Laptopers in an educational practice: Promoting the personal learning situation

In this article an ethnographical study of laptopers’ activities during lectures in a university milieu is analyzed as different kinds of involvements. Through interviews and observations we have focused on how these involvements influence the laptopers’ alignment towards the educational practice. The analysis shows the importance of separating the educational practice and the personal learning situation. Studying students’ learning intentions, rather than certain laptop related activities, we get a deeper understanding of the role the laptop can take during learning activities. Five general characteristics of laptoping are found. Negotiating the laptops’ different roles in the educational practice opens up for an understanding of the students personal learning situation as being more than just listening to a lecturer. Additionally, competent integration of digital tools into the learning situation extends the dimensions of the lecture beyond the lecturing hours and personal note taking. Such knowledge is vital for creating foundations for digital competency in a digitized society.     

Analyzing the social knowledge construction behavioral patterns of an online synchronous collaborative discussion instructional activity using an instant messaging tool: A case study

Online discussions have been widely utilized as an educational activity, and much research has been conducted on the process and behaviors involved in asynchronous discussions. However, research on behavioral patterns in learners’ synchronous discussions, including the process of social knowledge construction and project coordination is limited. Through the examination of the behavioral patterns and differences between students with high- and low-quality discussions, it may be possible to understand the limitations of knowledge construction in synchronous discussions. Furthermore, these findings may help teachers design and guide synchronous discussions activities. This study is an empirical case study in which college students conducted synchronous discussions based on topics specified by the teacher. The students used a text-based instant messaging (IM) tool in a period of 98 days.     

Group differences in computer supported collaborative learning: Evidence from patterns of Taiwanese students’ online communication

This study explored the differences among online elementary school student groups based on their communication features. Two hundred and ninety-one Taiwanese students, ranging in age from 11 to 12 years old, participated in this study. The students were randomly arranged within-class into three-member groups. Each group was asked to use a collaborative learning system to accomplish a group task generating a shared concept map. The textual discussions in each group during collaboration were collected, coded, categorized, and quantified to profile their communication characteristics. Cluster analysis on the resulting communication characteristics resulted in four types of small student groups, including passive or reticent, frequently off-task, actively participating, and knowledge emphasizing. Most student groups (56%) were found to be relatively passive or reticent. Frequently off-task student groups made a protrusive amount of messages for off-task social purposes. The actively participating student groups were characterized by abundant discussion, particularly for continuing task, managing procedure and coordinating efforts. The distinctive feature of knowledge emphasizing student groups was that they devoted particular attention to task related knowledge. In addition, they performed better in task accomplishment.     

Visualization of participation: Does it contribute to successful computer-supported collaborative learning?

This study investigated the effects of visualization of participation during computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL). It is hypothesized that visualization of participation could contribute to successful CSCL. A CSCL-environment was augmented with the Participation Tool (PT). The PT visualizes how much each group member contributes to his or her group’s online communication. Using a posttest-only design with a treatment (N = 52) and a control group (N = 17), it was examined whether students with access to the PT participated more and more equally during collaboration, reported higher awareness of group processes and activities, collaborated differently, and performed better than students without access to the PT. The results show that students used the PT quite intensively. Furthermore, compared to control group students, treatment group students participated more and engaged more in coordination and regulation of social activities during collaboration by sending more statements that addressed the planning of social activities. However, equality of participation, awareness of group processes and quality of the group products was not higher in the treatment condition. Still, the results of this study demonstrate that visualization of participation can contribute to successful CSCL.     

Strategies for collaborative writing and phases of knowledge construction in CSCL environments

Within the framework of research that describes the processes of collaborative knowledge construction in computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environments, the present work has three objectives: (i) the identification of the strategies of six small groups of university students for the elaboration of written products in a CSCL environment; (ii) seek relations between the identified writing strategies and the processes and phases of collaborative knowledge construction in the groups; and (iii) relate these strategies and phases with the learning results obtained by the groups. We carried out a multiple-case study, with the analysis of four different didactic sequences, in two different virtual learning and teaching settings. In each setting, three student groups were studied, where each had to collaboratively develop between four and eight written products. For all the studied groups, the analysis enabled the identification of five types of strategies in the preparation of the elaboration of written products, and four types of phases of collaborative knowledge construction, which are interrelated and also connected with the grades that the groups obtained in each case.     

