Collaborative Collaborative Language Language Learning Learning

in Class and in Class and OnlineOnline

Rada BalanCem Can

Introduction:

the late 18th century, George Jardine employed collaborative learning (CL) methods for his philosophy classes at the University of Glasgow.

He came to believe that“...the teacher should move to the perimeter of the action...and allow the students freedom to...learn from one another” (Gaillet, 1994).

Introduction:

However, it is only recently, with the advent of the new technologies, that many academics and instructors have become

interested in exploring possible alternative methods of course design and delivery.

individualindividualvs. collaborativecollaborative:

Individual learningcan be pretty effective, but it is well known that the involvement of students in collaborative activities contributes to knowledge acquisition (Dillenbourg, 1999).

Collaborative activities can facilitate the development of student’s personal and social skills which might not be so strengthen when learning individually, such as making ideas explicit, communicating with others, reasoning, arguing, negotiating, etc.

They reduce the potential isolation of students learning through the Web, and supports the communication among them to exchange ideas, doubts, knowledge and so on (Barros, 1998; Muehlenbrock, 1999).

Collaborative LearningCollaborative Learning

• a situation in which two or more people

learnorattempt to learn something together((Dillenbourg, 2003Dillenbourg, 2003))

CL: academic CL: academic benefitsbenefits

promotes critical thinking skills

involves students actively in the learning process

improves classroom results

models appropriate student problem-solving techniques

CL: CL: social benefitssocial benefits

develops a social support system for students

builds diversity understanding among students and staff

establishes a positive atmosphere for modeling and practicing cooperation

encourages individual and group accountability through the assignment of specific roles/tasks

CL: CL: psychological benefitspsychological benefits

can increase students’ self esteem

develops positive attitudes towards teachers

helps bring students to the proximal zone of development due to its very nature of collaboration

CL: areas of concern

cultural expectations of appropriate roles of teachers and learners

individual learning styles or preferences

over-reliance on the first language

exposure to imperfect language models and incorrect feedback

problems of evaluation

Project work in CL

encourages learning by doing

promotes co-operation and team work

empowers students

develops learner autonomy

enhances students’ feeling of ownership

combines process and product (process as important as product)

Enhances creativity, imagination

helps personal development

CSCL: CSCL: introductionintroduction

In the 80s, a new area of research emerged:

Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) (Slavin, 1980).

CSCL, if implemented appropriately, can provide

an ideal environment in

whichinteraction among students plays a central role in the learning process.

CSCL: CSCL: theoriestheories

Some of the theories used in CSCL are:

the Sociocultural Theory (Vygotsky, 1978)

the Constructivism Theory (Bruner, 1966), and

the Situated Cognition Theory (Brown et al, 1989) .

They all assume that individuals are active agents that are seeking and constructing their knowledge within a meaningful context.

Benefits of CSCLBenefits of CSCL

CSCL can be at least as great as those within a classroom. In an asynchronous environment, students do not need to

meet at a regular place at regular times, so “missing a session” assumes less importance.

Fruitful and constructive discussion and dialogue can take place at any time of the day or night, whenever inspiration or enthusiasm strikes.

Good ideas are less likely to be lost, and thoughts can be followed through without regard to the normal time constraints.

Opinions can be considered on their merits, without some of the stereotypical assumptions that may be superimposed in a face-to-face environment based on the speaker’s gender, physical appearance, or mannerisms.

Benefits of CSCLBenefits of CSCL

Employers - whether private or public corporations, government organizations, or small business - are today more than ever ranking generic skills at least as highly as subject-content knowledge when they select graduates. Among the most frequently listed and highly prized of

those generic skills are computer literacy and the ability to work effectively in a team environment. If introduced appropriately into the curriculum, CSCL has the potential to provide students with both.

CSCL: difficultiesCSCL: difficulties

“Redesigning an education system is a relatively easy exercise. Changing one’s own method of teaching, especially when it has been acclaimed as successful by all the old standards, is very much harder.”

Bruffee (1999)

CSCL: difficultiesCSCL: difficulties

Salmon (2000) suggests that in any computer-supported session, the instructor might need to be a chair, host, lecturer, tutor, facilitator, mediator of team debates, mentor, provocateur, observer, participant, co-learner, assistant, community organizer, or some combination of these.

The skills required on the part of the instructor are more complex and diverse than those required for a face-to-face lecture. Thus, instructors need to be prepared for the different roles they will have to assume.

CSCL: difficultiesCSCL: difficulties

The students coming to CSCL courses for the first time can be apathetic or sometimes openly hostile. This might stem from the “CS,” or the “CL.”

The solution to both of these problems is to ensure that students are computer-literate and used to the idea of working in teams prior to the commencement of the course. This can be best achieved by having computer skills and teamwork introduced as core components of an introductory course.

Instead of conclusions

“Societies would not exist, exchange goods and services would not take place, entertainment would not be possible, occupations would not be available, education would be unheard of- complete anarchy would exist without cooperation.”

