Collaboration in an Online Environment

Devon Rein & Bill Phillips, Course Development and Web Services

How do you create collaboration in an online environment and what tools are available?

Collaboration has been defined as "... any activity in which two or more people work together to create meaning, explore a topic, or improve skills"

(Harasim, L, Hiltz, S., Teles, L., & Turoff, M., Learning Networks, Cambridge, MA, MIT Press, p. 30, 1995.)

Today’s session will focus on 3 types of online collaboration:

  • Student-to-Student Collaboration
  • Student-to-Faculty Collaboration
  • Student-to-Subject Matter Collaboration

The research tells us that while you can gain certain benefits from practicing with interactive learning software such as WebCT, you don't improve your competence without a great deal of human interaction.

Distance learners may quickly become isolated, without the usual social support systems found in on-campus or face to face instruction. Distance learners must be more motivated than on-campus students in order to cope with the constraints and limitations of the relatively impersonal instruction that occurs via distance education technologies. Therefore, it seems crucial to complement delivery of instruction by distance education technologies with electronic means for students to support and communicate with each other. Students need a software environment that lets them do more than just exchange e-mail notes. They need a way to work together on problems and to produce, as a group, some kind of cohesive deliverable product, which might be in the form of a group plan, research project, report, or case study, for example (Klemm, 1998).

Students' perceptions of course interactions can influence their assessment of online course quality (Klesius, Homan, and Thompson, 1997; Zirkin and Sumler 1995).Studies suggest that students who succeed in an online course do so because the course allows them to be active participants (Verneil and Berge 2000) and promotes collaborative learning (Miller and Miller 1999; Berge 1995). Fulford and Zhang (1993) found that students who perceive a course to be highly interactive will derive more satisfaction from the instruction than students who perceive the course to be less interactive (Mabrito, 2002).

Student to Student or Faculty to Student Interactivity

Student to Student

/

Faculty to Student

  • Create Community
  • Problem Solving
  • Content Discussion
  • Assignments
  • Share Resources
  • Group Projects
  • Study Groups
  • Self Assessment
/
  • Build Community
  • Monitor Performance
  • Provide Feedback
  • Anticipate Actions
  • Engage Student
  • Decrease Isolation

Tools for Online Interaction:

WebCT: Course Mail Discussion Board

Chat Whiteboard

eCommunity: Up-to-date email list Biographical sketches

Pictures File sharing/portfolio

Other:

  • Yahoo: Chat, group chat, video conferencing (audio and video), and file sharing (
  • MSN: Chat, group chat, and e-mail

(

  • AOL Instant Messenger: Chat, group chat, audio conferencing, file sharing (

Student-to-Subject Matter Collaboration (other universities, businesses, and professionals)

Ideas for collaboration projects:

  • Guest Lecturers – WebCT Chat and Discussions
  • (SM) Experts – WebCT Discussions and Chat

Fostering Collaboration

  • Having a good set of tools (WebCT) and a better set of rules for using the tools (Protocols) is critical
  • A sense of community and some basic knowledge about fellow students – WebCT Discussions or eCommunity
  • One method of stimulating this process is the posting of a public introduction and basic bio by the instructor and all of the students as an initial requirement of the course. An advantage is the rapid feedback that all the students are in the right course and capable of posting a comment.
  • Have students take a personality test and then post findings in discussion area. Helps students get to know each other in a silly relaxed atmosphere. (personality tests)
  • The ongoing discussion – WebCT Discussions
  • after an initial start by the instructor, the students continue a discussion on their own, optimally creating new related discussion threads.
  • Encourage students to answer each other's questions
  • Make it clear that participating in discussions will be considered in determining grades can be helpful.
  • let go of control and avoid dominating the discussion. Many instructors have difficulty making the transition from complete control of the classroom to monitoring unobtrusively.
  • The debate is a collaborative learning tool that can be used in the
  • Students are divided into groups and assigned opposite sides of an argument to defend.
  • The students do not need to agree with the argument, and may learn more from defending a viewpoint they disagree with than from one they endorse.
  • Group projects are another method that can be used to foster collaborative learning.
  • Students can be divided into manageable groups to collaborate on a project.
  • Some difficulties are likely with group projects such as unequal participation, varying skills throughout the group, and disagreement about organization and content.
  • This is much like the real world, and working through these difficulties is extremely educational in itself.
  • A group paper can be assigned when the proper tools are available.
  • Each student can be assigned to write a portion of the paper. They can then actively merge the sections together or appoint an editor to do the assembly.
  • This usually involves more cooperation and participation than simple group projects, and sufficient time to complete the project must be allotted.
  • Other collaborative learning tools involve group tests, group stories, role playing and synchronous group activities.
  • Group voting activities and group list creation activities.
  • In group voting activities a set of choices are presented and the class or a group within it vote on the importance, order, or make similar selections from the choices. Participants can then make comments advocating their selections and try to convince others to support their selections.
  • In group list creation the class or group create the initial list and then debate upon the importance or order of the items on the list.

References

Eight Ways to Get Students More Engaged in On-line Conferences

Collaboration Tools in Online Learning Environments

Harasim, L., Hiltz, S., Teles, L., & Turoff, M., Learning Networks, Cambridge, MA, MIT Press, p. 30, 1995.)