Instructional relationships within a web-based learning environment: Students' perceptions in a Malaysian classroom

The tertiary education in Malaysia like many countries in the South-east Asia region has gone through a huge transformation since the enhancement of web technologies. With the easy access of Web 2.0 tools, learners are able to engage in meaningful social interaction that can be harness into the educational context. The shift towards active student-centred learning strategies has allowed educators to continuously transform their classroom into a more active and interactive learning environment. This study investigated the instructional relationships, created by the use of web 2.0 and multimedia technologies and using Laurillard's (1993) Conversational Framework, between the teacher, students and technology. Results showed that using web 2.0 as a mediating component in the instructional process was interesting and effective for the student learning process and the Conversational Framework was successfully adapted in this learning environment. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.