Online pedagogies and the promotion of “deep learning”

A number of commercially produced online learning environments are in use in University departments throughout the world. This research reports on the use of the WBT “Topclass” environment in a single undergraduate module on Identity studies in a UK University. The module was explicitly interdisciplinary in scope and the pedagogy was concerned to promote “deep learning”. The pedagogy involved a dialectical approach to learning. The paper describes some of the limitations within the selected online environment and outlines strategies for further development.