1. Introduction
Over the years the demand for online communication has become so strong that educational institutes and organisations are now actively implementing network technology to facilitate communication and online learning. In this context we can call it ‘networked learning’. ‘Networked learning’ means a context in which internet-based information and communication technologies are used to promote collaborative and co-operative connections: between one learner and other learners; between learners and tutors; between a learning community and its learning resources, so that participants can extend and develop their understanding and capabilities in ways that are important to them, and over which they have significant control.
The Internet is a powerful and popular medium for information exchange. Because of its round-o’clock accessibility, people who are not able to attend a traditional college or university can obtain an education from a distance easier than ever before, and at their own pace. The physical reach of the university has been dramatically expanded, which in turn has led administrators to re-evaluate their strategies.
Learning is not a matter of passively collecting concepts, but of constructing a conceptual edifice in which what is learned is integrated and linked to one's entire life experience. Understanding is not the same as remembering. For 'deep learning', students should be able to apply and generalise what they have learned.
2. Distance Education and On-Line Collaborative Learning
Conventional distance learning can be a pretty lonely activity for the student. Giving students access to each other and to their tutors on-line can completely transform the distance learning experience. On-line collaborative learning reduces this aloneness and goes well beyond it, with an educational basis
rooted in constructivist models of the way people think and learn.
When one refers to 'distance education', the word 'distance' often sounds as the key word because it implies the use of salient technological tools. Recent widespread tools based on Internet technology, such as the World Wide Web, the text-based Multi-User-Dimensions (e.g. MOOs), or more sophisticated groupware (or CSCW) tools are especially spectacular. They may reactivate the belief that technology per se enhances education.
The students have to manipulate concepts they are learning, turn them inside out, and look at their connections to other concepts. The job of the educator or instructional designer then is not simply to create materials in which concepts are clearly explained, but to create learning situations in which students find themselves actively engaging with the concepts they are learning. A particularly powerful situation is one in which students discuss what they have learnt with each other.
With the rise in popularity of the Internet, colleges and universities around the world are jumping on the on-line learning bandwagon as a way of extending their reach. However, the best ways of creating effective on-line courses are not obvious. Creating a good on-line course using collaborative learning is far more than putting lecture notes or Open University course units on line and adding e-mail. The two crucial ingredients are:
I. Course design based around collaborative activities in which students engage with the concepts being taught. Learning materials should support these activities rather than be an end in themselves.
II. Creating and nurturing a sense of on-line community and skills of collaboration for the students. This will not happen automatically by itself.
3. Mode of Collaborative Learning
The fact that two learners can learn collaboratively is in some way a is not an easy task. From a 'learning as knowledge transmission' perspective, if two agents X and Y both ignore some piece of knowledge, there is no reason why they could acquire this knowledge by simply collaborating. Some expert has suggested mechanisms which account for knowledge acquisition through collaboration. Some of these mechanisms clearly relate to some psychological theory, mainly the socio-constructive and socio-cultural approaches. Other mechanisms belong, in a more 'neutral' way, to the recent work in cognitive psychology and cognitive science. The order in which these mechanisms does not reflect their importance in collaboration. These mechanisms are of course not independent, some of them may even correspond to the same cognitive processes, analysed from a different perspective.
4. The benefits of On-Line Collaborative Learning
The benefits of On-Line Collaborative Learning are as under:
Learners have the benefits of other perspectives on the material they are learning. The group inherently brings with it a wider range of experience than does an individual member.
The learning experience can be structured so that students find themselves presenting and explaining material to other students. Peer discussion can be more relaxed and free than with a teacher. Through discussion students integrate what they are learning into their general understanding. (...as in the old adage, the best way to learn something is to teach it!)
Working with a group is highly motivating to people. The group provides a pace for its members. People want to be seen to be doing their best. The support and sense of identity provided by the group allays fears and builds confidence.
Conclusion
Generally, individuals are somewhat 'glued' into a single shared cognitive system by the fact that they are engaged into a convergent attempt to solve a problem. Therefore, more effort has to be spent on integrating collaboration features found in Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) tools into communication and information software available for "masses" on the Internet.
For effective collaboration between students to occur, it is not enough simply to provide communication facilities for them. They also need structured exercises in which they get to know each other and form groups, with good staff support. In addition, they need guidance on how to communicate supportively and with confirmation of mutual understanding and agreement.
