為落實「善用資訊科技、共享數位資源、激發創意思考」之教育理念，本研究分別以採用具備社群互動與資源傳遞功能之社群平台PasteWall的實驗組，以及採用一般實體面對面學習互動模式的對照組，進行創造思考學習活動，以探究社群平台是否有助於提昇學習者創造思考與聚斂評估能力，也進一步分析在電腦中介溝通的學習環境中，同儕資源分享與想法回應情形，是否優於傳統體面對面學習互動。研究結果歸納如下： 一、實體面對面互動的對照組同儕互動程度高於使用PasteWall社群平台之實驗組，但兩者的資源分享量無顯著差異；實驗組訊息回應量顯著高於互動密切的對照組，顯示應用社群平台有助於促進學習資源的傳遞與分享。 二、使用PasteWall社群平台進行互動的實驗組學習者，分享互動後的流暢力與獨創力表現顯著高於對照組學習者；實驗組低創造傾向的學習者在變通力與獨創力表現上顯著優於對照組低創造傾向學習者；研究結果支持PasteWall社群平台有助於提升實驗組與低創造傾向學習者部分擴散思考表現。 三、實驗組獲得正向評價的想法被發表之百分比明顯高於獲得中間評價想法；對 照組獲得正向評價的想法被發表的百分比明顯高於獲得中間及負向評價的 想法；顯示同儕評價向度與學習者的想法發表具有部分關聯。 四、實驗組學習者在創造思考學習任務的成效表現，顯著優於對照組學習者。 此外，根據本研究教學實驗結果，提出以下教學實務建議： 一、教師可應用學習社群平台規劃團體腦力激盪的合作式學習，激發學習者的擴散思考能力。 二、教師應適當應用電腦中介溝通的特點，協助不同特質的學生發展其創造思考關鍵能力。 三、同儕回饋對學習者分享學習成果的意願有一定程度影響，教師可適時應用學 習社群平台提供虛擬互動的學習環境，提升學習者向同儕分享想法的動機。 / In order to fulfill the educational philosophy of Using Information Technology Optimally, Sharing Digital Resources and Activating Creative Thinking, this study used two groups to implement creative thinking and learning activities, including a experimental group, which adopted the community platform of PasteWall with the function of community interaction and resource transfer, and a control group respectively, which adopted usual learning mode of physical face-to-face interaction. If the community platform is helpful to upgrade the learners’ creative thinking and convergent evaluation abilities was explored. Furthermore, if the resources sharing and thought responding among peers in the learning environment with computer-mediated communication are better than that with traditional face-to-face learning interaction was analyzed. The results of the study are summarized as below: 1. The interactive level among peers in the control group with physical face-to-face interaction is higher than that in the experimental group adopting the community platform of PasteWall. However, the volumes of resources sharing between two groups have no significant difference. The volume of response to thought in the experimental group is significantly higher than that in the control group with closer interaction, which indicates that the community platform benefits the improvement of resources transfer and share. 2. For the learners in the experimental group utilizing the community platform of PasteWall to interact, the performance of fluency and originality after interaction is significantly higher than that in the control group. Learners with low creative tendency in the experimental group perform significantly better in flexibility and originality than the learners in the control group with low creative tendency. The results of the study indicated that the community platform of PasteWall was helpful to upgrade the performance of divergent thinking for learners with low creative tendency in the experimental group. 3. The percentage of thought with positive evaluation which is posted in the experimental group is obviously higher than that with intermediate evaluation. For the control group, the percentage of thought with positive evaluation which is posted is also obviously higher than that with intermediate and negative evaluation. It indicates that the evaluation dimension of peers has some correlation with the posting of the learners’ thought. 4. Learners in the experimental group have achieved better performance in the learning tasks with creative thinking than those in the control group. In addition, suggestions are put forward for teaching practice on the basis of the results of the study: 1. Teachers should utilize learning community platform to plan group brainstorming cooperative learning and activate learners’ divergent thinking ability. 2. Teachers should properly utilize the characteristics of computer-mediated communication to assist students with different personalities to develop the critical ability of creative thinking. 3. The responses from peers have some impact on learners’ willingness to share the achivements of learning. Teachers can timely apply learning community platform to provide virtual interactive learning environment and upgrade the motivation of learners to share their thoughts with peers.

