Collaborative Learning

The technological advances of the 21^st century have redefined education and triggered a shift in pedagogies towards e-learning. Teaching – and learning – is no longer confined to the physical classroom, nor is the way in which students interact. Thus, in the past seven weeks of this semester I have been able to communicate with my fellow peers digitally by commenting on their blogs and replying to their feedback on my own.

Benefits/Successes:

As identified by Maryellen Weimer (2013), collaborative learning can be extremely beneficial in developing particular skills in students, such as:

• They can learn content, as in master the material
• They can learn content at those deeper levels we equate with understanding
• They can learn how groups function productively
• They can learn why groups make better decisions than individuals
• They can learn how to work with others

These results can be achieved by either ‘collaborative’ or ‘cooperative’ learning. The difference between the two is as follows:

“Cooperate: the process of working together to the same end.”

“Collaborate: to work jointly on an activity to produce or create something.” (Morrison, 2012)

Sourced from: https://www.tumblr.com/search/dead+poets+society

I know from my interaction with other peers and blogs that participation in group work – whether it be collaborative or cooperative – creates a deeper connection with content, and therefore improves our individual understanding of a topic. This allows students to improve, as the viewing of others blogs has the potential to reveal the areas in which one is lacking or has an overabundance. Comments also allow for suggestions or ways in which the technology discussed could be used differently, which is useful in a profession such as teaching.

For example, my Presentation Tools post stated that a drawback of PowerPoint was that students could skip ahead. Dana, however, made a helpful comment that there are programs which can inhibit this. Not only have I learned something new, but it is available for future reference.

Thus, one of the major successes of online collaboration has been the new information I have gleaned from other blogs. I now have an arsenal of digital tools to wield in my profession.

I also found that online engagement with others improved interaction in the physical classroom, as we discussed the blogs, their content and upcoming topics in tutorials on campus. The benefits of online collaboration, then, will undoubtedly improve student contact within the classroom.

Drawbacks/Failures:

While online collaboration has many benefits, it also suffers from drawbacks.

•  The possibility of plagiarism
• The potential of technology failing (eg. a wrongly embedded PowerPoint)
• The possibility of forgetting to reply to a comment
• The loss of tone (potential for misinterpretation)

Another drawback/failure of this task was the limitation of interaction, as it can be very time consuming. The expectation to read multiple blogs and leave a reasonable response on each can be overwhelming for many. Besides, the interaction that did occur was limited due to the Blogger platform; the author of the blog replying to a comment does not alert the visitor, therefore leaving the chances of further engagement slim.

Experiences and outcomes of my limited online collaboration:

There are multiple advantages associated with an online learning community, both for myself as a teacher and my future students. My experience with online collaboration via these blogs has aided me in developing many outcomes, such as:

• Improving my social networks
•  Increase in information retention
• Exposure to diverse perspectives
• Increase in higher-level thinking
• Increase in creativity

These outcomes, in conjunction with my experiences, will aid me in my e-learning design. Having partaken in such an exercise will allow me to choose pedagogical contributors which will enhance my students learning. These social network contributors may include:

• Email
• Shared whiteboard
• Discussion forum
• Publication (Blogger)
• Groupware (Google Docs)
  
  (Anderson, T. & Dron, J., 2014, p. 11 – 15).

I chose these particular contributors as they all allow for student collaboration or cooperation and the ability to share information in a myriad of ways. Since all of the aforementioned tools support both synchronous interaction (real-time communication) and asynchronous interaction (available for a later viewing), it is possible to establish a classroom and pedagogy in which group work, and exposure to a diverse range of perspectives, is encouraged (Anderson, T. & Dron, J., 2014). These forms of online learning communities offer the advantages discussed in Benefits, as well as ways to improve student engagement.

References

Anderson, T. &. (2014). Teaching Crowds: Learning and Social Media. Athabasca, Canada: Athabasca University Press.

Morrison, D. (2012, April 27). Online Groups - Cooperative or Collaborative? Retrieved from Online Learning Insights: https://onlinelearninginsights.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/online-groups-cooperative-or-collaborative/

Weimer, M. (2013, March 20). Five Things Students Can Learn through Group Work. Retrieved from Faculty Focus: http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-professor-blog/five-things-students-can-learn-through-group-work/