What is collaboration?
Collaboration "is a principle-based process of working together that produces trust, integrity and break-through results by building true consensus, ownership and alignment" (Marshall, 1995). What is collaborative learning? Collaborative learning is an educational approach to teaching and learning that involves groups of students working together to solve a problem, complete a task, or create a product. According to Gerlach (1994), collaborative learning is based on the notion that learning is a naturally social act in which the participants talk among themselves. It is through the talk that learning occurs. Why do we talk about collaborative learning in this course? Basically there are two reasons. First, the goal of the third Master Plan (MP3) in Singapore is to develop students' competencies for self-directed learning and collaborative learning through effective use of ICT. Obviously promoting students' collaborative learning has become the focus of using ICT for teaching and learning in Singapore schools. Every teacher must know how to use ICT to support and promote collaborative learning. (Source:http://ictconnection.moe.edu.sg/masterplan-4/our-ict-journey/masterplan-3/vision-and-goals ) Second, one new development of research in the domain of learning sciences is shifting from individual cognition to group cognition. A representative scholar advocating group cognition is Gerry Stahl. He claims that: "When small groups engage in cooperative problem solving or collaborative knowledge building, there are distinctive processes of interest at the individual, small-group and community levels of analysis, which interact strongly with each other. The science of group cognition is the study of the processes at the small-group level" (Stahl, 2010). ![]()
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Collaborative learning is often defined as an umbrella term for a variety of educational approaches involving joint intellectual effort by students, or students and teachers together, or the instructional use of small groups in which students work together to maximize everyone’s learning.
Collaborative learning vs cooperative learning The two terms "collaborative learning" and "cooperative learning" are often used interchangeably. However, many researchers argue that it is meaningful to make a distinction between cooperative learning and collaborative learning (Dillenbourg, Baker, Blaye, & O'Malley, 1996). One distinction is that in a cooperative learning process, the learning task is often divided among the learners who will each accomplish their parts, followed by the assembling of these parts into the whole. Comparatively, collaborative learning is more of an on-going process. It is more than assembling of tasks according to the roles the individual learners play; it involves ongoing efforts in meaning negotiation and the establishment of shared understanding among them. For instance, Dillenbourg (1999) defined the distinction as follows: "In cooperation, partners split the work, solve sub-tasks individually and then assemble the partial results into the final output. In collaboration, partners do the work together" (p. 8). He further highlighted that collaboration is a process by which individuals negotiate and share meanings relevant to the problem, and it is a coordinated, synchronous activity that is the result of a continued attempt to construct and maintain a shared conception of a problem. Another distinction is that in the cooperative learning process, the teacher controls most of what is going on in the class, even if the students are working in groups. Collaborative learning, on the other hand, is aimed at getting the students to take almost full responsibility for working together, building knowledge together, changing and evolving together and of course, improving together (Dooly, 2008). Two pillars of collaborative learning There are two key concepts (or pillars) in collaborative learning:
Individual accountability or individual contribution is the measurement of whether the contribution of a group member has helped to achieve the group’s overall goals. Everyone in a group must work together with others and contribute to the completion of the group task. It should not be all for one or one for all. Individual accountability as a structural element in collaboration is pivotal to prevent and lower the likelihood of free riders or social loafing. It is the belief that everyone will be accountable for her/his performance and learning. Individual accountability often occurs when the performance of each individual is assessed and the results are given back to the group and the individual. ![]() Positive interdependence refers to the relationship of group members who share common goals and perceive that working together is individually and collectively beneficial, and success depends on the participation of all the members. In a collaborative environment with positive interdependence, often one cannot succeed unless all members succeed; they either sink or swim together. The proverb 'Only when a rain drop falls into the ocean will it never go dry' tells the importance of positive interdependence of rain drops.
