33 Co-creating knowledge
Gelareh Keshavarz, Postgraduate Research Student, Distance Education, Canada
I used Generative AI (GenAI), specifically ChatGPT, as a co-agent in my doctoral research to navigate a complex, self-directed learning journey grounded in heutagogy, networked learning, and rhizomatic education. These paradigms reject linear instruction in favour of emergent, learner-led knowledge construction. My work focuses on multilingual faculty in hybrid higher education systems across Canada and East Africa, where AI is not just a tool but a relational actor in knowledge-making. In this context, GenAI became an epistemic partner – scaffolding my learning, reframing inquiry, and supporting multilingual accessibility in research and academic writing.
AI is not just a tool but a relational actor in knowledge-making
My learning was inspired by rhizomatic education (Cormier, 2008), where knowledge spreads through unpredictable connections. Similarly, networked learning (Anderson and Dron, 2011) views learning as social and technologically mediated. Heutagogy (Blaschke, 2012) emphasizes capability over competence, prioritizing self-reflection, adaptability, and agency. These theories shaped how I interacted with ChatGPT: not to find answers, but to question better. I used it to rehearse theory integration (such as post-phenomenology and professional capital), generate alternative perspectives, and iterate scholarly writing. In moments of ambiguity, ChatGPT functioned like a cognitive partner in my Zone of Proximal Development (Vygotsky, 1978), helping me scaffold complexity into clarity.
GenAI Tool(s) Used:
References
Anderson, T. and Dron, J. 2011. Three generations of distance education pedagogy. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 12(3), 80–97.
Blaschke, L. M. 2012. Heutagogy and lifelong learning: A review of heutagogical practice and self-determined learning. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 13(1), 56–71.
Cormier, D. 2008. Rhizomatic education: Community as curriculum. Innovate: Journal of Online Education, 4(5).
Pennycook, A. 2018. Posthumanist applied linguistics. Routledge.
Vygotsky, L. S. 1978. Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard University Press.