Authority and convergence in collaborative learning

Teachers and students have established social roles, norms and conventions when they encounter Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) systems in the classroom. Authority, a major force in the classroom, gives certain people, objects, representations or ideas the power to affect thought and behavior and influences communication and interaction. Effective computer-supported collaborative learning requires students and teachers to change how they understand and assign authority. This paper describes two studies in which students' ideas about authority led them to converge on what they viewed as authoritative representations and styles of representation too early, and the early convergence then hindered their learning. It also describes a third study that illustrates how changes to the CSCL system CAROUSEL (Collaborative Algorithm Representations Of Undergraduates for Self-Enhanced Learning) improved this situation, encouraging students to create representations that were unique, had different styles and emphasized different aspects of algorithms. Based on this research, methods to help students avoid premature convergence during collaborative learning are suggested.     

Fostering collaborative learning in Second Life: Metaphors and affordances

In this paper we examine the transferability of the Jigsaw and Fishbowl collaborative learning techniques to the Second Life platform. Our aim is to assess the applicability of Second Life for collaborative learning by developing virtual tools and metaphors and exploiting the representational richness of this novel medium. In order to enhance the existing metaphors and affordances of SL, our research team implemented educational spaces, avatar clothing, and tools for non-verbal communication and visualisation. By implementing a blended learning evaluation approach we attempted to answer three research questions focusing on student collaboration, avatar representation and learning space awareness. We can conclude that SL can supplement and/or augment face to face interactions, improving upon previous approaches in distance collaboration and communication. Furthermore, although our team augmented SL’s ability to support collaborative learning, avatar representation does not seem to scale well. Finally, the majority of the implemented affordances and metaphors seem to have enhanced collaboration and learning space awareness.     

Differences in learning processes between successful and less successful students in computer-supported collaborative learning in the field of human nutrition and health

This study aimed to investigate the differences in learning processes between successful and less successful pairs of students in computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) in the field of human nutrition and health. As part of their regular MSc (and optional BSc) course “Exposure assessment in nutrition and health research” at Wageningen University, 44 students were asked (as an individual pretest) to design and analyze a study which evaluates a certain dietary assessment method. Subsequently, they were asked to discuss their evaluation studies in randomized pairs using a CSCL platform. As an individual posttest, students had to re-design and re-analyze the same evaluation study. The quality of students’ knowledge construction in both tests and characteristics of their learning processes in the CSCL environment were assessed through two coding schemes. Based on their learning outcomes (quality of knowledge construction), pairs of students were divided into two subgroups: successful and less successful students. Next, the learning processes of these subgroups were compared. This study revealed that the learning processes of successful and less successful students in the CSCL environment differed in terms of relevance, width and depth of discussion and justification and reasoning. Based on these findings, recommendations for further research and educational practice are formulated.     

Visualizing the sequential process of knowledge elaboration in computer-supported collaborative problem solving

This case study illustrates the sequential process of the joint and individual knowledge elaboration in a computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environment. The case comprised an Internet-based physics problem-solving platform. Six Dutch secondary school students (three males, three females) participated in the three-week experiment. They were paired based on self-selection. Each dyad was asked to collaborate on eight moderately structured problems concerning Newtonian mechanics. Their online interactions, including their textual and pictorial messages, were categorized and sequentially plotted. The three dyads showed three different collaboration patterns in terms of joint and individual knowledge elaboration.     

Measuring perceived sociability of computer-supported collaborative learning environments

Most asynchronous computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environments can be characterized as functional environments because they focus on functional, task-specific support, often disregarding explicit support for the social (emotional) aspects of learning in groups which are acknowledged by many educational researchers to be essential for effective collaborative learning. In contrast, sociable CSCL environments emphasize the social (emotional) aspects of group learning. We define sociability as the extent to which a CSCL environment is perceived to be able to facilitate the emergence of a sound social space with attributes as trust and belonging, a strong sense of community, and good working relationships. Specific environmental characteristics, which we have designated social affordances, determine sociability.     