( Johnson & Johnson, 1994)

rada_balan@yahoo.comcemcan@cu.edu.tr

Thank you!

two or more two or more

may be interpreted as a pair, a small group (3-5 people), a class (20-30 people), a community (a few hundreds or

thousands of people), a society (several thousands or millions

of people) . . . and all intermediate levels

learn somethinglearn something

may be interpreted as "follow a course", "study course material", "perform learning activities such as

problem solving”, "learn from lifelong work practice",

etc.;

togethertogether

may be interpreted as different forms of interaction: face-to-face or computer-mediated, synchronous or not, frequent in time or not, whether it is a truly joint effort or whether the labor is divided in a

systematic way

the Sociocultural Theory the Sociocultural Theory

Learning awakens a variety of internal developmental processes that are able to operate only when the learner is interacting with people in his/her environment and in cooperation with peers.

Vygotsky, 1978, p. 90

the Constructivism Theory the Constructivism Theory

learning is an active process in which learners construct new ideas or concepts based upon their current/past knowledge. The learner selects and transforms information, constructs hypotheses, and makes decisions, relying on a cognitive structure to do so.

Bruner, 1966

the Situated Cognition Theory the Situated Cognition Theory

emphasizes that in educational settings, students should be given authentic tasks that have a real-world focus. They complete these tasks by working together as a team, sharing problems, and acquiring knowledge that will be beneficial in the real world. Thus, the situation allows them to link the context with the knowledge learned, which can be applied in other situations.

Panitz (2001) suggests CSCL develops: higher level thinking skills; stimulates critical thinking; helps students clarify ideas through discussion

and debate; enhances skill building and practice; develops oral communication skills; fosters metacognition in students; and improves students’ recall of text content

through cooperative discussions

CSCL promotes critical thinking skills

CL involves students in the learning processCL involves students in the learning process

CL: creates an environment of active, involved, exploratory learning; encourages student responsibility for learning; involves students in developing curriculum and class

procedures; provides training in effective teaching strategies to the next

generation of teachers; helps students wean themselves away from considering

teachers the sole sources of knowledge and understanding; fits in well with the TQM and CQI models of effective

management; promotes a learning goal rather than a performance goal; fits in well with the constructivist approach; and allows students to exercise a sense of control on task.

CL improves classroom resultsCL improves classroom results

Panitz (2001) suggests that CL: promotes higher achievement and class attendance; promotes a positive attitude toward the subject matter; increases student retention; enhances self

management skills; increases students’ persistence in the completion of

assignments and the likelihood of successful completion of assignments;

helps students stay on task more and be less disruptive;

and promotes innovation in teaching and classroom techniques

CL models problem-solving techniques

CL: fosters modeling of problem solving techniques by

students’ peers; allows assignment of more challenging tasks without

making the workload unreasonable; can help weaker students improve their performance when

grouped with higher achieving students; provides stronger students with the deeper understanding

that comes only from teaching material; leads to the generation of more and better questions in

class; provides a safe environment for alternate problem

solutions; and addresses learning style differences among students

CL develops a social support system

promotes student-teacher interaction and familiarity;

develops social interaction skills;

promotes positive societal responses to problems and fosters a supportive environment within which to manage conflict resolution;

creates a stronger social support system;

fosters and develops interpersonal relationships;

and helps students to develop responsibility for each other

CL builds diversity understanding

builds more positive heterogeneous relationships;

encourages diversity understanding;

fosters a greater ability in students to view situations from others’ perspectives (development of empathy);

and helps majority and minority populations in a class learn to work with each other (different ethnic groups, men and women, traditional and non-traditional students)

CL establishes a positive atmosphere for modeling and practicing cooperation

helpsto model desirable social behaviors necessary for employment situations that utilize teams and groups;

fosters team building and a team approach to problem solving while maintaining individual accountability;

creates environments where students can practice building leadership skills;

develops learning communities;

provides the foundation for developing learning communities within institutions and in courses;

helps to promote social and academic relationships well beyond the classroom and individual course;

and helps teachers change their roles from their being the focus of the teaching process to becoming facilitators of the learning process (they move from teacher-centered to student-centered learning).

CL can increase students’ self esteem

group learning can help to reduce anxiety;

enhance student satisfaction with the learning experience;

promote a mastery attribution pattern rather than helpless attribution pattern;

and encourage students to seek help and accept tutoring from their peers

CL develops positive attitudes

can create a more positive attitude on the

part of students towards their instructors;

and create a more positive attitude by

instructors toward their students;

and set high expectations for students and teachers.

individuals are held accountable for the success of each of the other members

self -evaluation of their participation, of the value of their contribution and their attitudes and actions towards the other members is included

CL encourages individual CL encourages individual and group accountabilityand group accountability

Cultural expectations of appropriate roles of teachers and learners

teacher centered / teacher-directed classes vs student –centered /student- directed classes

possible abrogation of responsibility on the part of the teacher

the matter of appropriateness of individual responsibility and competition in education

the amount of time students wish to spend in individual experimentation or reflection, or group discussion and processing may be affected

personality differences may be so great that a member of the group needs to be re-assigned

Over-reliance on the first language

members speaking the same first language will tend to shift to first language interaction

Exposure to imperfect language models and incorrect feedback

there are voices claiming that

learners may provide poor models for each other

the inadequate knowledge of the language could result in either inappropriate or insufficient feedback

Problems of evaluation

the group accomplishment of the task

makes individual assessment difficult

Project work in blended learning

Project work in class

Writing collaborative activity exercises

Collaborative writing in class