In the beginning there was the word. I realized that I had never asked myself before, what is the difference between collaboration and cooperation in English, and whether at all. I already know that the two meanings differ in a very practical sense, especially in the context of collaborative learning.
In the PBL group we focused on the practical aspects of collaborative learning, i.e. what we care most as teachers, what we would like to read the most.
I have the impression that I stopped in my reflection a step earlier. I was wondering what conditions must be met for the creation of a collaborative learning community to be possible at all. Research already carried out, including Building trust in e-learning (Wang, 2013), comes to the rescue. It identifies those social, design and technical factors that are a prerequisite for a good preparation of the base for the creation of effective teaching in this way. They are e.g. institution’s reputation, design, socio-communicative style instructor, and a sense of privacy and security in the e-learning course. The research shows that this is a multi-stage process, requiring preparation and support from the part of the university, and the teacher himself, with his good intentions, is only an element of the entire undertaking. After reading this research, I felt better because I understood that I was not fully responsible for the effect of trying to introduce collaborative learning in my classes, that it was a more complex and long-term process. Despite the sense of agency as the main designer of my courses, I keep coming back to the policy of the whole university. And – contrary to what the IT support department at my university thinks – I believe that an introductory course for students and teachers on both tools and effective teaching and learning would be very useful.
We are almost in the middle of semester and it’s too late to set the rules for the classes we conduct. But I’m still learning and trying to introduce them with each course that starts little bit later, during the semester. At the same time, I can see that I have focused so much on trying to build a community, I care so much about encouraging students to join this process that I have neglected the question of grading a little. However, keeping focus on learning processes is certainly a very engaging attitude, also in terms of time: adjusting your materials to online education (padlet), reading comments and writing them (padlet, MS Teams).
ONL’s PBL is my first collaborative learning experience. I get the impression that the structure is so clearly defined that it makes my learning easier. I follow the course and follow the content. I feel mobilized both to work regularly on subsequent issues and to reflect on my perception of the topic, group activities, and sometimes going beyond my own comfort zone. I try to look at it from the sidelines as well, like a researcher.
And something else: I noticed effects that I did not come for and that I did not expect. Well, I started to intuitively translate the idea of receiving / giving instructions more clearly into the organization of work in a small team at my university, which I was assigned to lead. The procedure I introduced surprised not only its members, but also myself, because I did not plan to use this organizational aspect of the ONL shape (elements of the FISH model), it was completely spontaneous. Suddenly became obvious what and how to do it to feel that we have firmer ground under our feet. It gave us more peace and a sense of security.
A separate issue for me is to create Personal Learning Networks (PLN). This is crucial when you are in a completely different field than your colleagues, or when you are dealing with an issue that generally only few people do. It is worth reaching them for the benefit of oneself and science.
