Indian Journal of Educational Technology Volume 6, Issue 2, July 2024 376 Review Article Peeragogy: A Nascent Approach of Digital Age Komal Arora1 & Amit Ahuja2 1Academic Consultant, Central Institute of Technology, NCERT Email: aroras_komal@yahoo.com 2Associate Professor, University School of Education, GGSIPU Abstract The advancement of technology has motivated and empowered learners all over the world to connect and collaborate with other learners to co-construct knowledge and co- learn. These connections among peers have made it possible for the learners to self-direct their learning process by creating, delivering learning and teaching together an agreed curriculum. Peeragogy is one such approach for learning and knowledge production with the help of peers through reflection, critical thinking and thoughtful discussions. It is a collaborative strategy that has its foundation in the behaviourism, cognitivism, constructivism and connectivism theories of learning. Peeragogical interactions among a group of people or community with similar interests called “paragogues” lead to online exchange of ideas in order to influence one another’s perceptions and also help in building digital skills and social skills. This paper focuses on the newest educational approach, i.e., Peeragogy, which accentuates self-regulated student-centred learning and focuses on collaborative learning through online networks. It also highlights the difference between pedagogy, andragogy, heutagogy and peeragogy. Designing peeragogy’s learning activities based on the tenets of peeragogy and the role of a peeragogue is also discussed in this paper to exhibit how this potential approach of learning can assist students in gaining the knowledge and skills necessary to thrive in the twenty-first century by employing digital media to connect, co-construct, and co-learn. Keywords: Paragogy, peeragogy, pedagogy, andragogy, heutagogy, connectivism, peer- learning, Introduction “If we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow.” -John Dewey With a paradigm shift in the process of education, the approaches of education have also evolved over time to meet the requirements of society – from pedagogy to other approaches of education, that are andragogy, heutagogy and peeragogy. The practice of sharing knowledge and learning informally from each other has been witnessed for ages. The roots of peer- based learning lie in peer interaction. Formally, it actively engages learners in discussions and group work and mutually benefits them through collaboration. It aims to develop a sense of collective responsibility and self- management among peers. It can be defined as “the acquisition of knowledge and skill through active helping and supporting among status equals or matched companions. It involves people from similar social groupings who are not professional teachers helping each other to learn and learning themselves by so doing” (Topping, 2005). It engages pupils with one another in order to attain educational objectives, thus, making them move from an independent learner to an interdependent and collaborative learner. The process of Indian Journal of Educational Technology Volume 6, Issue 2, July 2024 377 peer learning assigns responsibilities to both the faculty and the students towards the successful completion of tasks and the development of various skills such as communication skills, self-management and organisational skills, interpersonal skills, collaborative skills and problem-solving skills. It also fosters the ability to enquire, think and reflect critically. The fundamentals of a person’s cognitive growth are social contacts, and the sharing of ideas and experiences, and student interactions lower the task’s complexity. Peer learning is seen to be a good strategy to improve learning outcomes. Education has witnessed numerous revolutions through research for the last three decades to study how learning and teaching must be carried out (Kenyon & Hase, 2001). Education 4.0 is a recent paradigm that elucidates the notions of learning in light of Industry 4.0, which focuses on web-driven e-learning and knowledge construction through connections. It encourages learning in a new way, mostly via the use of technology-based tools and resources. Technology has a substantial influence on educational growth. The learners are encouraged to collaborate digitally and co-create knowledge. Connectivism, a learning theory propounded by George Siemens and Stephen Downes in 2005, contributes uniquely to the digital era, helping learners with diverse opinions to collaborate through a variety of networks beyond formal educational settings to find solutions to their questions. It proposes that the knowledge accessed by virtue of one’s connections with other individuals or peers is as worthy as the information possessed by the individual minds. According to Siemens and Tittenberger (2009), Connectivism refers to “knowledge and cognition are distributed across networks of people and technology, and learning is the process of connecting, growing, and navigating those networks.” The social networks so formed provide ways to move from individual sets of knowledge towards a more relevant and futuristic way of learning. Peeragogy is a nascent approach which  allows  recognition  of the value  of  these  connections and uses digital media to connect, co-construct and co-learn in the digital era, which helps in building 21st-century skills and competencies. Charles Jeffrey Danoff (2012) assumes the Context of learning, Timing and sequence, Social reinforcement and experiential awareness are the key factors of adapting peeragogy and thus expanding knowledge and skills of each peeragogue. P2PU was one of the first online peer learning communities, and its courses have sparked the creation of a slew of new online alternatives to traditional institutions in recent years. Theoretical Framework: Learning  Theories Supporting Peeragogy The proponents of Cognitive Constructivism – Piaget (1972) and Bruner (1990) and Social Constructivism -Vygotsky (1978) laid the foundation for peer teaching and learning. Piaget’s theory of Cognitive Development (1985) emphasises the active interaction and involvement of peers in the process of knowledge construction. Peer interactions also encourage cognitive improvement and enhance learning outcomes as compared to individual efforts. Bandura’s (1977) Social Learning theory advocates that observational learning significantly impacts human behaviour by transforming the information into cognitive representations. The relevance of the social environment in learning new behaviours was underlined by Bandura in particular. He proposed that people learn to respond to others’ behaviours by observing their own conduct. The Sociocultural theory of Learning developed by Vygotsky (1978) emphasises the involvement of more Indian Journal of Educational Technology Volume 6, Issue 2, July 2024 379 foundation for the peeragogy, a collaborative approach that accentuates student-centered learning and enables self-regulated learning (Zhang & Bayley, 2019). A systematic literature review technique was used by Bizami et al. (2022) to investigate the mapping of the principles of three Education 4.0 innovative pedagogies, namely heutagogy, peeragogy, and cybergogy, with the capabilities of three technological learning tools, namely Facebook (FB), Learning Management System (LMS), and Blog. The findings reveal that the cognitive element is the most closely associated pedagogical principle to the four key capacities of technological learning tools, namely time, self-related, learning task, and learning community- related. This mapping is important for instructors to plan learning and teaching by selecting technological learning tools that align with relevant Education 4.0 pedagogies for optimising immersive blended learning practices. Amirrudin et al. (2023), in their study found that the heutagogic, peeragogic, and cybergogic approaches in the classroom are significantly impacted by the andragogic approach. The study also reveals that the pupils’ ability to study independently is also strongly impacted by the use of peeragogic, heutagogic, and cybergogic approaches. By allowing for student autonomy in the classroom, peeragogy, heutagogy, and cybergogy techniques also enable students to create their own self-regulated learning. This method of practice has a sizable impact on enhancing pupil self-regulated learning. NEP 2020 (para 4.5) focuses on fostering critical thinking skills, discussion-based and collaborative learning environments that resonate strongly with peeragogy’s emphasis on collaborative peer-based learning. Peeragogy learning can help students become more critical thinkers by introducing them to technology, helping them collaborate in groups to solve problems set by the teacher, and encouraging them to voice their opinions more actively (Prasetya, Nuraeni & Shabir, 2022). Li and Salleh (2023) identified that the student needs to be capable, self-aware, proactive in communicating their opinions, well- organized, and eager to assist during online Peeragogy. Baskoro et al. (2023) developed a model that integrates the peeragogy learning strategy, the 7E learning cycle, and the newest AI tools as a tool and found that the cognitive domain in the peeragogy learning system can function more effectively with the application of AI. Peeragogy is relatively nascent approach to learning and knowledge production. However, it shows potential to address contemporary learning requirements, there is a dearth of research in this area. Research Methodology In this study, the investigators used qualitative research design and employed content analysis as the research technique to deduce the valid inferences by interpretation and coding of the textual material as available in the related research works. How is Peeragogy different from Pedagogy, Andragogy, Heutagogy? Azevedo et al. (2012), Matsuyama et al. (2019), and Wangid (2014) corroborated that student-centered learning has good effects on learning outcomes and the manner in which learning is imparted to increase students’ skills. Changes from teacher-centered learning to