This essay describes a case study of textual communication on the online social mediaplatform Tumblr. The aim of the research was to analyse the communicative functions and thestylistic, sociolinguistic, and pragmatic characteristics of textual discourse on Tumblr. Usingdata gathered on Tumblr, this essay analyses discursive aspects such as function, style, andpragmatics, relating the findings to literature on topics including relevance theory and theoriesof computer-mediated communication and cyberpragmatics. The research found thatdiscourse on Tumblr is largely phatic in nature, with an overwhelming focus on the discussionof shared interests. Such discussion on Tumblr appears to heavily depend on sharedbackground knowledge, which works as a barrier of in-group discursive solidarity andprovides and furthers feelings of connectedness. This study further found that alternative useof style and grammar on Tumblr appears to be largely uniform, suggesting that divergencesfrom standard norms are a way of displaying membership of a group and obtaining covertprestige, rather than a display of linguistic innovation.

Cette recherche a pour objet un dispositif de télécollaboration asymétrique qui met en relation des apprentis tuteurs de FLE avec des apprenants distants. Notre objectif est d’examiner le parcours de l’apprenant à travers ses activités et ses échanges avec les tuteurs. La communication entre les deux groupes est exclusivement médiatisée par ordinateur à travers une plateforme d’apprentissage en mode asynchrone (forums) et quasi-synchrone (clavardage). La recherche est focalisée sur les apprenants et elle cherche à voir si leurs échanges en ligne avec les tuteurs se révèlent potentiellement acquisitionnels au plan de l’interaction verbale et de la réflexion sur la langue.La recherche s’inscrit dans le domaine des sciences du langage et plus particulièrement de la didactique des langues, dans la lignée des recherches en apprentissage des langues assisté par ordinateur (ALAO, CALL en anglais). Ayant comme objectif de mieux comprendre le vécu et l’activité des apprenants, de manière holistique, nous faisons appel à d’autres champs d’études, à savoir les sciences de l’éducation, les sciences de l’information et de la communication, les technologies éducatives et la psychologie des apprentissages. Ainsi, notre cadre conceptuel est transdisciplinaire.Nos analyses reposent sur deux axes. Le premier a pour but d’examiner la dimension communicationnelle des échanges en ligne à travers les tâches proposées aux apprenants par les tuteurs. Le second vise à étudier les pratiques « méta » des apprenants, issues du feedback correctif que les tuteurs donnent aux apprenants dans le cadre de leurs tâches. Nous avons recueilli plusieurs types de données et pour répondre à nos questions de recherche, nous recourons à leur triangulation. Nous avons adopté une démarche descriptive et notre analyse est qualitative et empirico-inductive. Nous avons aussi fait appel à l’approche systémique qui nous permet d’étudier l’ensemble des éléments de notre système, interreliés de telle manière que tout changement d’un paramètre a un effet sur les autres.Cette étude a deux visées : herméneutique et praxéologique. D’une part, nous cherchons à étudier et à comprendre l’activité d’apprentissage à travers les technologies tout en prenant en compte les relations qui existent entre le contexte et le sens que l’apprenant accorde à l’apprentissage dans ce même contexte. D’autre part, la recherche propose quelques pistes pédagogiques, interactionnelles et ingénieriques fondées sur les échanges observés ; l’objectif est d’améliorer les pratiques d’apprentissage à partir de la télécollaboration asymétrique étudiée grâce à la modélisation de certains paramètres. / This research looks into an asymmetric telecollaborative exchange, where tutor trainees of French as a foreign language communicate with distance learners. Our work examines students’ paths through their learning activities and exchanges with the tutors. Communication between the two groups is exclusively mediated by computer, via a learning platform in asynchronous and quasi-synchronous mode (forums and chats respectively). The research focuses on learners and aims at studying whether online exchanges with tutors prove to be potentially acquisitional in terms of verbal interaction and reflection on language.The research focuses on language sciences and in particular on applied linguistics in line with research on computer assisted language learning (CALL). With a view to better understanding learners’ experience and activity, in a holistic approach, we also refer to other fields of study, such as educational sciences, information and communication sciences, educational technologies and psychology of learning. Thus, our conceptual framework is transdisciplinary.Our analysis consists of two phases. Firstly, we examine the communicative dimension of online exchanges through tasks designed for the learners by the tutors. Secondly, we study learners’ “meta” practices, coming from the tutors’ corrective feedback on their tasks. We collected several types of data and, in order to answer to our research questions, we used data triangulation. We used a descriptive approach and our analysis is qualitative and empirico-inductive. We also used a systemic approach, which allows us to examine all of the elements of our system. These elements are interrelated in such a way that any change of one parameter has an effect on the others.This study has two goals: hermeneutics and praxeological. On the one hand, we intend to study and understand learning activity through technology, while taking into account the relationship between the context and the meaning that the learner gives to learning within this context. On the other hand, our research suggests some pedagogical leads based on the exchanges we studied; our aim is to improve learning practices from asymmetric telecollaboration observed by modelling certain parameters.