Exploring New Frontiers of Affinity Spaces - Learning by Observing and Pitching In in Online Classrooms

This thesis explores what learning looks like in online classrooms by pushing new literacies into formal schooling environments. These online classrooms were a spatiotemporal setup of an international high school that transitioned to full online operation during the global pandemic. By examining new literacies in formal education settings, this research addresses a gap in the existing literature. Employing a qualitative connective ethnography approach, the research utilises video recordings and literacy artefacts as methods to generate rich data characterised by its “thick” description. Key findings from this research reveal that the observed practices in online classrooms, as well as the design of these learning spaces are centred around collaboration. Everything that one does in online classrooms influences collaboration. Over time, the ongoing interactions and participant feedback also shape the design of these learning spaces, further enhancing their effectiveness for collaborative efforts. The digital affordances of online classrooms enable auxiliary practices such as navigation of learning spaces and resource mobilisation, which enhance collaborative endeavours. The more interactive these gateways to learning spaces and resources are, the more they facilitate dominant practices such as modeling and giving feedback, both of which are essential for effective collaboration. Learning in these classrooms unfolds as a dynamic process of appropriation, fostered by guided participation in an apprenticeship system. As our lives become increasingly intertwined with digital realms, the contemporary learning landscape continues to evolve, rendering new literacies ever more pertinent to formal education.