Such an interesting topic! Working in groups. Learning from each other. The never ending story about collaborating and conflicts.
This topic consisted of mainly two parts; learning in networks and collaborative learning.
First, Personal learning networks. Kay Oddone introduced us to personal learning networks in theory and practice. As you all can understand, personal networks is not anything new. We have had our personal networks of friends and colleagues forever, but in the late 1990’s term “personal network” started to be used (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8mJX5n3IEg&feature=youtu.be ). A personal network is a group of people that can guide your learning.
There are so many different definitions for this. Kay Oddone tried in her lecture to sort out some of the different definitions. The one I liked the most was: “A collective brain”, meaning to be able to use everybody’s brain (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8mJX5n3IEg&feature=youtu.be). Now, with internet, our personal networks can easily be both national as well as global and we can get answers from all over the world, 24-7. There is always someone, somewhere awake ready to respond to your question or problem. Your personal network can be a connection both off line as well as online. “The power of PLN comes from the interaction that occur”, Kay Oddone stated in her lecture (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8mJX5n3IEg&feature=youtu.be). But an online network is not only about getting. Sharing is as important in PLN. Through the constant circling and remixing of the existing knowledge and ideas the ideas and knowledge develop in a very rapid way. This also puts a challenge in interpreting the answers/findings! You have to carefully choose your partners out there in the global internet world!
Kay Oddone also lectured on the differences of online learning community and online learning networks (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqSBTr9DPH8&feature=youtu.be. Basically a community is a stronger group of people with a known membership while your network can be more undefined and with a more flexible membership. It is important to have access to different tools so that you can interact with different types of people and ideas (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqSBTr9DPH8&feature=youtu.be).
For me it seems crucial to have a large and wide personal learning network, both privately as well as professionally. I believe that our western society of today has got very much a “do it yourself” mentality. But for me “no man is an island”. No one can live a life all by themselves. We all need each other. And by interacting with many different people, with different ideas and cultures, I can be nothing but richer, both in knowledge and in personal well-being. Of that, I am sure!
Collaborative learning and collaborative environment
Another other part of this topic was about collaborative learning and collaborative environment. As a teacher this is also very important. Once again; “no man is an island”. Social learning or learning as part of a group is an important way to help students gain experience in collaboration as well as developing important skills in critical thinking, self-reflection, and co-construction of knowledge (Brindley et al., 2009).
The value of group learning is by assessing both the product and process of group work (Brindley et al., 2009). But this is not an easy task. This was well showed in our PBL-group during these two weeks. Collaborative learning is so important, but what happens when it doesn’t work, when you have someone in your group that doesn’t want to interact, when the work is to be done in a group but then the result is graded individually. These discussions took very different paths and were very creative in our PBL-group. And when looking back, we clearly followed Siemens four steps (Siemens, 2002). Siemens (2002) noted in his blog that learner-learner interactions in an e-learning course can be viewed as a four stage continuum:
1. Communication- People ‘talking,’ discussing.
2. Collaboration – People sharing ideas and working together (occasionally sharing resources) in a loose environment.
3. Cooperation – People doing things together, but each with his or her own purpose.
4. Community- People striving for a common purpose.
Brindley et al., (2009) showed in their study a strong argument for including small group collaborative learning experiences in online courses. They also found that literature reveals a significant relationship between participation in these experiences and deeper learning as well as the development of learning and teamwork skills. As a result of their study they came up to some strategies to improve the quality of group collaboration and to increase the likelihood of student participation, which I find quite helpful:
*Facilitate learner readiness for group work and provide scaffolding to build skills.
*Establish a healthy balance between structure (clarity of task) and learner autonomy (flexibility of task.
*Nurture the establishment of learner relationships and sense of community.
*Monitor group activities actively and closely.
*Make the group task relevant for the learner.
*Choose tasks that are best performed by a group.
*Provide sufficient time.
Another interesting article in this field was the study by Capdeferro & Romero (2012). The purpose of that study was to explore the phenomenon of frustration among students involved in online collaborative learning experiences (Capdeferro & Romero, 2012). As a conclusion of this article, as well as other literature and discussion, it is important to plan your online group activities with your class thoroughly. You have to make sure that your students know the purpose of the collaborative learning, what everyone are expected to contribute with, and what they all can gain on being in this collaborative environment. “What’s in it for me?”, has to be a leading theme.
Summary: We need to guide our students in collaborative learning, guiding them to get personal learning networks and learn them to both give and share. Because nobody is an island. We all need each other! Let us all take part of this worldwide learning community, but in a responsible and academic way!
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).
Capdeferro, N. & Romero, M. (2012). Are online learners frustrated with collaborative learning experiences?. The International review of research in open and distance learning, 13(2), 26-44.
Oddone, K. PLNs Theory and Practice, part 1, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8mJX5n3IEg&feature=youtu.be
Oddone, K. PLNs Theory and Practice, part 2,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqSBTr9DPH8&feature=youtu.be
Siemens, G. (2002). Interaction. E-Learning Course. October 8, 2002. Retrieved May 19, 2008, from http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/Interaction.htm
