Collaborative Learning Environments

Collaborative Learning Environments Jaunine Fouche Igino Sabucco Rebecca Streetman Cory Valentine EDUC 730 Dr. Holder Liberty University Summer 2011

Collaborative Environments • “Collaborative environments are online spaces where the focus is on making it easy to collaborate and work in groups, no matter where the participants may be” Horizon Report 2010 K-12 Edition

Why Collaborate? • Students and teachers are now interacting from different locations at different times • Studies suggest that seeing and reading other group members’ ideas is thought to lead to mutual cognitive stimulation • There are indicators that this style of learning better reflects the real-world business environment; thus, it prepares students for the workplace • global organizations working across time zones • strict deadlines in the business world

Theoretical Impact • Dewey • Reflective inquiry • Community • Vygotsky • Knowledge construction occurs through reflective thinking • Communication and collaboration with others

Socialization • Pre-requisite for effective collaboration • Also the outcome of collaboration • Persistent throughout entire process • Studies indicate that a simple icebreaker at the beginning of the process may not be sufficient in developing and maintaining mutual trust and social presence

Theoretical Framework Community of Inquiry (COI)

Explanation for Framework • Prior research focused only on social presence • Teaching and learning elements must be included as well

Knowledge Creation Process • Socialization • Externalization • Combination • Internalization

Elements of a CLE • Different verbiage within literature, but all agree that certain elements should be evaluated: • Individual participation • Interaction among group members • Social cues • Cognitive skills • Meta-cognitive skills & knowledge

How to Structure Collaborative Environments • In order to be effective, teachers should structure CLEs to include: • Basic clarifications and identification of relevant elements (the problem is identified) • In-depth clarifications where a deeper understanding of the problem is established • Inference where deductions are made in regards to solving the problem • Judgment where the decision has been made • Applications where action occurs

Designed with Assessment in Mind • Teachers should design CLEs so that results can be easily translated into quantitative indicators • Easy to acquire • Avoid delays in mail delivery • Easy to process • Needs to allow for immediate feedback

Specifics • Teachers should not just look at participation alone: • Extent of participation • Attitude • Extent of roles • Rhythm (regular participation) • Reciprocal readings • Depth development • Responsiveness to contributions • conclusiveness

The Missing Pieces • Much of the literature suggests assigning roles to group members: • “there is a clear benefit to having a defined management structure, with a precise division of tasks” (Gosper, McNeill, & Woo, 2010) • the project “in this case would have clearly identified roles for easy allocation according to member strengths” (Jones, 2010) • But none of the literature we found indicates how to go about structuring those groups

Elements of an Effective Group • Comfortable social atmosphere • Regular group involvement from all members • Consideration of other group members

Blended Format • Some of the literature indicates that the most successful CLEs consists of a good mix of the following: • Face-to-face meetings • Online collaboration • Asynchronous discussions

Face-to-Face (F2F) • Something worth noting is that the literature actually indicates that a blended format is best. • Studies have shown that F2F meetings at certain phases are critical • Synchronous interactions add a human touch that can be missed otherwise

Evolving Process • Also consistent throughout the literature is the fact that establishing success factors does not happen automatically nor is it predetermined at the onset of a project. They must be nurtured in order to evolve throughout the process and are based on the dedication and cooperation of all team members.

Teacher’s Role • Establish clear indicators of success • Distribute information to students on a regular basis • Provide individualized responses to bridge gaps • Assist in creating mutual trust among all students • Identify experts within each group • Ensure participation and interactivity

Initiating the Project • Determine the nature and scope of project • Understand environment • Identify students and their expectations (know your customer) • Establish diverse groups • Have clearly defined goals and align these with agendas • Strict deadlines should be built into the project

A Teacher’s Work is Never Done • An effective teacher should monitor throughout the entire process • Identify risk factors and develop strategies to manage these risks • Utilize tools which are equipped with effective interaction management scaffolds (monitoring instruments)

Misconceptions

Trouble-Shooting • If there are problems within a group, the instructor may need to step in • Send encouraging messages • Identify obstacles that may be preventing participation • Rotate roles within group

Project Management Methodology • Plan • Execute • Monitor • Problem-solve • Closure

Incorporating Technology • Consistently, throughout the literature, studies have proven that technologies play a major role in contributing to the success of CLEs • Helps to facilitate regular communication • Overcomes distance barriers • Keeps instructors up-to-date on progress

Selecting Technology Tools • Teachers must carefully select the technology tools to be used • Should be driven by the needs of the learner and context of learning • Should be designed to help students scaffold each other’s learning • Cost of technology (purchases, maintenance, security) should not compromise availability of support staff

Technology for CLEs

Key Technologies • Virtual Environments • Shared Document Editors • Social Media • Collaborative Multimedia

Virtual Environments • Collaborative Virtual Environments (CVEs) provide virtual space in which users can collaborate and interact through avatars in computer simulated environments. • Examples: Second Life, Active Worlds, and Whyville

