Collaborative Learning Online and In-Class:

1. Collaborative Learning Online and In-Class: From Conveyance to Conversation and Solitude to Social Construction TCC 2009 Presenters: Marilyn Armstrong Ph.D. Candidate Linda Phillips Ph.D. Candidate University of South Florida, Tampa

2. Shared Future – Based on the theory to practice connection, what applications advance all collaborative learning venues? • Shared Challenge – Is theory important? If so, why? • Shared Function – What can be done to maximize potential? Presentation Overview TCC Conference 2009

3. Let’s Get Started . . . • When your colleagues say “theory” . . . • You say? (Write one-word responses below.) TCC Conference 2009

4. Is theory important? Malcolm Knowles Preeminent pioneer in education on theory – a “jungle” on theorists – an “egotistical lot” Kenneth Bruffee One’s belief on what knowledge is determines collaborativelearning’s potential in all venues. TCC Conference 2009

5. Theory is a tool to . . . • Organize repeated human patterns • Provide language to explain behavior • Enhance student learning outcomes TCC Conference 2009

6. A Shared Challenge – Knowledge determines where authority rests Conveyed • Is knowledge foundational? • Cognitive • Grounded in fact • Debatable positions are minimal to none • Centralized authority • Is knowledge non-foundational? • A social construct • A consensus amongst a community of peers • Outcomes or solutions seldom to never absolute • Distributed authority Constructed TCC Conference 2009

7. A Shared Challenge – Knowledge determines where authority rests Foundational Computer Uses • Objectivist – compile information from external sources • Subjectivist –aid students’ imagination/ability • Elisionist – promote interaction between students, software, & massive databases • Referential design – transmits or conveys information • Relational design – discourse based ona “language community’s agreed-upon understanding & convention” Non-Foundational Computer Uses TCC Conference 2009

8. Theory – It’s a jungle you can’t escape! Questions? TCC Conference 2009

9. Shared Function • Communication • Thinking • Writing • Speaking • Community • Language • Field of Interest • Set of Values • Beliefs & Opinions • Passion &Commitment TCC Conference 2009

10. The better we speak . . . The better we think . . . The better we write . . . The better community we build! Communication –Re-acculturative Conversation TCC Conference 2009

11. Community of knowledge peers • Criteria • Vocabulary • Field of Interest • Set of Values • Beliefs • Opinions • Passion • Commitment • Process - Shopkeeper A asks Shopkeeper B for help with floor displays • Embark on collaborative learning • Embrace criteria • Understand, agree, empathize, & disagree • Conflict leads to substantive dialogue and better learning TCC Conference 2009

12. Substantive Conversation “Students who benefit most from collaborative learning situations are those who encourage each other to justify their opinions, and articulate and explain their thinking. Active learning conversation skills (i.e. encourage, explain, justify, elaborate) describe the core communication activities of effective learning groups.” (Soller, 2001) TCC Conference 2009

13. Established Community & Acculturation *Knowledge already learned in the community from which each comes (i.e. family, neighborhood, clubs) Transition Communities *Facilitate for short time periods transfer to or addition of new communities *Often typified by stress & uncertainty *Require rules of engagement Boundary Conversation *Where established communities meet; *Also called translation communities *Participants use known terms, create, borrow, and use language indigenous to desired knowledge community *Where re-acculturation called “education” occurs facilitated by “teachers” Re-acculturation Transition Community

14. Bruffee (1999) “In short, collaborative learning is not just another arrow in a teacher’s quiver of pedagogical tricks. The understanding of knowledge and the authority of knowledge collaborative learning responds to requires . . . subordinating foundational teaching and transform it into an effective contribution to non-foundational teaching.” TCC Conference 2009

15. Conveyance to ConversationSolitude to Social Construction Questions? TCC Conference 2009

16. Crucial to Collaboration • Conversation • A socially interdependentenvironment • A distributedauthority TCC Conference 2009

17. Bruffee (1999) “From an educational (that is re-acculturative) perspective, software conversation and human conversation are correlative. Their relationship is mutually causal and complementary. Each initiates change in the other.” TCC Conference 2009

18. Focus on informed learning communities • Relationships among people beyond the computer Genuine Interaction • Away from “razzle dazzle” TCC Conference 2009

19. Empowering Learners • Nurture “re-acculturative conversation” • A non-foundational concept of knowledge • Understandpersonal theory • Share reigns ofauthority TCC Conference 2009

20. Conclusion • Build on theoretical frameworks • Model collaborative strategies • Provide tools to encourage social presence and meaningful conversation TCC Conference 2009

21. Discussion What are some ways technology can be used to maximize the connection of theory to practice in online collaborative learning? TCC Conference 2009