Description
Discussion: Learning From Others: Collaboration and Communication in eLearning
One of the challenges of eLearning is helping learners build rewarding learning experiences when they are at a distance from other students and faculty. This can be done in part by reducing feelings of isolation and creating a collaborative environment with a sense of community. In a society that highly values and rewards individual accomplishment, the value of collaborative work may sometimes be viewed with skepticism. Collaboration and communication do not naturally occur online or in face-to-face learning environments. In eLearning, it is especially important that instructors and designers help to build that community.
Online courses are excellent environments for collaboration and knowledge generation as they take advantage of the available web tools that enhance interaction at a distance. Jacobs and Ivone (2020) provide ideas for integrating cooperative learning into eLearning. For this Discussion, your goal is to determine the best method for collaborative learning by analyzing the article’s 11 questions.
To prepare:
View the interactive media piece in this module’s Learning Resources with a focus on the “Strategy” (royal blue) section.
Read Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning: Instructional Approaches, Group Processes and Educational Designs with a focus on the four CSCL models for promoting a collaborative environment. They are:
Face-to-Face, Synchronous CSCL
Synchronous Online CSCL
Blending Face-to-Face and Online Collaboration
CSCL with Web 2.0 Technologies
Read The Interpersonal Interaction in Computer Supported Collaborative Learning Environment, and reflect on the authors’ definition of CSCL, as a democratic mode of participation where everyone’s voice can be heard and is given equal standing.
By Day 7 of Week 5
Post the following:
Choose one of the four CSCL models to champion and advocate. Share what makes this the best model for collaborating with technology and the benefits it provides when compared with the other models.
Explain how you would integrate this model into an eLearning environment so that all learners’ voices can be heard and be given equal standing.
Defend your choice from personal experience, a learning theory, and at least one research study (PhD, EdD, and EdS students) or dissertation/project study (PhD and EdD students); include course resources as applicable.