Cognitive,social and teaching presence in a virtual world and a text chat

Using a framework of cognitive, social, and teaching presence, the nature of learning experiences in a three-dimensional virtual world environment (Second Life) and a text-chat learning environment without visuals (TeachNet) were investigated. A mixed method of code frequencies, coherence graphs, interviews, and a survey was used. The results revealed that the TeachNet debates included more cognitive presence codes that indicate higher levels of cognitive processing than in SL debates. The teams were significantly different from each other in the collaboration style for developing arguments and in the ways to use utterances associated with cognitive, social, and teaching presences, and the groups’ collaboration style became more established with more experience with the tasks. The three critical factors–tool, tasks and group cohesion–that affect cognitive, teaching, and social presence are discussed.     

Effects of face-to-face versus chat communication on performance in a collaborative inquiry modeling task

In many contemporary collaborative inquiry learning environments, chat is being used as a means for communication. Still, it remains an open issue whether chat communication is an appropriate means to support the deep reasoning process students need to perform in such environments. Purpose of the present study was to compare the impact of chat versus face-to-face communication on performance within a collaborative computer-supported modeling task. 44 Students from 11th-grade pre-university education, working in dyads, were observed during modeling. Dyads communicated either face-to-face or through a chat tool. Students’ reasoning during modeling was assessed by analyzing verbal protocols. In addition, we assessed the quality of student-built models. Results show that while model quality scores did not differ across both conditions, students communicating through chat compressed their interactions resulting in less time spent on surface reasoning, whereas students who communicated face-to-face spent significantly more time on surface reasoning.     

Semantic search of tools for collaborative learning with the Ontoolsearch system

This paper introduces Ontoolsearch, a new search system that can be employed by educators in order to find suitable tools for supporting collaborative learning settings. Current tool search facilities commonly allow simple keyword searches, limiting the accuracy of obtained results. In contrast, Ontoolsearch supports semantic querying of tool knowledge bases annotated with the Ontoolcole ontology, specifically designed to fit educators’ questions. Moreover, Ontoolsearch offers an innovative direct manipulation interface to educators, intended to facilitate query formulation as well as the analysis of obtained results. To evaluate this proposal, a group of educators was engaged in a formal comparison study of Ontoolsearch with a keyword search facility based on Lucene. Six search tasks were proposed, each responding to the learning tool needs of a real CSCL setting. Participants had to find tools for these search tasks using both systems alternatively. Evaluation results showed that retrieval performance was significantly better with Ontoolsearch, despite educators’ previous experience with keyword searches. Further, educators rated very positively the user interface of Ontoolsearch and considered this system very useful to find tools for their own learning situations.     

Using Jigsaw and Case Study for supporting online collaborative learning

In CSCL contexts (Computer Supported Collaborative Learning) collaborative activities with different levels of structuredeness are often used to foster discussion and exchange among students and enhance collaboration. In this field the debate around whether and to what extent it is useful to structure the activities proposed to students, is still very lively. In this paper two collaborative activities are explored, namely a simple Case Study (moderate level of structuredness) and the Case Study joint with the Jigsaw (higher level of structuredness). Starting from the analysis of the interactions occurred among students of two real online courses performing these activities, it is possible to identify strong points and weaknesses of the two activities, so to draw some reflections on the impact of structuredness on the collaborative learning process.     

Building virtual cities,inspiring intelligent citizens: Digital games for developing students’ problem solving and learning motivation

