Learning in Collaborative Settings

This week's readings centered on learning in collaborative settings. In the 4 studies that I read there are important lessons that can be learned and generated to all virtual learning communities

Theoretical constructs

Collaborative settings are a way to move from a transfer of knowledge model to a constructionist model of learning.

To learn a person must be able to 1), Direct their own work, and two have the ability to work with others.

Collaborative learning communities allow people to develop skills needed to empower them to be successful.

Objectives

Ideally the following things should occur in a collaborative setting

• The learning is understanding focused rather than task focused
  
• Discussion should be generated by the learners rather than a response to teacher generated questions
  
• Participants find meaningful resources to get learning materials rather than reciting from classroom textbooks
  
• The outcome is to develop a deep understanding rather than memorizing facts
  

Challenges

Problems that can occur in online classroom collaborative activities

• Collaboration – discussion content is repeated from the text, students do enough to meet the requirements, but no more
  
• Rather than making reflective comments students make superficial comments such as, good work, I liked that, or pointing out spelling errors
  
• Students are not experts and may not provide helpful feedback
  
• Students sometimes start out with underdeveloped ideas that are more like a list of topics than a true question that can be researched and collaborated on.
  

Strategies

How teachers can help facilitate discussion that meets the objectives of what should occur in a collaborative online setting

• Provide guidance with the construction of the initial portion of the project to make sure the discussion begins in the right direction
  
• Encourage students to ask questions and then gather the resources to discuss and make conclusion before looking at the research materials.
  
• Provide guidelines for the expectations of the finished product
  
• Provide guidelines for the expectations of collaborative comments
  
• Stress to students the importance of understanding
  
• Recognize that novices to the subject matter are going to need more scaffolding than more advanced groups
  

Online learning communities offer a medium for learning that has benefits that cannot be achieved in other mediums. Developing a meaningful online learning community takes a special skill set.

Responses to Week 2 Blogs

Power of Virtual Communities
The Times articles talk about Web 2.0 tools. Educators who teach in the online environment need to be aware of all of the tools as well as the positives and negatives of each one of them. Awareness of technology allows an instructor to design engaging content. Educators have to use technology wisely. Using tools for the sake of using technology without sound pedagogy is probably not a good way to master content and frustrating to students. Keeping up with tools is a part of being an effective online instructor.

Everyone is an Expert?
I don't know that reading things on the Internet can ever be a substitute for actual experience. The Internet can be a great way to stay informed and to engage and support education.

What will Education Look Like in the Future?
I think education will continue to evolve with more flexibility in how and when courses are offered. Blended courses are becoming more popular. Colleges are working on rolling start and end dates, Students will be expected to be more active in the pursuit of knowledge. Assessment is going more towards portfolio and competency based assessment rather than traditional exams at regular intervals.

Learning in Cyberspace and Finding the Tools for A Knowledge Building Community

One of the most interesting things about these two articles was the discussion of how learning occurs and how this relates to learning online. "Further, there has been a growing awareness that information does not necessarily lead to knowledge. Until information has been comprehended and interrupted to the point that it can be applied is not knowledge." The example that supports this is the study of the copy machine technicians that demonstrated that the most effective training they received was talking to other technicians informally. To me this illustrates the need for sound curriculum design. Students must be presented with information that they can apply or they probably will not retain. Cyber learning and collaboration can be a powerful tool but the collaboration has to go beyond the superficial. Participants must be active members of the learning community. Exchanges must be a give and take. It takes skill to design a course that facilitates this type of learning.

Building Social Networks Via Computer Networks

My how things change! This article was written eight to ten years ago and I it really shows. Socially networking has exploded in the last 5 years. The article in the textbook seems to be looking at social interactions in an online class as a type of social network. According to Wikipedia, "A social network is a social structure made of individuals (or organizations) called "nodes," which are tied (connected) by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige". In today's world I don't think communication in an online courses in a college course is considered a social network. Online courses often attempt to develop a sense of community, but they are not what I would consider a social network. The article does explain the concept of nodes. The tem nodes is also included in the Wikipedia definition. This just means people or organizations tied together by a social network. It appears the concept of nodes and relations are still viable, it is just funny to me that the examples in the text apply these to online classes rather than to social networks that are in place where participation is not tied to getting a grade.

Social network. (2010, January 27). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 02:03, February 5, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Social_network&oldid=340301206

Evolution of Online Education Community of Practice

A CoP is a Community of Practice. Tapped In is a virtual community that went online in 1997 through a grant from the National Science Foundation. It is still in existence today and would probably be another good source for the case study project in this class. May of the original features of Tapped in that were in pace when the initial article was written are still in place today including teacher office space, meeting rooms, new, a place to find resources, and a place to collaborate with other professionals. The emphasis of the project was built on Teacher Professional Development (TPD). I think this project was successful as the staff analyzed the needs and values of the users. Personally I can relate to the concept of CoP. One of my primary means for getting information about the LMS that I support and ideas for online pedagogy is through an electronic mailing list. I am part of a very active community that shares resources. I get many emails a day. Some I have immediate interest in, most I delete knowing that if I do need the knowledge I can search the archives and go back to the threads. I do agree that virtual communities work only if you have groups of people who are willing too to take the time to contribute to the body of knowledge. I believe that professionals will commit to a virtual CoP that they can find useful and validating.

Learning in the Virtual Community Depends on Changes in Local Communities

This article was particularly interesting to me. I began working for Tulsa Community College in 1996. Somewhere around 1998 I got the opportunity to go and learn more about the Internet, computers, and how to use these tools in the classroom. The center I went to was called the 8^th floor. It was located on the 8^th floor of the administrative offices of Tulsa Community College and Tulsa Technology Center. All of the local colleges and school districts could send x number of teachers per month for training. I am not sure about the names of the two workshops I participated in but one involved basic skills such as PowerPoint, Photoshop, Netscape Composer, and maybe some Word tips. There was also some pedagogical training. The second workshop I went to was more advanced. It might have been called Lead Teacher training. In this workshop you learned more advanced ways to use the Internet to enhance you teaching. All of the participants made a Unit of Practice. We developed a web page for students to access the materials. The page was hosted on the server of the 8^th floor center. The second training was part of a telecommunications grant. After I completed my unit of practice a representative from the 8^th floor came to my classroom and observed me explaining it to my students. It does seem like there may have been an emphasis on sharing content with outsiders. Reading this article made me think back to this experience. I think I was one of the teachers who were targeted to learn new ways to teach. It is very interesting to know that the initial goals and thoughts about teacher training were centered on collaboration. Like the majority of the people in the article I think was an early adopter of technology; I did not jump right into using the internet to collaborate but I did find lots of ways to improve my teaching and empower students to use the Internet to learn. The 8^th floor still exists today. I went on the website and the 8^th Floor now has 39 member schools. I think these schools pay money to support the center. I know the grant expired many years ago. I would like to know more about what grant it was that allowed me to have my initial training that in many ways put in motion my career change to instructional design.