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the prevalence and quality of on-line friendships, to find which individual characteristics differentiate people who look for and form on-line friendship(s) from those who don't, and to discover factors which are of importance for the development of on-line friendship(s). 574 Internet users completed an on-line questionnaire. The results showed that: (1) almost 50% of respondents had on-line friendship(s); (2) off-line friendships were better developed than on-line friendships. However, there was only a minor difference between the quality of the best off-line and best on-line friendships; (3) the Internet was a safe place for building personal relationships, especially for shy individuals; (4) people who felt lonely were more likely to turn to the Internet to find friends; (5) Internet usage and attitudes to the Internet were significant factors that differentiated those who looked for and formed friendship(s) on-line from those who didn't. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

A base teórica de um curso online de língua adicional, bem como sua metodologia de ensino, seus materiais didáticos, ambientes virtuais e ferramentas online, são geralmente definidos e criados antes do início do curso ou da realização de atividades durante o curso. Quando o curso inicia, professores e alunos são inevitavelmente impelidos a lidar com tarefas pedagógicas e espaços virtuais criados ou escolhidos previamente, podendo ocasionar tensões de diferentes naturezas entre o design do curso, o andamento do curso e os seus participantes. A presente pesquisa tem como objetivos (a) analisar imbricamentos entre o design de um curso online e as atividades realizadas durante o curso e (b) analisar modos locais de atualização dos conceitos de participação colaborativa e gênero do discurso tanto no design quanto nas atividades pedagógicas realizadas em um curso a distância. Para tal, analisamos dados gerados nas duas primeiras edições (oferecidas em 2011) do CEPI-Português/UFRGS, um curso online de Português como Língua Adicional (PLA) desenhado especificamente para intercambistas que estudarão na UFRGS, e realizado via internet por aproximadamente 8 semanas, antes de os estudantes viajarem para Porto Alegre. As análises destacam a natureza descritiva de tarefas como planos, instruções para ações situadas, como objetos discursivos em relação aos quais os participantes são convidados a agir responsivamente pela realização de atividades situadas. Além disso, destaca a fragilidade de se pressupor, como professor, uma cognição socialmente compartilhada sobre (a) as tarefas e (b) o construto teórico subjacente ao curso e aos métodos de ensino. Ao final, levantamos implicações para a formação de professores de línguas adicionais no que tange à elaboração de tarefas pedagógicas e ao empreendimento de práticas pedagógicas para ensino de línguas adicionais em ambientes digitais. / The theoretical basis of an online additional language course and its teaching methodology, learning materials, virtual environments and tools are generally conceived or chosen before the course starts or previous to the course ongoing activities. When the course starts, teachers and students are compelled to deal with pedagogical tasks and virtual spaces created or chosen beforehand, which may cause different tensions among the course design, its development, and the participants. This research aims at (a) examining interconnections between the design of an online course and the activities undertaken during the course and (b) analyzing how the concepts of collaborative participation and discourse genres are locally put into action in both course design and in the pedagogical activities performed throughout the online course. We analyzed data generated in the first two editions (offered in 2011) of CEPI-Portuguese/UFRGS, an online Portuguese as an Additional Language (PLA) course designed specifically for exchange students who will study at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (Porto Alegre, Brazil), and taught via internet during approximately eight weeks, prior to their traveling to Porto Alegre. The analyzes highlight the descriptive nature of pedagogical tasks as plans, instructions for situated actions, as discursive objects to which participants are asked to respond through their participation in situated activities. The analyzes also emphasize the problem of assuming a socially shared cognition about (a) the pedagogical tasks and (b) the theoretical construct that underlies the course and the teaching methods. We present implications for teacher education concerning task design and the development of teaching practices specifically for additional language teaching in digital environments.