Importance of collaborative learning
In the new information age, work becomes more knowledge-based, interdisciplinary and complicated. It is hardly possible for an individual to complete a sophisticated task without the help of others. The ability to work collaboratively hence becomes highly valued in the present workplace (Barron, 2000). Students ought to learn how to work collectively when they are in schools so that the transition from the school to the workplace is less daunting (Chai & Tan, 2009). Educational benefits of collaborative learning Collaborative learning does not guarantee improved learning outcomes. Then, what are the educational benefits of collaborative learning? Research studies show that collaborative learning has the potential to build positive social relationships among students; to build self-esteem in students (Johnson & Johnson 1989); and conceptual conflict is a positive factor that makes collaborative learning more efficient (Kaptelinin, 1999). Laal and Ghodsi (2012) summarize educational benefits of collaborative learning into the following categories: Social benefits:
Two pillars of collaborative learning There are two key concepts (or pillars) in collaborative learning:
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Individual accountability or individual contribution is the measurement of whether the contribution of a group member has helped to achieve the group’s overall goals. Everyone in a group must work together with others and contribute to the completion of the group task. It should not be all for one or one for all. Individual accountability as a structural element in collaboration is pivotal to prevent and lower the likelihood of free riders or social loafing. It is the belief that everyone will be accountable for her/his performance and learning. Individual accountability often occurs when the performance of each individual is assessed and the results are given back to the group and the individual.
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Positive interdependence refers to the relationship of group members who share common goals and perceive that working together is individually and collectively beneficial, and success depends on the participation of all the members. In a collaborative environment with postive interdependence, often one cannot succeed unless all members succeed; they either sink or swim together. The proverb 'Only when a rain drop falls into the ocean will it never go dry' tells the importance of positive interdependence of rain drops.
Challenges in collaborative learning Coordination and monitoring are two salient challenges in collaborative learning. Coordination ![]()
Individual accountability and positive interdependence calls for coordination. In a collaborative learning environment, group members identify and build on their individual strengths so that everyone makes a great contribution to the learning task. Furthermore, their individual effort must be synchronized to ensure that they all work towards the same direction and make coherent contributions.
External support is needed for effective coordination to take place. The complexity of authentic problems involved in a collaborative learning task poses difficulties to the students, who must continuously negotiate plans and share understanding. They often struggle with organizing evidence and interpreting results, and get lost or overwhelmed by the large amount of data or information. They need external scaffolding strategies to organize, coordinate, and reflect upon ongoing ideas through the long-term investigation process (Land & Zembal-Saul, 2003). Monitoring ![]()
Learning is a highly interactive and dynamic process. For effective learning to take place in a collaborative learning environment, monitoring closely how students collaborate in the process is crucial. To students, keeping track of what has been established and what needs to be further revised makes the learning process be carried out in a more organized and efficient way. To teachers, monitoring the learning process allows them to identify strengths and weaknesses of the instructional design or the learning environment so that they can adjust the learning process promptly for unexpected needs or improve the curriculum further in the future (Pozzi, Manca, Persico, & Sarti, 2007).
![]() Monitoring the collaborative learning process can also help teachers to keep track on students’ on-going performance so that any pitfall leading to potential failures can be immediately diagnosed and appropriate support can be provided. Teachers need to collect and analyze data constantly to keep the learning process under control. They must ensure the learning process is going on smoothly and proper decisions are made when needed (Chai & Tan, 2009). Additionally, monitoring the learning process enables the teacher to assess students’ individual and group learning more accurately. The prevailing views of learning that emphasize on the social, distributed, and collective nature of learning results in a need to capture, assess and characterize both individual and collaborative aspects of knowledge construction in CSCL (Chan & Van Aalst, 2004). Keeping track on the collaborative learning process allows the teacher to discern students’ individual contributions and to assess them fairly. Post 2 practical challenges with collaborative learning to the following comments area based on your personal experiences, and give 2 comments to the challenges posted by others.
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45 Comments
R Vishunu
3/14/2018 05:10:26 pm
By incorporating collaborative learning in classrooms, would lead students to shoulder the responsibility of their learning and become both critically engaged and communicative throughout their learning process. However, I do believe this type of learning environment must be closely regulated and managed by the teacher as there is a possibility for struggling students to get by without contributing to any of the collaborative activities.
