The technology of learning in a social world

This Chapter describes the theoretical framework that underpinned the vicarious learning work and sets it within the socio-cultural context of lifelong learning. The book within which this Chapter appears is a collection of the key theoretical perspectives on learning that underpin the field of lifelong learning, prepared for the Open University MA course ‘Supporting Lifelong Learning’. This Chapter was specially commissioned by the editors for the book. It describes an original conceptual framework for approaching the pedagogy of online-learning, describing how each stage of the learning cycle (conceptualisation, construction and dialogue) needs to be supported by a different kind of technology.