Improving learning environments through whole-school collaborative action research

Learning Environments Research - The focus of professional learning on activities has changed to internal growth or change among teachers. Our 3-year whole-school collaborative action research was...     

Applying collaborative cognitive load theory to computer-supported collaborative learning: towards a research agenda

Educational technology research and development - Research on computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) has traditionally investigated how student-, group-, task-, and technological...     

Building interfaces for on-line collaborative learning

For several years we have been engaged in the development and research of software environments for collaborative learning, for example in the recently completed CoLabs project (which we presented at the IFIP TC3 WG3.5 working conference in Budapest in 2004, see also http://matchsz.inf.elte.hu/Colabs/), also within lately defended long-range doctoral research, in which the co-author of this paper together with his undergraduate students had developed and evaluated cooperative computer activities for children aged 10 to 18. They observed children when using those environments and studied the influence of different approaches and solutions on the degree of their involvement and will to cooperate. We have also been involved in the London Knowledge Lab pilot project for developing a collaborative layered learning space travel games construction kit. Our department’s prior engagement in the development of collaborative activities also includes publishing a popular on-line journal (developed by A. Hrusecka and D. Lehotska, this on-line journal (in Slovak) can proudly boast up to 250,000 visits per month) for children, which intensively exploits on-line collaboration. This topic attracts us not only as a support for the learning process, but is a challenge for us as developers of educational programming tools as well. In our SuperLogo and Imagine environments we have always tried to provide users (ranging from children to developers) with new and powerful options to foster learning by exploring and developing. Thus we have equipped Imagine with the means for building objects and their behaviours in incremental loops, with parallel independent processes, event-driven programming and complex yet intuitive support for developing on-line environments for collaborative learning. In this paper we place our collaborative applications in the context of other related interfaces reported in literature. We use eight criteria to classify them and conclude that collaborative applications being developed by us and our students—future teachers—are distinguishable from others along two or three of those criteria: they combine in themselves typical features of Logo microworlds and inspiring support for on-line cooperation. We then analyze in detail our collaborative Imagine microworlds along four dimensions of their development. We specify means for establishing and maintaining on-line connection among any number of participants. We study tools for sending and receiving items (data, active characters with their behaviours, instructions etc.). We reflect on what can be shared by two or more participants in a collaborative activity. We examine all possible operations with common and private characters of a participant from the collaboration point of view. Our goals in this research and development are to:

1. Better understand potential the interfaces for on-line collaboration offer to support the learning process,
2. Place our Imagine Logo microworlds into context of other related applications,
3. Build a detailed map of all aspects important for their development (i.e., build a framework for the development),
4. Present the observations from our long-range experimental development and evaluation of the collaborative environments,
5. Point out how simple and natural it is (in the academic surroundings) to develop small and yet powerful collaborative microworlds—built for instance for immediate need in a classroom—with exceptional potential for interaction and openness.

Most of all, however, we want to motivate the endeavour to overcome all obstacles connected with the integration of on-line cooperation into children’s learning.     

基于网络的协作式虚拟学习环境设计

本文探讨了设计网络协作学习时虚拟学习环境的重要性，具体阐述了如何创设网络协作学习的虚拟学习环境．并且从三个方面提出了虚拟学习环境创设的原则。     

The classroom group work for collaborative learning

This paper addresses the issues in the field of collaborative learning,and put its stress on the classroom group work for collaborative learning.The way to deal with group work and teacher's role in the process will also be discussed.     

A flexible framework for online collaborative learning

This paper presents a framework for online collaborative learning, also known as telecollaboration. At the centre of this flexible framework are online collaborative educational experiences where knowledge creation and knowledge in action are the nexus of social, teaching and cognitive presence based on the Community of Inquiry model of Garrison, Anderson and Archers [Garrison, D.R., Anderson, T., and Archer, W. (1999). Critical thinking in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher education. Internet and Higher Education, 2(2–3), 87–105]. The framework provided should guide educators as they design, develop and implement authentic educational experiences within local, national or international settings in partnership with other educational stakeholders.     

基于信息技术环境协作学习教学模式的研究

随着我国教育信息化的推进和以多媒体技术和网络技术为核心的信息技术在教学中的广泛应用,教育方式发生了重大的变革,而协作学习作为一个新兴的学习方式,受到了人们极大的关注,成为全球教育研究的热点问题之一,而且越来越向更人性化和深入研究的方向发展。本文对基于信息技术环境协作学习教学模式的理论基础、教学模式和应用策略等方面进行了探讨。     

Monitoring collaborative activities in computer supported collaborative learning

Monitoring the learning process in computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environments is a key element for supporting the efficacy of tutor actions. This article proposes an approach for analysing learning processes in a CSCL environment to support tutors in their monitoring tasks. The approach entails tracking the interactions within the communication platform to identify cues of the participative, social, cognitive, and teaching dimensions of the learning process. Both quantitative and qualitative indicators are employed to achieve a complete and thorough picture of the learning dynamics. A set of methodological and technological tools based on this approach has been tried out in the context of the online component of a blended course in educational technology addressing trainee teachers. The results of the study support the applicability of the proposed approach to content domains where discussion and reflective practice are the most effective learning strategy.     

Student learning performance in online collaborative learning

Education and Information Technologies - Online collaborative learning (OCL) has received significant attention, but the ultimate goal of adopting OCL is neglected, especially in higher education...     

Computer support for knowledge communication in science exhibitions: Novel perspectives from research on collaborative learning

In this article, the potentials of advanced technologies for learning in science exhibitions are outlined. For this purpose, we conceptualize science exhibitions as dynamic information space for knowledge building which includes three pathways of knowledge communication. This article centers on the second pathway, that is, knowledge communication among visitors. We argue that advanced technologies have specific potentials to support all forms of visitor-to-visitor knowledge communication and, furthermore, allow for new forms of knowledge communication among unacquainted visitors and beyond the actual museum visit. We discuss mechanisms of collaborative learning with regard to their relevance for visitor-to-visitor knowledge communication and present prototypical advanced media applications in science exhibitions that address these mechanisms. This article both contributes to our understanding of collaborative learning in science exhibitions and the support advanced technologies can provide for visitor-to-visitor knowledge communication in science exhibitions.     

Challenges for collaborative blended learning in undergraduate students

This study reports a quasi-experiment in collaborative blended learning (CBL) with undergraduate students who, despite being in a world-leading, enriched digital environment, were new to collaboration and CBL. The mixed-methods research found that only small improvements to students’ CBL took place over time, and explanations for this are proffered. The study found that the students needed specific and intensive instruction, practice, and development in how to collaborate, both with and without blended learning. Students discovered and appreciated the benefits, pitfalls, and challenges to collaboration and CBL largely by doing it: learning from experience. Collaboration and CBL do not release teachers from their instructional and pedagogical roles; rather, they place teachers and face-to-face instruction and practice in collaboration and CBL in classrooms, at the heart of effective practice and improvements here. Implications for teaching are suggested.     

Children's views of collaborative learning

Collaborative learning is a widely used and popular strategy in many primary schools. In this article, the authors review the nature and purpose of collaborative learning and present a summary of how one small group of Year 5/6 children view its effectiveness.