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Huimin
3/16/2018 05:32:04 pm
The benefits of collaborative learning is compelling, for instance, it can help build positive social relationships and self-esteem in students; it also can foster communication skills, encourage diversity understanding, stimulate critical thinking etc. For me one the the challenge from implementing collaborative learning is how to know each individual student learning within the group. I think assigning group grades without attempting to distinguish between individual members of the group is both unfair and deleterious to the learning process. So i try to cope with this problem by providing individual assessment. While the learning may take place in groups, it may still be appropriate to assess individually. Another way I think is to use self, peer, and group assessment techniques. Students who learn in groups are generally very aware of their own, and others’, relative contributions to the group. This knowledge can be usefully employed during assessment.
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Aishwaryaa Kumar
3/18/2018 06:35:57 pm
Hi Huimin, that is a good thought!
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Huimin
3/16/2018 05:33:30 pm
Another often taken-for-granted issue with collaborative learning is grouping. How do we select the groups? What is the effective group size? How should membership of each group be determined? Take the selection of groups for example. Common ways to select the group are that selection based on friendship, random selection, selection of mixed abilities students. According to the study, heterogeneous groups could be beneficial. There is some evidence that heterogeneous groups can be advantageous, because of the different perspectives brought to the group. Thus, where possible, it would seem advisable to consider each student’s previous academic background and work experience as important factors.
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Carian Tham
3/16/2018 10:39:26 pm
Hi Huimin,
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R Vishunu
3/17/2018 08:08:08 am
Hi Huimin, I totally agree with your view that "heterogeneous groups can be advantageous." This would bring about a diverse form of interaction between students, who could learn avidly from each other expertise and experiences. Another advantage would be the possibility of gaining feedback from peers and using that as an opportunity for self-correction. This makes students accept responsibility for their own learning and provide them with the ability to self-correct problematic areas. They also become less dependent on the teacher. This actually builds up their self-sufficiency skills and prepares them for the real world scenarios beyond the classroom environment.
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Carian Tham
3/16/2018 10:48:20 pm
I am an advocate of collaborative learning and I usually incorporate ICT in collaborative learning. This is probably so as I am more inclined towards Vygotsky's Socialcultural Theory i.e. social interaction plays a fundamental role in the development of the child's cognition. I do agree with Huimin that collaborative learning helps to build positive social relationships and self-esteem in students; it also can foster communication skills, encourage diversity understanding, stimulate critical thinking etc. I have witnessed my own students develop into a more competent speaker with the use of collaborative learning.
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Chu Wen Shen
3/17/2018 11:53:43 am
Hi Carian, thanks for sharing!
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Patricia Sin
3/19/2018 11:58:27 am
Hi Wen Shen,
Aishwaryaa Kumar
3/18/2018 06:34:19 pm
Through collaborative learning, we are able to achieve a holistic and all-rounded educational affordance for the students. It gives great importance to the much hyped about and requisite 21st-century skills. It develops students to be more social, to be responsible, be accounted for their work, increases their potential to bring to the table different perspectives and allows them to reflect on more materials as they construct their knowledge together.
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Manickam Sumathi
3/19/2018 11:04:42 am
Once the grouping is in place, the teacher has a role to ensure the social cohesion and effective collaborative learning. This has to happen before and during the actual learning task. This is because in the group, there can be members who are not well -liked. Like what you said they can be of different abilities. Before the lesson the students have to be clearly told of the expectation of the learning task and be allowed to clarify. They also have to explicitly taught hon how to be respectful of the differing views and how to effectively interact with peers. This can be achieved by scaffolding “exploratory talks” ( Mercer, 2004). During the lesson, it becomes critical for teacher to monitor and feedback on their collaboration and not only on their content and skill acquisition.
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Patricia Sin
3/19/2018 12:12:51 pm
Collaborative learning can indeed create meaningful learning processes for pupils as they interact and negotiate meaning with one another. That being said, the interaction brings out possible issues too, because some of the most meaningful discussions often start with disagreements before a deeper shared understanding is reached. It is therefore, important for us teachers to guide pupils to dealing with disagreements maturely, and to view disagreements objectively for learning.
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Patricia Sin
3/19/2018 12:24:55 pm
In class, it is mentioned that cooperative learning and collaborative learning are often used interchangeably, pointing to similarities between the two. However, the differences between the two, even though slight, is significant to make sense of. I agree with this because this highlights the fundamental value behind collaborative learning. Unlike cooperative learning which is just that of task division, collaborative learning goes beyond by asking for meaningful interactions to co-construct knowledge. By simply separating project tasks between members, then proceeding to combine it without consolidation and discussion focuses more on the product. In contrast, collaborative learning places every member’s part up for questioning within the group before they reach a shared and enhanced understanding, which would not have been possible otherwise. Collaborative learning broadens pupils’ perceptions and helps close learning gaps, thereby maximizing each member’s potential, where the process becomes more important than the product. Hence, teachers should not be content with just cooperative learning and confuse it with collaborative learning, so as to provide pupils with the true benefits of collaborative learning.
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Pamela Low
3/20/2018 06:19:52 pm
Though the benefits of CSCL is prominent and compelling, it is definitely not so simple and rewarding. Blending CSCL with the current instructional model of learning has considerable risks. To achieve an effective collaborative learning would depend on the interaction of multiple considerations (Dillenbourg, 2007) and would not guarantee learning and academic effects. There is a need to appropriately regulate and structure collaborative learning (two processes complementary to each other) to favor the emergence of productive interactions. However, the interaction of the different elements have to be nicely orchestrated in order to lead the learners towards a mutual goal.
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Manickam Sumathi
3/20/2018 06:45:33 pm
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K Pavitra
3/9/2019 04:08:20 pm
One of the main takeaways I learnt was the distinction between cooperative learning and collaborative learning and the different ICT tools we can use to support collaborative learning.Collaborative learning is a situation in which two or more people learn or attempt to learn something together(Dillenbourg,1999).Cooperative Learning is the instructional use of small groups so that students work together to maximize their own and each other’s learning(Johnson,Johnson & Smith,2013).I feel that collaborative learning is good to help students to think deeply about a problem or situation given and it helps them to communicate effectively in smaller groups.It is used greatly in teaching and learning whereas cooperative learning helps students to achieve better understanding of the concepts and work to complete a task well. At times,we do use the terms interchangeably and they do work hand in hand when we plan activities in our classroom.Our students would need to engage in active discussions and leverage on one another’s skills to learn.They would also need to take on different roles to achieve a common goal.
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Jih Heong
3/10/2019 06:27:07 pm
Hi Pavitra, is this your reflection or comment? It seems a bit long for comment. Reflection should be submitted under the tab topic 4: CSCL_assessment.
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K Pavitra
3/11/2019 06:38:46 pm
Hi Jih Heong,
Nazratul Nadiah
3/12/2019 11:14:34 pm
Hi Pavitra,
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christina peh
3/10/2019 08:56:40 pm
In 2015, MP4 was introduced and it continued to build on the achievements of the first three Masterplans to provide quality learning for learners. MP4 broadens the focus beyond self-directed learning and collaborative learning to the total curriculum. Thus, the focus of promoting collaborative learning using ICT in schools is significant in our teaching and learning. MOE has also rolled out a new online portal, Student Learning Space (SLS) which uses ICT to enhance self-directed learning and encourages collaborative learning through peer assignments. Students get to discuss their answers with other students through the portal and teachers can give feedback and bridge learning gaps.