student- centered learning are encouraged by using andragogic, peeragogic, heutagogic, and cybergogic approaches (Chan et al., 2019; Hase, 2016; Muresan, 2014). The progression in approaches of education from pedagogy to andradogy, heutagogy and peeragogy depicts paradigm shift from Education 1.0 to 4.0. These approaches differ from each Indian Journal of Educational Technology Volume 6, Issue 2, July 2024 384 3. Locating professional prospects and opportunities through other members; 4. Establishing or strengthening a personal network; 5. Developing organizational and rational thinking skills through discourse and debate; 6. Receiving feedback regarding his/her own performance and comprehending of the topic. Wiki: A good tool for peeragogy projects A wiki is a good tool for collaboration, co-facilitation, self-election, communication, documenting changes by keeping some rules without constraining creativity. It is especially suitable for ongoing work as changes can be tracked easily by comparing or rolling back the previous versions. According to Wikipedia “a wiki is a website whose users can add, modify, or delete its content via a web browser using a simplified markup language or a rich- text editor.” It also helps in reducing the complications in coordination, making links between wiki pages, dealing with the work in progress and capturing an on-going work. It also supports transparency as one can easily see what other members of the community are doing. ‘Appropedia’, ‘Teahouse’ and ‘News on wiki’ are exemplars of peeragogy projects running on wikis. Illustration: Designing Peeragogy’s Learning Activity through e-learning Course’s Name: Educational Technology Foundation & Research Topic: Research Trends in Educational Technology Table-2: Design of Peeragogy’s Learning Activity Instructions Learning Tools Peeragogy’s Principles 21st Century Learning Skills 1. You have to create an online community of 2 of your course mates and others experts that you think suitable. Assign a Task to take every member; such as facilitators, learners, contributors, experts etc. Facebook’s Group Co-learning Critical Thinking Collaboration 2. In the Facebook’s group, discuss the is- sues related to our class topics. Prepare required teaching notes/learn- ing materials that are needed Make sure the learning materials have been verified by your class instructors Internet Powerpoint Prezi Blog Facebook’s group Co- Creation of Knowledge Critical Thinking Life- Long Learning Indian Journal of Educational Technology Volume 6, Issue 2, July 2024 385 Instructions Learning Tools Peeragogy’s Principles 21st Century Learning Skills 3. Prepare 2-3 essay questions that you would like the mem- bers of the community to answer related to issues that have been discussed before. Facebook’s group Self-deter- mined ques- tions that will be answered Reflective Thinking 4. Share the answers with experts and mark the answers and give appropriate scores based on 10%. Facebook’s group Self- Assess- ment Critical Thinking 5. Wrap up session… Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZV80vsgq1ec&t=7646s References AlDahdouh, Alaa and Osorio, Antonio and Caires, Susana (2015). Understanding Knowledge Network, Learning and Connectivism. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning,12(10). Alexander, B., Allison, P., Barondeau, R., Breitbart, D., Burroughs, S., Corneli, J., & Walker, G. (2012). The Peeragogy Handbook (Version 0.98). https://www.academia.edu/1977604/ The_Peeragogy_Handbook CC0. Arenas, M. (2012, January 28). What is peeragogy? http://arenastudies.wordpress. com/2012/01/28/what-is-peeragogy/ Conclusion Peeragogy has its foundation in the behaviourism, cognitivism, constructivism and connectivism theories of learning. It offers a critical focus on peer learning through social connections using technology to connect, co-construct, and co-learn in the digital era and assist in the development of 21st century skills and competencies. It provides an outline for techniques and practices aimed at peer learning and peer knowledge production characterised by flexibility and scalability. Teachers, students or any interested community can become peeragogues. Educators benefit greatly from peeragogy since they are expected to be up-to-date and have appropriate information, skills, and competence in the subject. It offers numerous advantages, including assisting students in gaining their own grasp of a subject, boosting self-esteem, honing critical thinking abilities, fostering interpersonal relationships, and taking charge of their own education. Peers learn and teach together using technology outside or inside the formal institution by co-working towards facilitating, researching, observing, creating,  developing, originating,  curating, mapping, aggregating, refining, designing, writing, converting, editing and formatting. Metacognition, or self-awareness of one’s own cognitive process, determines each peeragogue’s contribution. It is concerned with how people produce and apply knowledge via internet networks. 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