A base teórica de um curso online de língua adicional, bem como sua metodologia de ensino, seus materiais didáticos, ambientes virtuais e ferramentas online, são geralmente definidos e criados antes do início do curso ou da realização de atividades durante o curso. Quando o curso inicia, professores e alunos são inevitavelmente impelidos a lidar com tarefas pedagógicas e espaços virtuais criados ou escolhidos previamente, podendo ocasionar tensões de diferentes naturezas entre o design do curso, o andamento do curso e os seus participantes. A presente pesquisa tem como objetivos (a) analisar imbricamentos entre o design de um curso online e as atividades realizadas durante o curso e (b) analisar modos locais de atualização dos conceitos de participação colaborativa e gênero do discurso tanto no design quanto nas atividades pedagógicas realizadas em um curso a distância. Para tal, analisamos dados gerados nas duas primeiras edições (oferecidas em 2011) do CEPI-Português/UFRGS, um curso online de Português como Língua Adicional (PLA) desenhado especificamente para intercambistas que estudarão na UFRGS, e realizado via internet por aproximadamente 8 semanas, antes de os estudantes viajarem para Porto Alegre. As análises destacam a natureza descritiva de tarefas como planos, instruções para ações situadas, como objetos discursivos em relação aos quais os participantes são convidados a agir responsivamente pela realização de atividades situadas. Além disso, destaca a fragilidade de se pressupor, como professor, uma cognição socialmente compartilhada sobre (a) as tarefas e (b) o construto teórico subjacente ao curso e aos métodos de ensino. Ao final, levantamos implicações para a formação de professores de línguas adicionais no que tange à elaboração de tarefas pedagógicas e ao empreendimento de práticas pedagógicas para ensino de línguas adicionais em ambientes digitais. / The theoretical basis of an online additional language course and its teaching methodology, learning materials, virtual environments and tools are generally conceived or chosen before the course starts or previous to the course ongoing activities. When the course starts, teachers and students are compelled to deal with pedagogical tasks and virtual spaces created or chosen beforehand, which may cause different tensions among the course design, its development, and the participants. This research aims at (a) examining interconnections between the design of an online course and the activities undertaken during the course and (b) analyzing how the concepts of collaborative participation and discourse genres are locally put into action in both course design and in the pedagogical activities performed throughout the online course. We analyzed data generated in the first two editions (offered in 2011) of CEPI-Portuguese/UFRGS, an online Portuguese as an Additional Language (PLA) course designed specifically for exchange students who will study at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (Porto Alegre, Brazil), and taught via internet during approximately eight weeks, prior to their traveling to Porto Alegre. The analyzes highlight the descriptive nature of pedagogical tasks as plans, instructions for situated actions, as discursive objects to which participants are asked to respond through their participation in situated activities. The analyzes also emphasize the problem of assuming a socially shared cognition about (a) the pedagogical tasks and (b) the theoretical construct that underlies the course and the teaching methods. We present implications for teacher education concerning task design and the development of teaching practices specifically for additional language teaching in digital environments.

Cette recherche vise à analyser la communication pédagogique multimodale dans des mondes synthétiques (virtuels). L'étude se focalise sur le rapport entre le verbal et le non verbal et son rôle de soutien pour la production et la participation verbales en langue étrangère. Celui-ci est analysé dans une perspective socio-sémiotique de la multimodalité, dans le contexte d'une formation conduite dans le monde synthétique Second Life selon une approche Enseignement d'une Matière Intégré à une Langue Étrangère (Emile). La formation, 'Building Fragile Spaces' menée dans le cadre du projet européen ARCHI21 a été conçue pour des étudiants d'architecture dont la langue étrangère était soit le français soit l'anglais.Le rapport entre le verbal et le non verbal est examiné selon trois angles différents. Premièrement, le rôle du non verbal pendant une activité de construction collaborative est analysé au vu des opportunités offertes par des mondes synthétiques pour la co-création de l'environnement et pour la collaboration. A travers cette étude, nous nous demandons si l'utilisation du mode non verbal a un impact sur la participation des étudiants dans le mode verbal et si le rapport entre ces deux modes a une influence sur la production verbale. Deuxièmement, l'utilisation du non verbal pour la construction des identités est abordée et est considérée en rapport avec l'interaction et la participation verbale des étudiants dans la langue étrangère. Finalement, la recherche se concentre sur le rapport entre les modalités audio et clavardage dans le mode verbal. Plus particulièrement, l'étude s'intéresse au rôle du clavardage dans l'interaction