Over the years the demand for online communication has become so strong that educational institutes and organisations are now actively implementing network technology to facilitate communication and online learning. In this context we can call it ‘networked learning’. ‘Networked learning’ means a context in which internet-based information and communication technologies are used to promote collaborative and co-operative connections: between one learner and other learners; between learners and tutors; between a learning community and its learning resources, so that participants can extend and develop their understanding and capabilities in ways that are important to them, and over which they have significant control.
The Internet is a powerful and popular medium for information exchange. Because of its round-o’clock accessibility, people who are not able to attend a traditional college or university can obtain an education from a distance easier than ever before, and at their own pace. The physical reach of the university has been dramatically expanded, which in turn has led administrators to re-evaluate their strategies.
Learning is not a matter of passively collecting concepts, but of constructing a conceptual edifice in which what is learned is integrated and linked to one's entire life experience. Understanding is not the same as remembering. For 'deep learning', students should be able to apply and generalise what they have learned.
2. Distance Education and On-Line Collaborative Learning
Conventional distance learning can be a pretty lonely activity for the student. Giving students access to each other and to their tutors on-line can completely transform the distance learning experience. On-line collaborative learning reduces this aloneness and goes well beyond it, with an educational basis
rooted in constructivist models of the way people think and learn.
When one refers to 'distance education', the word 'distance' often sounds as the key word because it implies the use of salient technological tools. Recent widespread tools based on Internet technology, such as the World Wide Web, the text-based Multi-User-Dimensions (e.g. MOOs), or more sophisticated groupware (or CSCW) tools are especially spectacular. They may reactivate the belief that technology per se enhances education.
The students have to manipulate concepts they are learning, turn them inside out, and look at their connections to other concepts. The job of the educator or instructional designer then is not simply to create materials in which concepts are clearly explained, but to create learning situations in which students find themselves actively engaging with the concepts they are learning. A particularly powerful situation is one in which students discuss what they have learnt with each other.
With the rise in popularity of the Internet, colleges and universities around the world are jumping on the on-line learning bandwagon as a way of extending their reach. However, the best ways of creating effective on-line courses are not obvious. Creating a good on-line course using collaborative learning is far more than putting lecture notes or Open University course units on line and adding e-mail. The two crucial ingredients are:
I. Course design based around collaborative activities in which students engage with the concepts being taught. Learning materials should support these activities rather than be an end in themselves.
II. Creating and nurturing a sense of on-line community and skills of collaboration for the students. This will not happen automatically by itself.
3. Mode of Collaborative Learning
The fact that two learners can learn collaboratively is in some way a is not an easy task. From a 'learning as knowledge transmission' perspective, if two agents X and Y both ignore some piece of knowledge, there is no reason why they could acquire this knowledge by simply collaborating. Some expert has suggested mechanisms which account for knowledge acquisition through collaboration. Some of these mechanisms clearly relate to some psychological theory, mainly the socio-constructive and socio-cultural approaches. Other mechanisms belong, in a more 'neutral' way, to the recent work in cognitive psychology and cognitive science. The order in which these mechanisms does not reflect their importance in collaboration. These mechanisms are of course not independent, some of them may even correspond to the same cognitive processes, analysed from a different perspective.
4. The benefits of On-Line Collaborative Learning
The benefits of On-Line Collaborative Learning are as under:
Learners have the benefits of other perspectives on the material they are learning. The group inherently brings with it a wider range of experience than does an individual member.
The learning experience can be structured so that students find themselves presenting and explaining material to other students. Peer discussion can be more relaxed and free than with a teacher. Through discussion students integrate what they are learning into their general understanding. (...as in the old adage, the best way to learn something is to teach it!)
Working with a group is highly motivating to people. The group provides a pace for its members. People want to be seen to be doing their best. The support and sense of identity provided by the group allays fears and builds confidence.
Conclusion
Generally, individuals are somewhat 'glued' into a single shared cognitive system by the fact that they are engaged into a convergent attempt to solve a problem. Therefore, more effort has to be spent on integrating collaboration features found in Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) tools into communication and information software available for "masses" on the Internet.
For effective collaboration between students to occur, it is not enough simply to provide communication facilities for them. They also need structured exercises in which they get to know each other and form groups, with good staff support. In addition, they need guidance on how to communicate supportively and with confirmation of mutual understanding and agreement.
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