At the beginning of the year, the teachers were uncertain and anxious in this new learning environment. Some of them experimented with the different icons … but they preferred to look on… They approached the teacher educator and others who appeared to know more … to reaffirm what they were doing was correct. They realised that they could solve ICT problems when they were supported by those around them, and when they interacted with their peers.
Initial perezhivanija
At this early stage of their learning, as they began their immigration to the information age the participants experienced apprehension and uncertainty; they went through initial perezhivanija. Doris, for example, checked and rechecked with the teacher educator and those around her whether she was pressing the right button. For Doris, the initial perezhivanija was an apprehension about the technology: just in case they might break something. The participants asked each other where‘s the on button?, especially Dorothy, who entered the university classroom, looked around the room, looked at the nearest computer and the look on her face was one of horror! In the first weeks of the course, Dorothy was often heard remarking: I can‘t
get this… I prefer to look on… She was observed to be:
an older person who would say I‘ve left my glasses at home and can‘t see what‘s written here, can you please read this for me!She would often make excuses and avoid sitting too close to the computer!
In her first interview a few weeks into the course, Dorothy stated:
I‘ve avoided learning about computers… I was just terrified of them, even now I‘ve really had a bad start… I think being here and then writing things down all the time and trying to remember what to do, even if I don‘t think I remember when I go home and start doing it. It seems to just go into place if I don‘t stress too much. Or even if I try something and it doesn‘t work I just try another thing and it works. I think, oh, I‘ll write it down. I think just mucking around with it I learn or I can start doing what I did here. … Up until now, I‘ve relied on kids.
Like many immigrants, Dorothy often resorted to relying on kids (Maydell-Stevens et al. 2007, p. 188) to help her. She used her traditional ways of recording information – I‘ll write it down – and privately, she preferred to start doing.
Other teachers responded differently. Ashley said that he would rather watch… write everything down… before he attempted to do. He had problems with logging into the network. He asked
other participants to show him how he could open Word, … he wrote everything down. He felt that he would never get the hang of this stuff! Ashley entered,observed and then left the chat rooms without participating. To him, everything about ICT was intimidating …, he didn‘t know
what was going on and he feared that he might break something. This initial apprehension and uncertainty revealed a complex system of ―interrelated and interdependent elements including teachers, artefacts, the environment … and the teachers‘ experience of the interactions within the zone.‖ (Mahn and John-Steiner 2000, p 1).
Nevertheless, this initial perezhivanija did disappear. The participants became acquainted with each other and with the technology, as they shared their perezhivanija. They could sense that they were not alone in their learning. These digital immigrant teachers were surviving and grouping into communities with other immigrants who had similar pragmatic needs in overcoming their initial perezhivanija.
These teachers began to interact and formed a learning community which enabled them to support each other in their perezhivanija and mislenija. Delia, for example, commented that
even at lunchtime at school we would meet and talk about what we did in class … or how to do something. Prior to this course, these colleagues had never gathered in their school at lunchtime to exchange ideas and interact about ICT. However, this new university learning environment encouraged them to gather …to learn and teach each other about ICT. They found that this technology stuff wasn‘t that bad. They began to make sense of it through interaction and support. They also began to collectively experiment with the different buttons … and then show each other.
Working collectively to make sense encouraged interaction and the formation of communities that enabled the teachers ―to identify with something – a need, a common shared goal and identity‖ (Hung and Der Thanq 2001, p. 1). The support of the community enabled their learning to begin to mature. The participants collectively made sense of ICT and enhanced their experience when they interacted and discussed the different icons and how to use them. They
also asked for assistance from the digital natives, that is, their students and younger friends and family members of their networks, for example their younger brother in law, nephew and
children.
This new form of learning and teaching challenged the traditional teaching and teacher educator-orientated university methods of recitation and dissemination of knowledge, and increased opportunities for social interaction and reciprocal learning and teaching. The participants, by including other members within their networks who supported each other‘s learning and teaching, and by exchanging information and skills found that their perezhivanija
lessened as their collective mislenija increased and they became more comfortable with this
technology stuff.