VIRTUAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES TO ENHANCE THE ENJOYMENT OF LEARNING

The paper aims at presenting the results of a correlative research conducted on students in upper secondary education. The study highlights the low level of the enjoyment of learning in formal education and proposes a complementary solution to traditional instruction: social and collaborative learning instructional strategies delivered in a virtual learning community. Thus, the paper presents the experience of a virtual learning community whose residents are high school students. The participating subjects were selected randomly from a sample of students with low levels of the enjoyment of learning. The psychographic profile of the subjects reveals the prevalence of negative emotions related to learning and other school activities such as frustration, boredom, sadness, irritation, and tension. The strategy designed to set-up, develop and animate the virtual learning community blended a virtual learning environment (Wikiclassroom (C)) with collaborative instructional methods and techniques. The activities covered a nine months period. A hybrid research methodology was designed to assess quantitatively and qualitatively the effects of the participation in the virtual community. A correlational within subjects design was conducted in order to compute the size effect. The quantitative research was based on the pre-test and post-test use of the ENJOY questionnaire. Narrative data - collected through in-depth interviews and netnographic techniques - revealed a phenomenology of the low levels of the enjoyment of learning related behaviors. The research proofs the that the use of virtual learning environments in traditional instruction has a positive effect of the enjoyment of learning, by stimulating involvement, curiosity, cooperation and students responsibility in learning. Based on the research findings, the paper discusses the implications for the teaching process and proposes further research directions.