Module 2 Blog
Collaborative Interaction
When I think of communication in a distance learning situation compared to that of a regular classroom. I think that there are infinitely more possibilities. I remember teaching in at a community college, and it would always seem like a discussion would really take off – and then class would be over. Or, there were three or four students who came to class and did good work, but never said much. There was always some collaboration, but nothing like what I have experienced in a distance learning format online.
For example, there are tools like Skype and Instant Messager which allows students to talk online synchronously, and allows for more interaction. In addition, there are wikis, blogs, email, and discussion boards to further communicate amongst peers and collaborate on assignments. There are also audio and video blogs for collaboration, programs that allow groups to “co-browse” online, and tools for presenting and sharing documents online.
Concept mapping online can also be used as a collaborative tool:
Concept mapping is a technique that can involve multiple parties, especially in the preliminary phase of collecting keywords regarding a particular text. In a brainstorming session, all participants are engaged in an activity that results in the creation of a list of keywords. Individually, each participant organizes the keywords in a map and then confronts them with the others. From the comparison, the individual can understand more about her own concept map, and modify it in order to be more comprehensive and thorough. Collaboration is achieved when each individual is able to criticize and modify her map by learning from others in the same group. (Cicognani, 2008, p. 155)
I think the level of online collaboration necessary to really reach the higher levels of thinking skills needs to be built around adapting some more traditional forms of lessons into the online format. If you can meet online and discuss, you should be able to meet online and create and collaborate.
Anderson, T. (Ed.) (2008). The Theory And Practice Of Online Learning (2nd ed.). Edmonton, AB: Athabasca University Press.
Best online collaboration tools of 2008. Retrieved on December 21, 2009 from http://www.mindmeister.com/maps/show_public/12213323
Cicognani , A. Concept Mapping as a collaborative tool for enhanced online learning. http://www.ifets.info/journals/3_3/b01.pdf
D. Oblinger, C, Barone, and B. Hawkins (2001). Distributed Education and Its Challenges: An Overview. Washington, D.C.: American Council on Education Center for Policy Analysis.
5 comments:
I am not in your assigned group, but someone in my 8442 group referred to your post so I looked at it.
You talked about how sometimes in a brick classroom that only a few would get involved in conversation but I guess you inferred that in the online world, more students tend to respond, therefore having a more indepth conversation. I have two questions, just asking for your perspective:
1. Do you think the "more apt to respond" online scenario is because it is required (e.g. we must respond to 2 blogs, 2 discussion posts, etc.)? Has the distance education world just learned how to 'prompt' (aka force) a response? What if the brick classroom discussions had the same requirements? Do you see where I'm going here . . . what are you thoughts?
2. Second question: What do you suppose it means, then, that people are more apt to respond online than "in person"? People tend to do and say things online that they wouldn't do face-to-face. Is that necessarily a good thing?
I'm not saying I'm against online learning and collaboration (obviously, because here I am in this Walden program). But I wonder if we push forward so fast and furiously with technnology that we forget to add a safety feature on guns, require use of seatbelts in cars, or put life jackets on young ones on a canoe in the water.
Koh
I think you hit on a very important issue - collaboration. As tools that allow for collaboration like Wikis, blogs, and nings and including tools like Google Docs, collaboration can play a stronger role in more education. Collaboration is a great thing when you can get opinions and ideas from someone half-way around the globe from yourself. Think about it, a fourth grade class in the US could collaborate with another fourth grade class in Germany on a book they have read, or a similar project. We have it already at the post-grad level but to implement it with younger students could be just as valuable.
Whether we are "encouraging" collaboration and contributions by making it required or not, I think only positive things can come from requiring students to be responsible for their learning. I don't see any down side to requiring participation. This is a factor of accountability that I love as as educator. You don't always count on the kid who raises their hand to give the answer, every hand is expected to have and supply an answer. LOVE IT!
Jeannine
Rachel--You discuss an interesting topic; which is collaborative concept mapping. Your post puts this phenomenon into perspective. I envision this as the manner by which the semantic net will ultimately be derived; that we will hopefully define key tags for and metadata for the data stored on the Web so that repositories everywhere can be searched and interact with intelligent agents to find the data requested by the user. Likewise, by using collaborative concept mapping as an exercise in DE, I believe this technique could realize an "ultimate" collaborative effort assuming everyone participates. That is, as you note, the definition and derivation of a theme/topic is iteratively refined by all participants until a final product is realized under the collaborate efforts and agreement by all participants. Thanks for your thoughts, they have invoked quite a thought process on this end.
Shane.
I know I am more apt to respond in this format because I feel like when I want to say something, I get to say it. When I don't want to say it, or I don't want to respond to someone, I don't feel pressured to do so.
I know in reality its not a good thing - for anyone. I should say more and be more vocal at work in meetings and discussion and I don't, because most of the time there is a person or to who tend to be the "bully" of the group, and shoot down any idea you throw out, or the person who the boss always sides with regardless of the argument made. After years of fighting this, in particular in some classes while I was doing my masters, I had some miserable experiences with this.
I agree as well that we tend to, in terms of technology, focus on what we can do and not what we should do and neglect obviously important aspects. I work in a district that loves to buy technology, but most of the time neglects putting in the time and effort to help us effectively use it so after the fad has passes it sits in a closet collecting dust.
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