This study investigates the effectiveness digital game-based learning (DGBL) on students’ problem solving, learning motivation, and academic achievement. In order to provide substantive empirical evidence, a quasi-experimental design was implemented over the course of a full semester (23 weeks). Two ninth-grade Civics and Society classes, with a total of 44 students (15–16 years old), were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: an experimental group (incorporating DGBL) and a comparison group (taught using traditional instruction). Two-way mixed ANOVA was employed to evaluate changes in problem solving ability and compare the effectiveness the two strategies, while ANCOVA was used to analyze the effects on learning motivation and academic achievement. The results of this study are summarized as follows: (1) The DGBL strategy was clearly effective in promoting students’ problem solving skills, while the control group showed no improvement. Additionally, data from the mid-test and post-test demonstrate that, as a higher order thinking skill, problem-solving requires a full semester to develop. (2). DGBL resulted in better learning motivation for students in the experimental group as compared to learners receiving TI. (3) Contrary to some suggestions that digital games could inhibit academic achievement, no statistically significant difference was found between the two groups. Most importantly, the quantitative improvement in problem-solving and learning motivation suggest that DGBL can be exploited as a useful and productive tool to support students in effective learning while enhancing the classroom atmosphere. Future research in DGBL should emphasize the evaluation of other higher order elements of the cognitive domain in terms of academic achievement outcomes and skills, such as critical and creative thinking.     

Cross-age peer tutors in asynchronous discussion groups: Exploring the impact of three types of tutor training on patterns in tutor support and on tutor characteristics

This study was conducted in an authentic university setting with fourth-year Educational Sciences’ students operating as online peer tutors to facilitate freshman tutees’ online collaboration and knowledge construction in a blended “Instructional Sciences” course. Taking into account prior research uncovering weaknesses in online peer tutor behaviour, the aim of the study was to explore the possibility to optimise the quality and the nature of online peer support. In this respect, the study examined the impact of three tutor training conditions (multidimensional support, model/coach, and control condition) on peer tutors’ actual tutor behaviour in asynchronous discussion groups and on tutors’ self-efficacy beliefs, perceived collective efficacy, and training evaluation. Quantitative content analysis was applied to study online peer tutor behaviour. More specifically, two coding schemes were used focusing respectively on the occurrence of different e-moderating activities and on the evolution from modeling to coaching behaviour. Tutors’ self-efficacy beliefs, perceived collective efficacy, and training evaluation were assessed by means of questionnaires.     

An online collaborative document creation exercise in an ODL research project module

Online technologies to support collaborative learning provide lecturers in distance higher education with ever more opportunities to extend their teaching in beneficial ways. Students are also increasingly familiar with the online environment via social networking sites. How well this familiarity with online environments translates into the online collaborative learning space in an open distance learning context was examined. We report here on one cycle of an action research project involving 11 fourth-year computing students producing shared survey questionnaires and interview questions collaboratively online. Feedback on the collaboration exercise was obtained by means of a questionnaire which was analysed using grounded theory techniques. The expectation was that collaborative text creation software would be used but somewhat surprisingly, given their academic background, the students used email as the tool of choice. The students' reflections on the collaborative process showed that they noted and appreciated the benefits of collaborative work but also confirmed some of the previously reported frustrations of online collaborative work – in particular differences in levels of commitment and effort, and the free rider effect. Overall, the results pointed to the need for lecturers to be involved in a collaborative process to critically question and guide choices being made.     

Developing Web literacy in collaborative inquiry activities

Although many children are technically skilled in using the Web, their competences to use it in a critical and meaningful way are usually less well developed. In this article, we report on a multiple case study focusing on the possibilities and limitations of collaborative inquiry activities as an appropriate context to acquire Web literacy skills in primary education. Four 5th grade school teachers and their students worked with collaborative inquiry activities on the subject of ‘healthy food’. The project was aimed at both the development of Web literacy skills and content knowledge building. Data from a variety of sources were collected: videotaped and written lesson observations, interviews with teachers and students, teacher diaries, student questionnaires, and student assignments. The teachers appeared to be able to carry out the program to varying degrees. Contextual factors that influenced the realization of the project’s goals and results were the adequacy of the research questions formulated by students, students’ inquiry skills, and the teachers’ teaching styles. Students’ learning results show that it is possible to teach Web literacy skills in the context of collaborative inquiry activities. All classes show knowledge gain with regard to the subject healthy food and all classes but one show knowledge gain with regard to Web literacy skills. Although many students show adequate use of particular Web searching, reading and evaluating skills after the project, inconsistency, impulsiveness and impatience are also typical of their Web behaviour. In the context of collaborative inquiry activities teachers are challenged to deal with the paradox that they want their students to be active knowledge builders with help of the Web, whereas the Web seems to invite students to be more or less passive searchers.