Online Collaboration
Overall, blogging has been a really great experience for me. I've enjoyed creating the posts each week, playing with different forms of tools and
reflecting on the use of each of these. This week I will be reflecting on my
collaboration experiences with others so far and the use of it in my own
teaching.
Over
the past few weeks, I have commented on a few students’ blogs on their ideas of
the uses of different forms of technology. I found it difficult as I didn't feel like I had anything constructive to say. I decided to start off by adding
all of the students in the course as friends and visiting at least three blogs
a week and read through their reflections. This was easy enough to do and I got
really great insight into others’ ideas of incorporating technology into
teaching; however, I still found it difficult to find something to say and no
one commented on any of my postings. I finally posted my first comment after
reading a blog in which diagrams were used to represent ideas and information.
I found this to be an exceptional idea, and wanted to use it in my own
reflections.
Recently,
I have started feeling more confident in commenting on others’ blogs and
e-mailed a couple of students about viewing and commenting on each other’s
work. After doing so, I read through the students’ reflections and posted a few
comments. Below is a list of links to each of these comments.
Giving
and receiving feedback is an important part of any collaborative learning
experience. Feedback however is only beneficial if it is constructive and given
in a way that it can be understood by the receiver. I've learned that feedback
needs to:
- Start
and end positively
- Be
specific
- Provide
ideas, information and alternatives
- Be
descriptive
Although,
I didn't receive much feedback, I've read that when receiving feedback:
- Listen
and consider what is being said
- Be
clear about what is being said
- Ask
others on what areas you would like feedback
- Use
the feedback to make a decision for the next step
- Thank
the person for the feedback
(Sills, 2011, para. 4).
Feedback needs to be:
 |
| Source: The information presented in this image are directly adapted from Sills (2011) |
----->Benefits vs. Drawbacks <-----
------> Allowed
me to learn from others
-----> Gave
me insight into different perspectives
-----> Allowed
me to share my ideas with others
-----> Supported
students to connect, work together and form groups
-----> Can
support students to improve their work
-----> Supports
and builds communication abilities
-----> Broadened
my knowledge
<-----Difficult
to start discussions
Online collaboration in the classroom
I
will implement online collaboration into my own teaching. This week’s course readings
have given me insight into how to effectively do so.
It
does not work if students form groups and are given assignment guidelines
without effective instructional strategy (Morrison, 2012, para. 4). Thus, the
teacher needs to create a suitable activity and consider what approach is
suitable to the students and their learning (Morrison, 2012, para. 4). The
teacher needs to ensure that students are aware of the expectations and understand
how to give constructive feedback.
Additionally,
I will consider the four-stage continuum of learner-learner interaction by
George Siemens (2002) which includes communication, cooperation, collaboration
and community building. Throughout this course, I've experienced all but one of
the stages. Students had to comment on each others’ blog postings
(communication), shared ideas (collaboration), and finally build relationships
with peers and shared ideas (community building). To support students in line
with the four-stage continuum I will:
- Consider the students’ communication abilities and if they need further support, create an activity to build on their skills and relate it to something relevant to students i.e. Facebook.
- Consider appropriate groups and give groups an overall goal or objective that needs to be achieved. Each member however has a particular objective that contributes to the overall goal.
- Encourage students to share ideas and to give each other constructive feedback by setting assessments, tasks and activities that requires collaboration. I will also ensure that I use an effective instructional strategy.
- Support students to form good relationships with their peers, allow them to discuss their learning experiences and share their ideas and work with knowledgeable others from around the world. I will support their safety by monitoring the blogs, comments etc. and setting boundaries, rules and expectations.
References
Morrison, D. (2012, April 27). Online groups – Cooperative or
Collaborative? [Blog post]. Retrieved from
https://onlinelearninginsights.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/online-groups-cooperative-or-collaborative/
Sills, M. (2011, October 31). Giving and receiving constructive
feedback. Retrieved from
http://www.health.heacademy.ac.uk/lenses/phorus/m10002.html
