Collaboration, Technology and Constructivism

Mod 3 Collaboration

I do believe that the majority of humans have a basic instinct to interact and work as a group. Just recently, my daughter completed a comprehensive study of her aptitudes so that she might be better informed in making decisions for her major in college and her career path. We visited the Johnson O’Connor Research Foundation, and while conferencing about her results, we not only learned about her personal aptitudes for doing things but we also learned that she fell into the 7% population that would prefer to work independently rather than the 93% who would prefer to work collaboratively. That doesn’t necessarily mean she doesn’t enjoy other people, it simply means that she would rather complete tasks on her own terms so owning her own business is her forte. As a teacher and a parent listening to the results, it made me realize that almost everyone would much rather work in the collaborative setting doing a small part to achieve a common goal.

According to Rheingold, cooperation is based on trust. If you can prove to be trustworthy when interacting with another person then a sense of cooperation can evolve. The reference to prisoners’ dilemma that was used in his video justifies one’s desire to co-depend. If we can rely on each other and come to some semblance of agreement then the prisoner’s dilemma would become “the assurance game” and the path to success would be more doable.

The instantaneous availability and wealth of knowledge improved by the onset of the Internet has changed the way students can access and process information. But the real change in how students learn is brought about by the interaction with other learners as knowledge is built upon the exchange of creative ideas facilitated by the growth in technology. Technologies that include email, wikis, blogs, Google Docs, synchronized chats, Skype, and discussion forums invite learners to have synchronous and asynchronous learning experiences that allow for global exchange of ideas. The constructivist theory of learning is based on making connections and establishing meaning in the process of learning.

The Internet and its collaborative efforts invites students to be more self-directed learners. With the use of hypertext, students can direct their learning by selectively choosing their path or discovery. Hypertext also integrates visual, audio and textual modalities that assist in accommodating various learning styles. The resources available online that include libraries of databases, research articles, journals, eBooks, videos, podcasts and more facilitates inquiry by inviting the learners to make their own selection of documents to retrieve.

The constructivist theory encourages learners to actively engage learners in their process of learning and one such strategy is to incorporate collaborative learning. Technology can help foster collaboration by helping to link students who share a common goal or interest. For example, in distance education, students from around the world, separated by time and location can be brought together in the shared computer space to communicate, share knowledge and learn from each other. The use of group discussions also offer opportunities for learners to reflect about their previous experiences and it helps promote non-bias communication. Some students might not speak in a face-to-face situation but might freely contribute in technology related collaboration.
A three study conducted by Musanti and Pence (2010) on collaboration and teacher development was created to help in-service teachers better address the needs of their ELL students in their classrooms. Their findings indicate that the teachers were able to collectively construct knowledge and overcome feelings of isolation.

Comments were added to the following two blogs:
http://cothran7105.blogspot.com/
http://crjoneswaldenu.blogspot.com/

Resources:
California Adult Literacy Professional Development Program. (nd). How Does Technology Facilitate Constructivist Learning? Retrieved from: http://www.calpro-online.org/eric/docs/brown/brown01_05.pdf

Musanti, Sandra I.; Pence, Lucretia (2010). Collaboration and teacher development: Unpacking resistance, constructing knowledge, and navigating identities. Teacher Education Quarterly. 37(1). p73-89, 17p Retrieved from: http://web.ebscohost.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=6&hid=12&sid=35ca8079-1f35-481a-8d95-4aea83a2a92f%40sessionmgr12

Rheingold, H. (2008, February). Howard Rheingold on collaboration [Video file]. Retrieved from 
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/howard_rheingold_on_collaboration.html