The Pedagogical Variation Model (PVM) for Online Learning and Teaching: Creating an Effective e-Learning Culture.

The research explores not only what is needed in e-learning research but also articulates how to create effective e-learning cultures by reducing drop-out, attrition rates thereby increasing retention rates whether in Further / Higher Education as well as in those opportunities facilitating Continuous Professional Development (CPD) in Communities of Practice (COP). The Pedagogical Variation Model (PVM, Rogers April 2013) for e-learning and teaching identifies four types of e-learners, matching their characteristics regarding their capability in online collaboration and knowledge construction with four e-teaching strategies, relating to e-moderator task-giving (Transactional Leadership) and motivational empowerment (Transformational Leadership). E-learning research requires methodologically inventive approaches. This underpinned the ways in which the PVM was created, developed and evaluated. Initially e-moderators at the University of South Wales (formerly The University of Glamorgan) participated in data gathering by implementing the rationale of Kelly’s (1955) Personal Construct Psychology (PCP) Six elements were selected from e-moderator online strategies (i) socializing (ii) scaffolding (iii) knowledge construction (iv) archiving (v) weaving and (vi) summarizing. An analysis was also made of the results from a customized e-moderator “Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire” (MLQ) based on transactional and transformational leadership (Avolio, Bass and Jung, 1999). Evaluation of the PVM continues by hypothesis testing (Popper 2002) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]