Collaborative Online Learning

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"Recent studies of the online learning environment have noted that involvement or “social presence,” better known as a feeling of community and connection among learners, has contributed positively to learning outcomes and learner satisfaction with online courses (Gunawardena and Zittle, 1997; Kazmer, 2000; Murphy, Drabier, and Epps, 1998; Picciano, 2002; Tu and Corry, 2002). Beyond learner satisfaction, however, is the more important belief that collaboration enhances learning outcomes and reduces the potential for learner isolation that can occur in the online environment. By learning together in a learning community, students have the opportunity to extend and deepen their learning experience, test out new ideas by sharing them with a supportive group, and receive critical and constructive feedback. The likelihood of successful achievement of learning objectives and achieving course competencies increases through collaborative engagement" (Palloff & Pratt, 2005).

Planning collaborative learning

You may have gathered from the sections we have have covered so far that I am keen to use collaborative approaches whenever I design digital materials! Although collaboration can be frustrating for both facilitator and student, when it works it can be immensely rewarding. To be successful in deploying collaborative strategies requires careful planning:

  • Definition of expectations and purpose: The expectations and purposes of any collaborative activity need to be clearly defined, including how a specific learning activity is relevant to the students, and why being part of a group and working together will be beneficial for them. Facilitators need to be clear about the requirements for participation in an activity, the requisite process for participation as well as the specific online tools needed for facilitating communication within a group. As students get to know about tools they will be able to work with more confidence and get improved results.
  • Providing clear instructions to students in a group: Smooth working in a group relies on students being clear about the objectives of an activity and so they need proper and clear instructions. Facilitators need to explain the purpose of an activity, provide specific due dates and all the necessary instructions. It is important that enough time is given for students to form effective working groups and to then complete the tasks allowed them.
  • Keeping groups small: To ensure active participation from students, it is better to keep groups small. The creation of groups can be part of the allocated tasks, and a learning opportunity if done well. Forming groups in a MOOC is much more problematic, both because of the sheer volume of students, and because many of the students will not follow a MOOC in a linear way.
  • Close monitoring and support: Students invariably need help from time to time and the facilitator should be readily available for answering any queries. With online learning their are many options for communicating with students both publicly and privately, whichever is the most appropriate. Support is not possible 24/7 (although many students assume it is!), and so there should be clear guidance about the support available and expectations around response times.
  • Defining guidelines for participation: Students may require guidelines, or 'ground rules' about working in groups, in much the same way as we would do for classroom-based activities. As already mentioned, there goes need to be time and space for groups to come together and to work together. With asynchronous communication this may take longer than we think. When I am facilitating collaborative work, I allow groups to develop their own communication channels outside of the VLE if that suits them better, but I do ask for a synopsis to be posted where I can see and comment.
  • Devising activities relevant to the topic: Collaborative approaches are based on the constructivist model (see below) which requires tasks to be meaningful, and situated as closely to the real world as possible (depending on the topic). Often it is easier to allow students to create topic areas of interest to them than to 'invent' ones that they do not engage with.

Constructivism

"Constructivism is now one of the dominant pedagogies used in education. It encourages learners to build their own knowledge based on individual experience and apply this directly to their environment. The focus is on learning rather than teaching, with the individual at the centre of a social process. Constructivism is often considered the ideal pedagogy for eLearning as it both draws upon the strengths of the medium and best overcomes it weaknesses:

  • constructivist pedagogy sees the learner at the centre of the learning experience rather than the tutor. In the eEnvironment it is difficult to maintain the traditional role of the tutor, but more than that, that Internet forces the student to actively engage in their learning and gives them such a degree of choice – of what to study, where to study, how to study and with whom. It is thus accelerating the process of placing the student at the centre of the learning experience.
  • constructivist pedagogy sees knowledge being built and applied according to individual experience. eLearning enables context-based, work-based learning.
  • with the learner at the centre of the learning experience, students need to take responsibility for the learning. Online technologies easily allow students to record and reflect upon their learning.
  • constructivist pedagogy sees the learner as an active participant in their learning experience rather than a passive vessel to be filled with information. eLearning forces learners to be adventurers seeking out information, making connections and building knowledge.
  • constructivism sees learning as a social experience, hence dialogue and collaboration are crucial. eLearning easily enables communication between learners without the barriers of time and place" (Paurelle, 2003).

Collaborative Learning in eLearning

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References and Reading

Palloff, RM. & Pratt, K. (2005) Collaborating Online: Learning Together in Community. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass