Walden University Tracy Snow
Best practices Interaction Interactivity Development of critical thinking skills Co-creation of knowledge Reflection Transformative learning Palloff & Pratt, 2005
Instructors are always looking for ways to improve student interaction in classes. They understand that collaboration online is different than that of face to face. They may not have the necessary tools to make this happen successfully (Palloff & Pratt, 2005). Increasing opportunity for interaction is critical for online learning. Collaboration allows this.
Ling Thompson and Heng-Yu Ku from Regis University and the University of Northern Colorado conducted a case study to investigate the relationship between the degree of online collaboration and quality of group projects. They needed to find our how important collaboration was to online learners as they work on group projects, and how belonging to a community is essential in a collaborative learning experience (Kirschner, 2004; Palloff & Pratt, 2005). Their findings were based on four teams working in groups and their interactions. It was based on four different characteristics: participation, Interdependence, synthesis, and independence.
Project 1 & 2 Team 1Team 2Team 3Team 4 Total statements (participation) Interaction pattern(Interdep endence) New Ideas (Synthesis) Msg to Instr. (Independence 2910
Project 3 & 4 Team 1Team 2Team 3Team 4 Total statements (participation) 663n/a Interaction Pattern (interdependence) 7n/a101 New Ideas (Synthesis) 294n/a29262 Msg. to instructor (Independence) 0n/a23
There was no commercialization in this case study. For future studies, the need to implement technology will be investigated. Degree of online collaboration and team performance.
Knowledge (professors realize the need to collaborate) Persuasion (Professors convince students to collaborate) Decision (Students decide or reject collaboration tools) Implementation (Students use the innovation of collaboration tools) Confirmation (Students reinforce the decision to collaborate and seeks to avoid discourse)