I am torn – these past two weeks we have taken a closer look at collaborative learning in a digital age. I have watched Kay Oddone explain the theory and practice behind PLNs (Personal Learning Networks) (PLNs Theory and Practice by Kay Oddone, part 1 & PLNs Theory and Practice by Kay Oddone, part 2), been told of different online collaborations such as Lego ideas (where anyone can submit an idea for a Lego product, which will be turned into a set available commercially if enough people vote for it) and read research on how to create successful online collaborations. After familiarizing myself with this latest topic, I now understand why this course (Open Network Learning) is structured the way it is. A lot of thought has gone into what we do and how we do it. At the same time, I can’t quite shake the feeling that learning in a PBL-group, at least to some extent, involves the blind leading the blind (maybe not completely blind but I certainly feel I have some visual defects…). But then again, I am a rookie and something I have learned these past two weeks is that it takes time to get collaborative learning right…

It is actually very hard to get it right. Certain factors need to be met for successful collaborative learning to take place. When presented with a group task, we tend to resort back to what we did in school and divide the work between us. Brindley, J., Blaschke, L. M. & Walti, C. (2009) hypothesized that although students might have the will to participate in collaborative work, they might not have the skills to effectively engage in online collaboration. For successful collaborative learning to take place there need to be scaffolding in place helping students building the necessary skills. Enough time also need to be allotted and the purpose needs to be clear. For me, understanding why I am doing something is crucial, not only when it comes to collaborative tasks. Another recommendation brought forward by Brindley, J., Blaschke, L. M. & Walti, C. (2009) is to choose a task which is best performed by a group. It sounds so easy but is it?

In my classroom (physical and virtual) I often ask my students to partake in different group activities and tasks. For one, genre pedagogy has central part in second language teaching and hence in many of the courses I teach. I have found that clear instructions are vital and that asking students for an end product has a tendency of keeping them more focused. I do think I could put more thought into the types of group tasks I give them, especially in the online courses I design and teach. I could take it further – think more outside the box – and put together more meaningful tasks which require collaboration with deeper learning as a result…

I’ll finish off today’s post by saying how excited I am for the next topic – Design for online and blended learning – which I think will get those creative juices flowing even more rapidly and most likely result in some new ideas… See you in two weeks!

References

Brindley, J., Blaschke, L. M. & Walti, C. (2009). Creating effective collaborative learning groups in an online environment. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 10(3).

PLNs Theory and Practice by Kay Oddone, part 1. & PLNs Theory and Practice by Kay Oddone, part 2.