Online Collaboration and Online Communities

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