Networked Collaborative Learning – Reflection on Topic 3
Qusay Hamdan
My understanding of collaboration
My understanding of collaboration begins with the idea that human interactions exist along a continuum. This continuum ranges from conflict to competition, then to cooperation, and finally to collaboration. Collaboration represents the highest form of interaction because it fosters mutual benefit, shared purpose, and collective flourishing. It enables communities, organisations, and systems to reduce suffering, enhance well-being, support well-becoming, and protect the planet (Hamdan, Sebhatu, Hammedi, & Fisk, 2025).
I think about collaboration not only as a way of doing things together, but as a way of being in the world. It shapes how individuals relate to one another, create meaning together, and contribute to systems that support human dignity. For me, this is why collaboration is so essential for education. It helps learners practise responsibility, generosity, and wise engagement in an increasingly interconnected world.
Collaboration, learning, and the development of learning communities
Education plays a vital role in supporting the human capacities that underpin well-being and well-becoming. When learning is relational and participatory, learners begin to realise that knowledge is not simply delivered to them. It is something they help create. Wenger’s work reinforces this point. He explains that learning is fundamentally a process of participation in social practices and that individuals develop identities through engagement with others in communities of practice (Wenger, 2010).
Understanding learning as participation clarifies why collaborative environments matter. They create spaces for belonging, dialogue, and shared inquiry where learners can see themselves as active contributors. This fosters empathy, humility, and shared responsibility. These qualities reach far beyond the course itself and influence how people act in communities, workplaces, and society.
In this sense, collaborative learning supports well-being, but also well-becoming. It encourages learners to engage thoughtfully and collectively with the complexity of the world.
Addressing the scenario: moving beyond dividing tasks
The scenario describes a familiar challenge: students often view collaboration as dividing tasks rather than learning together. I have seen this pattern many times, and it often results in superficial interaction and minimal shared learning.
To shift this, learning activities need to be designed so that learners cannot complete them meaningfully in isolation. Wenger’s notion of participation is helpful here. If meaning emerges only through interaction, students are naturally encouraged to engage more deeply with one another.
Ringer, Gordon, and Vandenbussche (2022) describe this deeper interaction as “igniting the collective spark.” They argue that groups tap into collective intelligence when they think together rather than work in parallel. This spark emerges through attentive listening, curiosity, and a willingness to build on other people’s ideas. When learners experience this, collaboration becomes something energising rather than something to endure.
Motivation, engagement, and the conditions that support collaboration
Wlodkowski’s model of adult motivation helps explain how to create environments where collaboration can thrive. His framework identifies four essential conditions: establishing inclusion, developing positive attitudes, enhancing meaning, and engendering competence (Wlodkowski, 2004).
- Establishing inclusion helps learners feel respected and psychologically safe, which is essential if they are going to participate openly.
- Developing positive attitudes requires experiences that are meaningful and relevant. When learners understand why collaboration matters, they are much more willing to engage.
- Enhancing meaning emphasises the importance of inquiry, dialogue, and reflection.
- Engendering competence assures learners that they are progressing and that their contributions matter.
What I appreciate in Wlodkowski’s work is how directly it connects emotional and relational conditions to motivation. These conditions are exactly what collaborative learning relies on.
Fostering generous and supportive interactions in online spaces
Networked online spaces offer remarkable possibilities for collaborative learning, but they require thoughtful design. Technology should support the learning process rather than overshadow it.
To nurture online learning communities, it is helpful to include:
- Shared reflection and dialogue
- Peer feedback focused on growth
- Activities that rely on joint inquiry
- Norms that encourage respect, curiosity, and generosity
- Multiple modes of participation so that all learners can find a way in
Facilitators play a significant role in shaping these conditions. Through modelling and guiding interactions, they can help learners experience online spaces not as task platforms but as communities where learning happens together.
Conclusion
Collaboration is, for me, an ethical and relational commitment to collective flourishing and well-becoming. When applied to education, it transforms how learners understand themselves and how they engage with others. Drawing on Wenger’s social learning theory, Wlodkowski’s motivational framework, and Ringer and colleagues’ insights on collective thinking, it becomes clear that online environments can foster meaningful collaboration. When learners experience the value of belonging to a learning community, they carry these capacities forward into their personal, professional, and civic lives.
References
Hamdan, Q., Sebhatu, S. P., Hammedi, W., & Fisk, R. P. (2025). Service Ethics for Humanity: Wiser Engagement for a Collaborative Future. In J. Ul Islam (Ed.), Customer Engagement and Digital Business (1st ed., pp. 60–81). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003508083
Ringer, M., Gordon, R., & Vandenbussche, B. (2022). Igniting the collective spark: The relevance of thinking together. In The collective spark: Igniting thinking in groups, teams and the wider world (pp. 8–21). Grafische Cel.
Wenger, E. (2010). Communities of practice and social learning systems: The career of a concept. In Social learning systems and communities of practice (pp. 179–198). Springer London.
Wlodkowski, R. J. (2004). Creating motivating learning environments. In M. W. Galbraith (Ed.), Adult learning methods: A guide for effective instruction (3rd ed., pp. 141–164). Krieger Publishing Company.
