Learning about online collaboration: pedagogical perspectives

1. Learning about online collaboration: pedagogical perspectives Stanley Oldfield and David Morse Department of Computing The UK Open University

2. Overview • Online collaboration • Learning outcomes • Appropriate technology • What students and tutors need to understand • Our course • Student and tutor reactions • Recommendations

3. Why collaborate? • Collective knowledge • Understanding other perspectives • Activity based learning • Social constructivism • Learning the disciplinary discourse • Communities of practice • Requirements of employers • Requirements of professional bodies

4. Why collaborate online? • Motivational and vocational– we need to reflect current usage in both social and business contexts • Extensional – we need to provide a platform for interaction to take place over longer time periods and across wider geographical areas • Functional – we need to provide facilities for archiving interactions, sharing information, co-creation of shared artefacts …

5. What learning outcomes are appropriate? • Acquiring knowledge and understanding of the roles, functions and dynamics of team members working on collaborative projects • Acquiring knowledge and understanding of the issues and processes that relate to collaborative planning and execution of projects in distributed contexts • Developing the ability to select and use appropriate communication media and tools to support collaboration • Developing the ability to work effectively as a member of a team • Developing the ability to reflect on, and to critically appraise, the processes and products of collaboration

6. How do we help students achieve those outcomes? • By providing a structured environment within which they can experience collaborative working in increasingly complex contexts • By providing a sequence of realistic tasks and assessments that motivate and reward collaborative participation • By providing effective and efficient tools to support collaborative activities • By focussing on the processes of collaboration rather than the products of collaboration • By building evidence-based reflection into the activities and the assessment

7. What technology is appropriate? • We need to remember that successful online collaboration is only 10% about technology and 90% about people, but good tools make interaction easier • We need tools to facilitate: • Discussion • Sharing information • Decision making • Co-authoring • Reflection • Undertaking team roles • However, too many tools distract the team, distort the task, and disrupt the process • A single point of access for all tools used is recommended for both students and tutors

8. What should students understand? • Collectiveness is more important than competitiveness • Control social interaction and concentrate on task • Identify and exploit individual knowledge and skills • Establish team rules, roles and responsibilities early on in the collaboration • When and how to use different tools / modes of communication efficiently and effectively

9. What should students understand? • Make frequent and regular contributions to team discussions • Communicate precisely and mono-thematically • Understand and value different perspectives • Give and receive constructive criticism • Behave altruistically and accept majority decisions • The importance of recording evidence to provide the basis for subsequent reflection • The need to learn from (apparent) failure

10. What should tutors understand? • To adopt a facilitating rather than a directing role • How to monitor students’ collaborative activity in an essentially hands-off mode • How to provide appropriate feedback to both individuals and teams • When and how to intervene in students’ collaborative activities • How to use new technologies and tools efficiently and effectively themselves • How to deal with emergent behaviour arising from the nature of the task and the nature of the participants

11. What do we attempt in our course? • M253: 'Team working in distributed environments‘ • Hosted by the OU Department of Computing • But NOT requiring significant understanding of technology or any specific domain knowledge • Based on tasks relating to a simple scenario, understandable by anyone who has used an online information system, hence generalisable across most subject areas • Emphasising reflection on the teamworking process rather than presentation and evaluation of the team product

12. What do we attempt in our course? • The emphasis is on exploration and negotiation – understanding and coping with other peoples' perspectives • The emphasis is on collaboration not competition • The mechanism is an iterative and incremental cycle of action, reflection and documentation • The teaching is embedded in the resources, activities and assessment • The emphasis is on dealing with real world problems, which are typically under-specified and do not admit of unique solutions • For more details about the production and presentation of our course see Oldfield and Morse (2005) and (2006)

13. How do students react? Study of M253 required you to work at a sustained and even pace throughout the course. Did you encounter any difficulties in maintaining such a pace as you progressed through the course? Yes 75.0%, No 25% How frequently did you have to use the conferencing system in order to keep up with the activities of the rest of the team? More than once a day 18.6%, daily 58.1%, a few times a week 23.3%, weekly 0.0% less than once a week 0.0% so a majority found it necessary to access at least daily (73.7%) Did you need to use the conferencing system more than you expected to when you signed up for the course? A lot more 55.8%, a little more 20.9%, as expected 20.9%, less 2.4% so a majority found it more demanding than expected (76.7%)

14. How do students react? How successfully did study of M253 enable you to develop the following skills? Planning and carrying out a team project? Very 22.2%, fairly 53.3%, not very 20.0%, not at all 4.4%: 75.5% positive Collaboration? Very 28.9%, fairly 51.1%, not very 15.6%, not at all 4.4%: 80.0% positive Writing and presentation? Very 9.1%, fairly 61.4%, not very 22.7%, not at all 6.8%: 70.5% positive Communication? Very 20.5%, fairly 61.4%, not very 15.9%, not at all 2.3%: 81.9% positive Administrative skills associated with team working? Very 13.3%, fairly 55.6%, not very 26.7%, not at all 4.4%: 68.9% positive Organisational skills associated with team working? Very 20.0%, fairly 51.1%, not very 24.4%, not at all 4.4%: 71.1% positive Having completed M253 how confident are you now in applying team working skills you have developed through the course? Very 25.6%, fairly 58.1%, not very 16.3%, not at all 0.0%: 83.7% positive

15. How do students react? Gender Enrolled Completed % Male 123 84 68 Female 50 45 90 Totals 173 129 74 so the ladies appear to be significantly more successful Age Range Enrolled Completed % 25- 20 13 62 25-29 38 26 68 30-39 63 47 75 40-49 41 35 85 50-59 8 6 75 60-64 3 2 67 Totals 173 129 74 so the older you are the more successful (up to a point!)

