This project, conducted in late 2007 and early
2008 on behalf of the Victorian Department of
Education and Early Childhood Development’s
(DEECD) Ed Channel, focussed on the effectiveness
of collaborative online communities in fostering
and supporting student engagement, and the
effect of such communities on learning outcomes.
Specifically, it aimed to identify the impact such
social softwares have on the relationships that
students form within an online group or com-
munity, the role of that learning community in
the engagement of students as learners, and
the role of the teacher in utilising these social
softwares. p.26
‘It’s funner’: Teacher-directed
collaborative online communities
Pam Macintyre and Ric Canale
Huffaker (2005) suggests that blogs are both
individualistic and collaborative: the blogger can:
develop highly personalised content. Yet
bloggers connect with an online community . . .
creating an interwoven, dynamic organisation . . .
(2005, p. 94).
Fundamental to the educational opportunities
provided by blogs, is the students’ active role in
producing content, not merely being recipients of
it, and the diverse perspectives they encounter
and contribute (Ferdig & Trammell, 2004, p. 13).
Teachers and students were interviewed to
explore student engagement, factors assisting
community building and participants’ perceptions
of intended and actual educational outcomes.
Teachers were asked, for example: What were your
reasons for using this mode of communication
with your class? How important is ease of use?
Are your learning and teaching/pedagogical
objectives different in this mode than in traditional
delivery? Do you think teaching and learning is
deeper/more meaningful/analytical/critical/
engaging in this mode? Is the teacher-student,
student-student relationship different in this
environment?
Students were asked: Do you prefer on-line
interactions or face-to-face teaching and discus-
sion? Is the relationship with your teacher different
online compared to face-to-face mode? How
important is ease of use? Do you think you learn
better/express yourself more easily in this mode?
How important is the knowledge that you are
communicating with a ‘real’ audience? Student
and teacher-generated blog sites and wikis were
also examined. p.27
The study found that students liked online communication with teacher through wiki's and blogs because it is;
• Less formal;
• Easier to initiate, in the sense that the student
didn’t have to compete with others for the
teacher’s attention. “Yes, you get more of her
time than if you’re sitting with her because
there’s always other kids around talking to her
as well. But on the internet it’s easier to talk
to her”.
• Private, in the sense that other students
aren’t listening to their questions so they
don’t feel self-conscious about displaying
misunderstandings (this point was made
specifically in relation to email communications
and is not relevant to public blogs). “Because
noone’s listening, and you get more time with
them. Also because in class you can’t always
be talking to your friends, but with wikis you
can talk about your work as well, and no one
can interrupt. You can say what you want to
say. You’re more confident; you’ve got time to
say what you want to say”.
• Clearer and more accurate, because there is
time for reviewing and editing, and
• Convenient, because students regularly spend
time online anyway. p.29
Title: 'It's funnier' : teacher-directed collaborative online communities.
Personal Author: Macintyre, Pam; Canale, Ric
Author Affiliation: University of Melbourne. Graduate School of Education ; La Trobe University
Source: Synergy; v.7 n.1 p.26-30; 2009
Journal Title: Synergy
