Promotive Activities in Face-to-Face and Technology-Enhanced Learning Environments

Abstract This paper aims to transfer central, influential concepts and ideas from person-centered education into the context of technology-enhanced learning. We systematically review promotive activities and humanistic educational concepts and share our experiences in introducing and actually living these activities and interpersonal attitudes in technology-enhanced environments. Students’ reactions confirm the validity of our approach, which proposes to complement personal resourcefulness with Web-supported activities. Our primary goal is to make learning in today’s knowledge society a growthful experience for learners as well as facilitators. Introduction Currently, the academic scene is characterized by intense efforts to increase the quality and effectiveness of teaching and learning and to make education more accessible to everybody. The primary vehicles to achieve these goals are to introduce technology support for teaching and learning and to accompany this organizational development step through staff development programs (Attwell, Dirckinck-Holmfeld, Fabian, Karpati, & Littig, 2003). In our experience of introducing learning technology into parts of our face-to-face courses, technology can contribute to enhancing learning only if instructors—or better facilitators—are resourceful persons who meet certain conditions in interpersonal behavior. They are capable of providing a learning atmosphere in which learners feel respected and understood, and communication is transparent and can freely flow between all participants. In fact, this finding confirms recent (Bangert, 2004) as well as earlier (Rogers, 1983) research in person-centered education (Cornelius-White, 2006; Cornelius-White, Hoey, Cornelius-White, Motschnig-Pitrik, & Figl, 2004). For example, a similar statement has been made by Carl R. Rogers, who defines significant learning in this way: “Significant learning combines the logical and the intuitive, the intellect and the feelings, the concept and the experience, the idea and the meaning. When we learn in that way, we are whole.” (Rogers, 1983, p. 20) He notes that, “We know […] that the initiation of such learning r ests not upon the teaching skills of the leader, not upon scholarly knowledge of the field, not upon curricular planning, not upon use of audiovisual aids, not upon the programmed learning used, not upon lectures and presentations, not upon an abundance of books, though each of these might at one time or another be utilized as an important resource. No, the facilitation of significant learning rests upon certain attitudinal qualities that exist in the personal relationship between the facilitator and the learner.” (C. R. Rogers, as cited in Kirschenbaum & Henderson, 1989, p. 305)