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K Pavitra
3/12/2019 07:08:50 pm
I agree with you Christina on the challenge of assessing individuals fairly in group work and sometimes,it tends to move towards a cooperative lesson. In small groups,they get to discuss with one another and engage in deep thinking.It helps to build on teamwork and social interaction among peers(Johnston and Miles,2004).When they co-construct knowledge together,their individual and group cognition is enhanced and with ICT tools,it opens up for effective communication and positive interdependence(Sarmiento & Stahl,2008).It helps teachers to enhance teaching methods and instills 21st century competency of collaboration in lessons(Minister Mr Heng Swee Keat,2014). Learners can also monitor their progress.
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Esther
3/12/2019 11:05:52 pm
Hi Christina, I think one of the possible ways to help with assessing individual accountability is getting the group to present their work, and then getting the rest of the class/yourself to pose a couple of questions for each group member to answer themselves before allowing their fellow members to help. I think this could help show who really understood and processed the information created and who may have not.
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Jih Heong
3/10/2019 09:23:30 pm
The lesson introduces the key pillars for successful implementation of collaborative learning and cooperation learning. The two key pillars, individual accountability and positive interdependence, are necessary for any form of group assignment to be successful. For the first pillar, individual accountability, I think that in any form of group task, every member has a role to play. It is important to have some form of monitoring mechanism to unsure or track the individual accountability in order to reduce the likelihood that member take on the role of a free rider. I believe the ICT tools will be able to provide the affordance as a mechanism for monitoring where individual contributions are recorded automatically. As for the second pillar, positive interdependence, I believe that individuals involved must first work together to define the common goals. Every member must have a clear understanding of the objective of the group tasks and how working together is both beneficial to the individual as well as to the group. Therefore, understanding that the success of the group depends on the success of everyone and vice versa. It is important that this positive interdependency is worked out before the onset of the group tasks. Without fully establishing this pillar, successful collaboration will most likely fail to take place. As educator who wishes that our learners engage in collaborative learning, it is important for us to facilitate the formation of these two pillars first.
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Nazrah
3/11/2019 10:41:19 pm
Hi Jih Heong,
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seah lee chean
3/14/2019 09:58:33 pm
Dear Jih Heong,
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Jih Heong
3/14/2019 10:27:56 pm
Hi Lee Chean, I understand your concern. In fact, even as mature learners, we often adopt cooperative learning rather than collaborative learning. This is the “most” efficient way of getting a task done. However, as educator, we must recognise the strength and affordance of collaborative learning. Only when we embrace the idea, will we try to introduce collaborative learning into our lesson design as and when it is possible. It might not be easy for young learners to immerse themselves fully in collaborative learning. But we must try to introduce the idea to them as early as possible such that it will become easier for them to adopt the practice in the later stage of their lives. Therefore, to help our young charges, we should make resources, that support collaborative learning, available to them. In our lesson design, we can facilitate the groups to set up their second pillar, we can break bigger task into smaller tasks where collaborative learning can take place, we can allow them more time for discussions, we can also search for ICT tools that have greater social affordances. In my opinion, it is also important for educators to build a community like ours for us to share our resources and experiences with one another.
Nazrah
3/11/2019 10:16:12 pm
Collaboration is an important 21 cc skill that we want to develop in our students. With technology and increasing connectedness, it has become a natural means of communication, especially in project work. After the lesson, I am clearer on the distinction between collaboration and cooperative skills. Before this module, I have not heard of the term, 'Computer Supported Collabnorative Learning '(CSCL). The emphasis had always been on promoting cooperative learning skills such as providing different roles to students during group work. I think that cooperative learning strategies are useful to be introduced to lower primary students when they are just starting to work together in a group. From Primary 4 onwards, they are slightly more ready to be involved in collaboration involving more critical thinking and discussion. There are many CSCL tools available such as Padlet, Trello, Coggle.it, Googles suites etc. However, students need to be familiar with the tool before collaboration can take place. An interesting point which was highlighted was on monitoring individual accountability. Some of the tools allow the teachers to monitor who has contributed. However, it is quite tedious and a challenge to keep track of who has contributed what if the assignment requires assesment on this component.
