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Part IV. Storytelling and Learning in the 21" Century ] 129
The contact learning environment is complemented by a networked learning
environment, whether through institutional devices or students mobile
devices, and the whole process can be supported by the institutions online
learning management system (LMS) or virtual environment (e.g., Second Life).
Digital technology allows for the creation of an integrated learning
environment where technology is adapted to face-to-face, contact classroom
activities. The objectives of classroom communication, information sharing,
and creative work can be accompanied by digital tools and the appropriate use
of the Internet to optimize learning outcomes. ‘The effectiveness of learning
in an integrated learning environment also depends on student and teacher
choices, the degree of interactivity of the learning community, the quality
and quantity of activities, and the degree of student involvement rather than
on the medium and tools used. True engagement can be achieved through
activity-centered instruction designed with consistent pedagogical planning
and implementation (Ollé, 2015).
Students in the 21* century use the Internet on digital devices, an easily
accessible but unquantifiable and not necessarily reliable source of data and
information. Students are no longer limited to physically accessing information
offline in a formal learning environment but now have the possibility to extend
their learning environment infinitely through the possibilities offered by
the Internet, their desktop computers and the set of applications on their
smart devices (Ollé, 2017). The learning environment extended in this way
is characterized by its functions as a database, an operation executor, and an
interactive interface; as it provides unlimited access to delocalized content
in different media formats, it also performs organizational, mathematical
and editing functions, and provides a channel for virtual collaboration and
communication (Komenczi, 2013).
Such an approach is a shift from the traditional view of teachers’ monopoly
of knowledge. In the pre-Internet era, traditional education relied on teachers,
textbooks’ and libraries’ reliable but limited knowledge, whereas today,
the web provides students with access to a wealth of resources. Textbooks,
teacher narratives, online hypertexts, images and multimedia content can all
be considered as sources of narrative information. Students have unlimited
access to information of highly heterogeneous quality. It is, therefore, the
teacher who remains the professional reference point for knowledge, and
who guides students in their search for relevant and reliable sources on the
Internet. The teacher's role is more important than ever, as he or she mentors
and provides feedback on students’ digital content selection and production,
as well as their online social communication, while at the same time helping
them to organize content.
In an activity-based integrated learning environment, interactive
collaboration requires that all actors in the teaching-learning process are
familiar with the functions of digital tools and media as well as their potential
and limitations; it is also important that their online and offline communication