TOPIC 3 – Reflections

I was particularly interested in the overview Kay Oddone gave on Online Learning Community and Online Learning Network. This helped me reflect on these two different types of ‘online learning’.

However, in this context I would like to analyze just two aspects of collaborative learning. The first focuses on the reasons why people find challenging working and learning together online. What are the drawbacks that prevent people from working in group or at least what are  the factors that deter them from working effectively in group?

Is either because they do not value team work or because they have not been trained on acquiring social skills ? or is that related  to their cultural and social backgrounds? Finally even more impotantly, is the fear to fail or making mistakes that hinder their learning process?

As for the drawbacks, Capdiferro and Romero found out that a major source of  frustration comes form the following factors such as : delay of interactions and feedback, time pressure, time zone differences, excessive time spent on workload, difficulties in communication or in reaching consensus and finally misunderstandings ( Capdiferro & Romero, 2012).

In addition, there are other complementary aspects that can hinder collaboration. Spatial and time distance are potential barriers as David White claimed in his webinar and these are difficult to recreate online. As a possible solution, he proposes to recreate this space by using some applications such as  https://spatial.chat/ . 

I personally think that there is not a single reason but a variety of reasons  that all together might contribute to explain how can people can successfully work together.

To begin with, I think that building a strong fundation  can be paramount when it comes to group work.  Getting to know your group and especially each group member, their backgrounds, interests and personalities might help establish a good rapport among the  members . Another major resource , can be establishing clear and shared learning aims to follow during the collaborative work.  A further feature is making sure everyone is engaged and involved  not only in the product but also in the process of the collaborative work . Finally, setting clear roles and organizing equally the workload among the members can be relevant to ensure everyone is engaged and responsible for his bit of work.

The second reflection comes from an observation made by my group’s member Sven about the difference between cooperative and collaborative learning. Oftentimes Cooperative learning is confused with Collaborative learning, but they are not the same thing.

In cooperative learning, students work together in small groups to complete a structured task or goal. It is more than just working in a group, as group work alone does not guarantee cooperative learning. When students are simply required to work together, they are usually rewarded based on the success of the entire group. It is all too often the case that only some members of the group do all of the work. It cannot be said that all of the members are actually learning. On the other hand, in cooperative learning, members of the group are not only rewarded based on the success of the entire group but are also individually accountable for their own work. The task or activity is structured in a way that requires the input and participation of every group member. As a result, all of the group members learn from each other.

An example of a very popular cooperative learning activity that teachers use is jigsaw, where each student is required to research one section of the material and then teach it to the other members of the group. This is what happens in  a jigsaw puzzle, each piece or section is put together at the end, and only then does the entire picture make sense. Here is an interesting video that gives an overview on this method  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euhtXUgBEts.