16. How do students react? This course was a challenging, but also a rewarding, experience. I learned, and was able to practise, strategies for resolving disputes and negotiating compromises Composing my answer to Q3 (for the final assignment) has shown just how much I have gained from this course – my flippant remark at the very beginning about doing this course only for the 10 credits seems very shallow, now that I have completed it. It was hard work The reflective practice (and evidence of) that is required by this course has not been covered by any of my OU studies up to this point, so M253 has been a timely addition to my studies It’s been an enjoyable experience overall, working with you, and I’ve picked up some good skills, especially in project planning and report writing. It’s been very intense at times, something I wasn’t expecting working electronically, but we have always delivered I have learned so much about teamwork and about myself that I wish I could do the course again knowing all I know now Reflect on your own contribution and involvement and, if necessary, change

17. How do students react? The team of individuals that began the project has changed a great deal. The first stages were unsuccessful but rich in experience. From the early mistakes we learned much. The first deliverable (milestone 0) was overdue. The second deliverable (milestone 1) was undertaken in one week. The result was quite satisfactory but the successful outcome was due to persistence of individuals rather than a team effort and was completed on time by chance rather than design. Milestone 2 was tackled in a completely different way. The team organised itself at an early stage even before any individual tasks had been undertaken. A timetable was set. Team rules were created. Team roles were defined and taken by individual members. Online team meetings were also organised which were invaluable for getting to know each other and reaching important decisions. Since then, the team became effective through good management, organisation and a good level of participation. “Understanding the roles, functions and dynamics of the members of a collaborative project, and the different ways of organising teams” was a challenge which we achieved. However, there were many ways in which the team could still improve. Working online as a team on the given project was effective and rich in experience. It gave me insight into the role of a team member.

18. How do tutors react? A very different experience, but a positive and enjoyable experience It allows you to get closer to students and how they are thinking and how they are reacting to the course materials and activities – I know the students better through following their communication You have to monitor student conferences regularly and frequently - the students expect it of you since you expect it of them! It significantly increases your workload Problems are often unanticipated and no two situations are the same. You often need support and advice from your fellow tutors and the course team

19. How do tutors react? You have to learn to allow teams to do their own thing but to respond very rapidly to tricky problems. It’s like fire-fighting You need to intervene more often to push teams on deviations from schedule rather than deviations from task, to move them from discussion to decision / action. But don’t intervene unless nothing is happening! You need to advise team members who think that they should be the leader because of their role in real-life! Assessment is difficult because there are no ‘right’ answers. No two submissions are the same and you can’t provide specimen answers But they come back for more!

20. What do institutions need to do? • Ensure that they provide coherent development of online collaborative experience over a degree programme • Ensure that they provide an online environment flexible enough to incorporate all the relevant tools to support student collaboration and tutor observation • Ensure that all staff are kept up-to-date with both the technological and the pedagogical implications of introducing new communication technologies and tools into the teaching and learning process • Ensure that they engage in routine evaluative trials of new technologies and tools prior to wholesale adoption, rather than simply following the latest fashion • Ensure that they recognise and reward faculty for the extra workload involved in developing and running online collaborative courses

21. A few fairly recent references • Bennett R., Chan, L.K. & Polaine, A. (2004) The future has already happened: dispelling some myths of online education, The Omnium Project, University of New South Wales, Australia. • Gustafson P. & Gibbs D. (2000) Guiding or Hiding: The Role of the Facilitator in Online Teaching and Learning, Teaching Education, 11(2) pp195-210 • Haythornthwaite C. (2006) Facilitating Collaboration in Online Learning, Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 10(1) pp 7-24 • Kozlowski W.J. & Ilgen D.R. (2006) Enhancing the Effectiveness of Work Groups and Teams, Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 7(3) pp 77-123 • Meyer K.A. (2006) The Method (and Madness) of Evaluating Online Discussions, Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 10(1) pp 83-97 • Oldfield S.J. & Morse D.R. (2005) Truly Virtual Teams: (Team) Work-in-Progress, Proceedings 6th Annual HEA-ICS Conference • Oldfield S.J. & Morse D.R. (2006) Developing Online Team Skills, Proceedings e-Learning Conference ’06, Coimbra, Portugal • Osman G. (2006) Learning Through Collaboration: Student Perspectives, ISSOTL Conference • Turoff M. (2006) The Changing Role of Faculty and Online Education, Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 10(6) pp 129-138