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Christina Peh
3/12/2019 04:23:40 pm
Hi Nazrah,
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Kasni
3/12/2019 11:53:40 pm
Hi Nazrah,
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Ng Shi Ming Tammy
3/12/2019 10:20:02 pm
Today’s lesson redefines the meaning of group work. Reflecting on my own teaching experience, it is rather common for my lessons to incorporate group work. However, often times I will take it for granted that students know the meaning of group work and would naturally work together to get things done. The kind of group work that happens in class is one that is product-focused. While there are some attempts to ensure that everyone contributes to group work by suggesting ideas, they do not necessarily go through the cognitive process of critical thinking and negotiating meanings. On the other hand, a successful collaborative learning experience can elevate students’ thinking as they go through a knowledge building process by sharing, negotiating and refining ideas. It is the mature process of resolving conflicting ideas and assessing the soundness of suggestions before arriving at the final product. (Bereiter, 2002; Scardamalia, 2002)Collaborative learning also allows students to be more active in their learning, as compared to traditional classroom instructions, where students passively remain as knowledge acquirers. As a teacher, my next question would then be, how do I ensure that my group activities allow students the opportunity to engage in a collaborative learning experience?
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Duan Jingjing
3/12/2019 11:53:20 pm
Hi Tammy, thanks for your thoughtful sharing.
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Esther
3/12/2019 11:07:27 pm
I think the benefits collaborative learning provides are superior to that of individual learning. In this technogically advanced age, the availability of ICT in education not only enhances learning by improving the delivery of information and knowledge, but also opens up the potential for students to use ICT tools to collaborate and attain higher level thinking together. Collaborative learning focuses on the co-construction of knowledge through mutual engagement of group members. It involves ongoing efforts of discussion and evaluation in meaning negotiation and establishment shared understanding among the group. With group members from different backgrounds and abilities, the sharing of different ideas, questions and perspectives would be diverse and unique. Not only does learning become more efficient, collaborative learning also builds more social relationship, communication and leadership skills. Group members are inclined to take more ownership of their contributions and gain confidence through the support of other members.
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Teng Hang Chuan
3/13/2019 04:21:21 pm
Yes I agree. I think the key principle here is Motivation. Once the students are motivated to use the technology, or work with their members, they will be more engaged to work with their peers to construct something. I agree with you that such motivation may not be present in the initial stage. There would have to be many rounds of trying out. The students learn how to negotiate among themselves, they also learn how to organise their time and energy in getting the work done. I see all these also part of the learning for 21st century skills. They also have to learn how to motivate others, if others are not keen in the project work. That's a tough call, All in all, these are good opportunities for growth and self development towards holistic learning.
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Nazratul Nadiah
3/12/2019 11:07:27 pm
I felt that CSCL is a promising technique to enhance teaching and learning with the help of modern technologies. MOE has started the IT Masterplan way back in 1997 and is now at the MP4 phase. It aims to equip learners with the 21st CC Skills through deeper learning experience as learners play an active and constructive role through discussion and interactions with the help of technologies. CSCL also provides various pedagogical support and combination of various media to scaffold for collaborative learning.
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Lynette
3/13/2019 10:21:57 pm
Would you agree that cooperative learning is also an instructional strategy where the teacher determines the end and is used to dictate the means of learning? My understanding is that cooperative learning focuses on the outcome and CL is more on the process to reaching the outcome.
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Duan jingjing
3/12/2019 11:19:56 pm
Collaborative and cooperative learning is really one of the focus areas in education nowadays. Since people need to have adequate social and communication skills, it is important to start young, as young as primary one.
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Kasni
3/12/2019 11:39:33 pm
One takeaway from last week lesson is the significant benefits of collaborative learning as compared to co-operative learning. As co-operative learning in group activity allows members to contribute their part in ensuring that the objective of the task is met, collaborative learning promotes higher level of thinking and develop students’ critical thinking skills which is considered to be an ongoing process as members co-construct the learning. They would also try to solve problems as they come across one. Thus, collaboration process serves as a promising method of human engagement and is valid for the 21st century skills which students in class would need to harness in pursuit of excellence. The need to think together and work towards the attainment of a particular goal drives members to critically examine the task which requires constructive inputs that would be considered as a valuable contribution to the group. Hence, the concept of collaboration should involve the use of ICT in teaching and learning so that it would bring about a robust and dynamic experience which combines the social, cognitive and teaching presence in the virtual learning spaces.