puisqu'il est en compétition non seulement avec l'audio mais également avec plusieurs modalités non verbales. La possibilité d'utiliser le clavardage pour la rétroaction est également abordée.Cette thèse cherche à contribuer aux considérations méthodologiques exigées pour que la recherche concernant la communication pédagogique multimodale dans des mondes synthétiques puisse aller au-delà des exemples spéculatifs et anecdotiques. Une typologie de modalités verbales et non verbales est proposée. Elle sert à étendre une méthodologie proposée pour la transcription des interactions multimodales aux interactions possibles dans les mondes synthétiques. En vue de la problématique plus générale, dans les domaines des Sciences Humaines et des Sciences du Langage, il s'agit de rendre visibles et accessibles publiquement les données utilisées pour les analyses. En effet, cette étude se réfère à un corpus d'apprentissage dans son approche méthodologique. La construction d'un corpus structuré permet d'effectuer des analyses contextualisées des données recueillies lors de la formation 'Building Fragile Spaces'.Cette recherche propose quelques éléments de réponse concernant l'augmentation de la participation verbale en rapport avec l'organisation proxémique des étudiants, la customisation de l'apparence des avatars des étudiants et l'utilisation importante des actes non verbaux. Concernant la production verbale, l'étude décrit comment, dans le mode non verbal, le mouvement de l'avatar est employé en tant que stratégie pour surmonter des difficultés de communication dans le mode verbal. Ces difficultés concernent, en particulier, l'expression de la direction et de l'orientation. L'étude montre également l'intérêt d'utiliser le clavardage pour offrir de la rétroaction concernant la forme linguistique dans le but de soutenir la production verbale des apprenants dans la modalité audio. Au vu des résultats, l'étude propose quelques considérations concernant la conception des activités pédagogiques pour l'apprentissage des langues dans des mondes synthétiques. / This research focuses on multimodal pedagogical communication in synthetic (virtual) worlds. The study investigates the interplay between verbal and nonverbal interaction which supports verbal participation and production in a foreign language. This is analysed from a socio-semiotic perspective of multimodality within the context of a course held in the synthetic world Second Life, which adopted a Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) approach. The course, entitled 'Building Fragile Spaces', formed part of the European project ARCHI21. It was designed for higher education students of Architecture whose foreign language was either French or English.The interplay between verbal and nonverbal interaction is examined from three different angles. Firstly, considering the opportunities synthetic worlds offer for the co-creation of the environment through building activities and for collaboration, the role played by the nonverbal mode during a collaborative building activity is investigated. The study questions whether the use of the nonverbal mode impacts on the participation of students in the verbal mode, and whether any interplay exists between these two modes that influences verbal production. Secondly, use of the nonverbal mode by students in inworld identity construction is addressed and considered with reference to their verbal interaction, and participation, in the foreign language. Thirdly, the research concentrates upon interplay between the audio and textchat modalities in the verbal mode. More specifically, the focus is on whether the textchat plays a role during interaction, considering it is in competition not only with the audio modality but also with several nonverbal modalities; and on whether the textchat modality can serve for feedback provision on language form.This thesis seeks to contribute to the methodological considerations to allow research to move beyond speculative and anecdotal examples of multimodal pedagogical communication in synthetic worlds. A typology of nonverbal and verbal modalities is proposed, and then drawn upon, to extend a previous methodology suggested for multimodal transcription to interactions in synthetic worlds. Considering, within the fields of Social Sciences and Language Sciences, the more general research problem to render research data used for analyses visible and publically accessible, the study adopts a LEarning and TEaching Corpus (LETEC) methodological approach. Constituting a structured corpus allows for contextual analyses of the data collected during the 'Building Fragile Spaces' course.This research offers insights into how verbal participation increases with reference to the proxemic organisation of students, the customization of students' avatar appearance and an increased use of nonverbal acts. Concerning verbal production, the study shows how avatar movement in the nonverbal mode was used as a strategy to overcome verbal miscommunication when expressing direction and orientation and also the benefits of using the textchat modality for feedback on language form in order to support learners’ productions in the audio modality. In light of these results, the study suggests some considerations concerning the design of pedagogical activities for language learning within synthetic worlds.