Second Life • New York middle school students entered Second Life to create avatars based on characters from a novel about the American Revolution. After the design and description of their avatars, they interacted with characters from other novels. • (Weir, n.d)

Pros & Cons • Benefits • Cross-cultural interaction increases intersubjectivity • Students engage more freely in CVEs, pool knowledge and resources within the group context, and create final products with contain fewer errors • Most CVE allow groups to meet in private learning areas • Challenges • Time constraints • In some cases, students felt learning to navigate CVE difficult and distracting from the learning process

Shared Document Editors • Shared document editors allow for collaboration on single products. • Examples: Google Docs, EtherPad, wikis, and group blogging

Showdocument.com This shared document editor exemplifies some of the key features of this type of technology. http://www.tothetech.com/tools-and-utilities/online-file-sharing-and-net-meeting-in-one-place.html

Pros & Cons • Benefits • Production of higher quality documents • Increased student engagement and reflection • Challenges • Reluctance to edit another user’s work • Students with higher digital competence felt more positive about the technology than those with less digital competence

Social Media • Social media facilitates the connection to like-minded users and the sharing of knowledge across distances. • Examples: Video conferencing (Skype, Google video chat); and FaceBook, Ning, and Google+

Real-time Communication Using Skype Sharing vital information with incoming students on facebook http://blogs.miis.edu/recruiting/2010/03/02/new-facebook-group-for-incoming-students/

Pros & Cons • Benefits • Online social interaction engages cognitive processes with potential to advance academic achievement • Video conferencing provides real-time, “face-to-face” interaction • Social media sites allow students to interact with those of like educational interests through “groups” • Challenges • Legal issues arise regarding the public sharing of student information • The “social” aspect of social media can be a distraction from the learning process

Collaborative Multimedia • Technology that allows the creation of products expressing content through video, audio, graphics, and other digital media. • Glogster and TeacherTube/Youtube

Digital Posters This glog about the “Sharks of Virginia” includes interactive images that link users to a website providing more information about each shark.

Pros & Cons • Benefits • Creative expression and blending of content through various forms of multimedia • Challenges • Accessibility and site navigation

Assessment in CLEs

Types of Assessment • General types: • Assessment of the CLE itself • Student self-assessment • Peer to peer assessment • Instructor to student assessment • All are important, but the last three are most critical to evaluate learning

Engaging Students • Engagement is: • critical to effective CLEs in which deep learning occurs (Community of Inquiry model) • enhanced when assessment is used • drops off when assessment is over

Effective Assessments • Assessing learning: • Process (measure of purposeful collaboration skills) • Product (measure of co-created content) • Most effective assessment is: • Varied (form./summ. and types) • Timely • Consists of feedback (targeted, constructive, substantive) and grades • Has numerous opportunities for self, peer, and instructor components

Benefits • Assessment is easier in CLE because: • Interactions within the CLE are trackable • Data collection methods and programs can be used to analyze interaction patterns and responses • Conventional assessment results (e.g. – tests, quizzes) can be given to students automatically and immediately • “tools and resources [in CLE] provide an easier and more effective system to conduct problem-based assessment because of the emphasis on interactive, formative and continuous assessment” (Moallem, 2009)

Example of Measurement Tool

Drawbacks • Assessment is harder in CLE because: • Interactions outside of the CLE are not trackable • More difficult to assess equality of contributions • Authentic, problem-based assessment requires: • Formative as well as summative components • Additional time on part of instructor • Use of philosophical constructs, instructional components, & assessment strategies that instructor may not be familiar with or comfortable using • Rubric creation is much more complex

Gaps & Future Research • Gaps and areas for future research: • Peer assessment empirical studies in educational contexts are rare; makes designing more effective peer assessment challenging (Van Zundert, Sluijsmans, & Van Merriënboer, 2010) • Processes and terminology regarding assessment components and designs are yet to be agreed upon across the literature

Gaps & Future Research • Gaps and areas for future research: • Parallel research is needed in related fields to bolster findings and deepen understanding • Assessment is limited by currently used formats that assign “jobs” or “job descriptions” to students; If roles were able to be left more open-ended, and students would still engage, more authentic assessment scenarios with shared responsibility may occur – true collaboration & self-regulation

Gaps & Future Research • Gaps and areas for future research : • Methods for assessing deep learning may conflict with current focus in education • closed product vs. open-ended inquiry/problem-solving • Assessment for learning vs. assessment for grading • Studies that explore student engagement and its impact on the quality of peer assessment are needed (e.g. - motivational, emotional, competency); these factors may be difficult to study empirically; may need qualitative studies

Gaps & Future Research • Gaps and areas for future research: • Impact of self- and co-regulation on assessment performance (process and product outcomes) quality needs to be examined • Underlying theoretical framework (e.g. – CoI) research is needed to better explain interaction of learner presence and assessment performance (process and product outcomes) quality

Collaborative Learning Environments

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