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Abi
3/12/2019 11:59:42 pm
Currently, cooperative and collaborative learning plays an important role in the learning process and teachers in classrooms are finding ways to engage students in these activities. When confronted with the need to group students to perform activities in a cooperative or collaborative way, teachers undoubtedly need to make choices about how the class should be divided and these choices can directly influence the learning process, making this activity easier or more difficult to perform. Traditional classrooms have been turning into collaborative classrooms, since educational systems have been responding to the changes in their environment. Some challenges that teachers in the classroom face would include elaborating student collaboration tasks which might not be a simple task because to be a collaborator all the participants are supposed to be acquiring transferable skills and to be open enough to allow their dialogue to happen, which is quite difficult. Sharing responsibility for collaborative activities might also cause conflicts among the participants of collaborative learning, which, in its turn, might decrease motivation and create unhealthy competition and bullying. Sometimes students may even ride on others efforts. These are some challenges and we have to be aware and mindful when planning activities for group work so that meaningful learning takes place.
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Kasni
3/13/2019 12:04:16 am
Collaborative learning through the use of ICT tool in school is a meaningful way of assessing students' critical thinking. One tool that promotes this is the use of concept mapping for students in groups to contribute their ideas and make connections to concepts that they have learnt. In this way, members can provide their own feedback and ideas which could be collectively accepted and this provides opportunity for members to co-construct their understanding for a given concept. New ideas may emerge through the constructive interaction among members as they begin to provide reasons and claim for their contributions in the discussions among group members. Hence, this provides a platform for a rich learning experience that all members can benefit.
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Teng Hang Chuan
3/13/2019 04:14:29 pm
Collaborative learning is a very engaging way to support learning for students. In the learning space, the learners doesn't just uses his or her thoughts to answer the question, he or she has to also assess the work and thoughts of their peers. In this way, the thinking process is further enhanced and elaborated. However, it could also be the case where the learner might just adapt the work of others without really going through the rigor of individual effort. It is also engaging because now they know that the work is not just seen by the teacher for assessment. They have to also consider the views and feedback from their peers. This might make them be more conscious of the work they produce
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Lynette
3/13/2019 10:02:15 pm
Hi Hang Chuan,
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Lynette
3/13/2019 09:37:42 pm
On one end of the spectrum we have competitive learning (teacher-centric) and on the other we have collaborative learning (student-centric).
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seah lee chean
3/14/2019 09:59:13 pm
In my opinion, CSCL is demanding but powerful if used well. Not only must learners work online, either synchronously or asynchronously, they must also develop individual learning and enhance group cognition and build group knowledge. Too often, computer tools are often cooperative in nature, where users develop a "divide-and-conquer" mentality to get the work completed. In CSCL, however, learners are required to work collaboratively, help each other to construct knowledge. CSCL requires all learners to play an active role and reduces the presence of free-loaders as the online contributions may be recorded in logs. The logs help teachers to make an informed view of the contributions of the group members, which in turn helps the teachers to identify learners with learning needs and closing the gaps.
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Kevin Chong
3/15/2019 05:42:53 pm
From my previous stint in the training sector, I observed behavioural challenges that stems from the two pillars of collaborative learning - (i) individual accountability and (ii) positive interdependence.
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Tammy Ng
3/17/2019 09:58:24 am
Hi Kevin, thank you for your sharing. I do agree that some students rely on teachers to be responsible for their learning and this usually lead to negative attitudes towards group work or a collaborative learning environment. However, I feel that to overcome this problem, teachers have to consistently introduce collaborative learning activities so that students become accustomed to this learning approach and start to move away from dependent learning.
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