A base teórica de um curso online de língua adicional, bem como sua metodologia de ensino, seus materiais didáticos, ambientes virtuais e ferramentas online, são geralmente definidos e criados antes do início do curso ou da realização de atividades durante o curso. Quando o curso inicia, professores e alunos são inevitavelmente impelidos a lidar com tarefas pedagógicas e espaços virtuais criados ou escolhidos previamente, podendo ocasionar tensões de diferentes naturezas entre o design do curso, o andamento do curso e os seus participantes. A presente pesquisa tem como objetivos (a) analisar imbricamentos entre o design de um curso online e as atividades realizadas durante o curso e (b) analisar modos locais de atualização dos conceitos de participação colaborativa e gênero do discurso tanto no design quanto nas atividades pedagógicas realizadas em um curso a distância. Para tal, analisamos dados gerados nas duas primeiras edições (oferecidas em 2011) do CEPI-Português/UFRGS, um curso online de Português como Língua Adicional (PLA) desenhado especificamente para intercambistas que estudarão na UFRGS, e realizado via internet por aproximadamente 8 semanas, antes de os estudantes viajarem para Porto Alegre. As análises destacam a natureza descritiva de tarefas como planos, instruções para ações situadas, como objetos discursivos em relação aos quais os participantes são convidados a agir responsivamente pela realização de atividades situadas. Além disso, destaca a fragilidade de se pressupor, como professor, uma cognição socialmente compartilhada sobre (a) as tarefas e (b) o construto teórico subjacente ao curso e aos métodos de ensino. Ao final, levantamos implicações para a formação de professores de línguas adicionais no que tange à elaboração de tarefas pedagógicas e ao empreendimento de práticas pedagógicas para ensino de línguas adicionais em ambientes digitais. / The theoretical basis of an online additional language course and its teaching methodology, learning materials, virtual environments and tools are generally conceived or chosen before the course starts or previous to the course ongoing activities. When the course starts, teachers and students are compelled to deal with pedagogical tasks and virtual spaces created or chosen beforehand, which may cause different tensions among the course design, its development, and the participants. This research aims at (a) examining interconnections between the design of an online course and the activities undertaken during the course and (b) analyzing how the concepts of collaborative participation and discourse genres are locally put into action in both course design and in the pedagogical activities performed throughout the online course. We analyzed data generated in the first two editions (offered in 2011) of CEPI-Portuguese/UFRGS, an online Portuguese as an Additional Language (PLA) course designed specifically for exchange students who will study at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (Porto Alegre, Brazil), and taught via internet during approximately eight weeks, prior to their traveling to Porto Alegre. The analyzes highlight the descriptive nature of pedagogical tasks as plans, instructions for situated actions, as discursive objects to which participants are asked to respond through their participation in situated activities. The analyzes also emphasize the problem of assuming a socially shared cognition about (a) the pedagogical tasks and (b) the theoretical construct that underlies the course and the teaching methods. We present implications for teacher education concerning task design and the development of teaching practices specifically for additional language teaching in digital environments.

The aim of this study is to offer a new perspective on both interpersonal communication andcomputer-mediated communication (CMC), by means of conducting a pragma-linguisticanalysis and comparison of a semi-threaded discussion forum and a fully threaded discussionforum; analysing features such as linguistic markers, dialogic listening, politeness, cooperation,elaborate or laconic greetings, farewell expressions and other conversational rituals. Aqualitative study was conducted, employing two methods of gathering data: (a) participantobservation and (b) document and material analysis. The major question for discussion in thisstudy is whether there are any differences with respect to linguistic and non-linguistic featuresbetween the semi-threaded and fully threaded forums? The study concludes that there aredifferences in linguistic and non-linguistic features between semi-threaded and fully threadedforums, but these differences are minimal and can more likely be attributed to the forum subjectmatter and social context than to the forum structure itself.

The aim of the research was to investigate the relationship between facilitation, computer software and the learner in teaching a computer-integrated lesson. South Africa has recently changed their education system from that of content-based to that of outcomes-based. With these changes came the introduction of e-Education. The Government e-Education goal is that every South African learner in the general and further education and training bands will be ICT (Information and Communication Technology) capable by 2013. Educators are expected to facilitate these classes without having being trained as facilitators in a computer environment. Most educators’ follow an instructivist mode of teaching and the researcher decided to do a case study at a school in the Western Cape to investigate the role of an educator in a computer environment. The researcher also wrote the computer-mediated software for the educator to use in his lesson. The software was written for a lesson on Physical Science which was not the field of study of the educator. The educator, however, is a computer technician. These issues raised questions as to what the methodology of teaching of this educator would be, how would the learners interact with the facilitator and the content and to what degree learning would take place with regards to transfer of skills and knowledge. From the literature survey the researcher compiled a checklist of what the role of an educator in a computer environment should be whereby the educator was assessed. A questionnaire was compiled whereby the learners evaluated the software that was used for this computer integrated lesson. The learners had to write a pre- and post-test to determine whether content was transferred in this lesson and they were asked to perform a practical experiment to determine their skills. This dissertation shows how good facilitation, coupled with pedagogically well-designed software and good learner participation leads to a successful learning community. Copyright / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Curriculum Studies / unrestricted