Kajee, L. (2008). Constructing identities in online communities of practice: a case study of online learning. Oxford and New York, Peter Lang.
This book explores online learning in an undergraduate English language and academic literacy classroom at a university in South Africa, and theorises the need for technology in developing countries as a means of social inclusion in the context of the 'digital divide'. The research methods include participant observation and narrative interviews both face-to-face and online with research participants (each participant is described in further detail with a character sketch in the appendix). The aim of the study was to explore the extent to which communities of practice are enabled in an online environment, among non-native English speakers from technologically under-resourced backgrounds. This study examines the extent to which the students participate, negotiate meaning, and construct identities in online spaces. This research contributes to theoretical and empirical perspectives on online communities, communities of practice, non-English-speaking communities in 'developing' countries, and debates about social inclusion/exclusion and the digital divide.