Collaborative Learning
Collaborative learning is a learning process that brings learners together (including the teacher) and enables students to be responsible for their own learning as well as the learning of their peers. Collaborative learning is aimed at having students fully appreciate the process of building knowledge together and improving learning outcomes by collective knowledge and collective capability. We might link these ideas with the concept of kotahitanga, as outlined in this week's in class video from Trevor Moeke
The first activity of this session will be using Scratch, a visual programming tool with Makey Makey kits to make a musical instrument.
Scratch is a project of the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab, and it helps young people learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively. With Scratch you can program your own stories, games and animations and share and use other projects on the online library. When combined with a Makey Makey it can be used to respond to external events to create interactive programs. Makey Makey is an electronic circuit board that allows users to connect everyday objects to computer programs that respond to events.
After the activity, we will reflect on how constructionist and constructivist theories apply to this type of learning.
Some other ways in which Makey Makeys can be used are:
- Building scientific instruments
- Flight simulators
- Power motors
- Lighting LED's
- Rain gauge
- Home security system
- Selfie switch
- Bringing code to life.
These ideas are described in the video on the portal: Makey Makey: An invention kit for everyone.
Learning Theories
A learning theory is about changes in observable behaviour. It addresses: how such changes become relatively permanent, whether the change is immediate or potential, what role experience plays, and what aspects of reinforcement are present (Olsen & Hergenhahn, 2013).
These top ten learning theories are particularly relevant to digital and collaborative learning
- Conditioning
- Connectionism and the Law of Effect
- Progressive Education
- Constructivism: Social Development Theory
- Constructivism: Equilibration
- Social Cognitive Theory
- Situated Learning / Cognition
- Community of Practice
- Constructionism
- Connectivism
Constructionism
Constructionism argues that collaborative learning is particularly effective in environments where learners are required to actually produce what Seymour Papert refers to as a 'social product' - and this may be anything from a robot to a computer game or even a mathematical theory.
Papert & Harel (1991) state that constructionism is the idea of learning-by-making and that these activities display qualities of "learning-richness":
"The simplest definition of constructionism evokes the idea of learning-by-making... I do not believe that anyone fully understands what gives these activities their quality of "learning-richness." But this does not prevent one from taking them as models in benefiting from the presence of new technologies to expand the scope of activities with that quality." Papert & Harel (1991)
Constructivism
Constructivism is based on a type of learning in which the learner forms, or constructs, much of what he or she learns or comprehends (Cashman et al., 2005). This means that knowledge is constructed, and transformed by students. The learning process is something a learner does by either activating already existing cognitive structures, or by constructing new ones that accommodate the new input. Learners do not passively receive knowledge from the teacher; teaching becomes a transaction between all the stakeholders in the learning process. One of the ideas associated with constructivism is Vygotsky's zone of proximal development (what the learner can do with the guidance of a knowledgeable other).
ITL Rubrics
In this session we will be focusing on the 'Collaboration' rubric and the 'Use of ICT skills for learning’ rubric.
The ITL rubrics can be found at https://education.microsoft.com/GetTrained/ITL-Research
You can also view a student videos on collaboration and ICT for Learning on the portal (in this week's media) or look for other videos using the relevant hashtags in the Google+ community.
The important thing to bear in mind is that, as defined in the rubrics, ICT is not a tool in isolation but something that enables new ways of learning. “ICT is a powerful tool to promote and support a wide range of 21st century skills, including all other Learning Design rubrics. For example, ICT can help students to collaborate in ways that were not possible before, or to communicate through new mediums of expression.“ (ITL Research, 2012).
Cooperation and Collaboration
Dillenbourg (1999) identifies the difference between collaboration and cooperation as defined by a degree in the division of labour. In cooperation, partners split the work, solve sub-tasks individually and then assemble the partial results into the final output. In collaboration, partners do the work 'together' (Dillenbourg, 1999). Similarly, Kozar (2010) uses the analogy of a pot luck dinner to compare cooperation and collaboration. In a potluck dinner, people cook and bring different dishes to the table. Had they cooked together they would have learned a lot more from one another; they would have taken away some practical, hands-on skills even if cooking together had meant a messier and a more chaotic process. In the cooperative process, guests return back to their homes being able to cook only the same dish they brought. In collaboration, guests cook together to gain new knowledge or experience from the interaction.
References
Cashman et al. (2005). Teachers Discovering Computers: Integrating Technology and Digital Media in the Classroom (4th Ed.) Cambridge: Course Technology.
Dillenbourg, P. (1999). What do you mean by collaborative learning? In P. Dillenbourg (Ed.). Collaborative-learning: Cognitive and Computational Approaches. Oxford: Elsevier
ITL Research. (2012). 21CLD Learning Activity Rubrics. Retrieved from https://education.microsoft.com/GetTrained/ITL-Research
Kozar, O. (2010). Towards Better Group Work: Seeing the Difference between Cooperation and Collaboration. English Teaching Forum, 48(2), 16-23.
Olsen, M. & Hergenhahn, B. (2013). An Introduction to Theories of Learning (9th ed.) Boston, Mass: Pearson.
Papert, S. & Harel, I. (1991). Constructionism. Ablex Publishing
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