elevator to communal scaffold? An analysis of social and pedagogical aspects of VLE use in Bachelor programme

This article analyses the use of a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) in a Norwegian institution of higher education, using the model of communal scaffolding. It compares the actual use of the VLE to support a Bachelor programme with the guidelines offered in the communal scaffolding literature. Interviews conducted with staff and students constitute the main data source. The analysis explores the extent to which the programme follows the communal scaffolding recommendations. Areas of improvement are identified in the communal scaffolding model and a new model is proposed, based on the original, but with additional elements emerging from the data.

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