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Download fileA window into learning: case studies of online group communication and collaboration
preprint
posted on 2006-11-16, 11:56 authored by Richard E.J. Jones, Louise CookeThe two case studies presented explore the potential offered by in-depth
qualitative analysis of students’ online discussion to enhance our understanding of
how students learn. Both cases are used to illustrate how the monitoring and
moderation of online student group communication can open up a ‘window into
learning’, providing us with new insights into complex problem-solving and
thinking processes. This concept is demonstrated with examples of students’
online interaction using the group collaboration tools offered by the Blackboard
v.6 and WebCT Vista 3 Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) software platforms.
These extracts offer examples of students’ ‘thinking aloud’ while problemsolving,
showing how and why they arrived at particular outcomes and the
underlying thought processes involved. It is argued that these insights into
students’ learning processes can in turn offer us the opportunity to adapt our own
teaching practice in order to achieve a better pedagogical ‘fit’ with the learning
needs of our students. This may be, for example, through a more precise and
targeted or more timely intervention on the part of a tutor to correct a
misunderstanding that has become apparent through monitoring of student-tostudent
discussion online. It is also suggested that looking through this ‘window’
enables us to concentrate our assessment more closely on the process of task
completion, rather than focussing solely on the end product.
History
School
- Science
Department
- Information Science
Pages
91832 bytesCitation
JONES, R.E.J. and COOKE, L., 2006. A window into learning: case studies of online group communication and collaboration. Research in Learning Technology, 14 (3), pp.261-274.Publisher
© Taylor and FrancisVersion
- SMUR (Submitted Manuscript Under Review)
Publication date
2006Notes
This is a preprint of an article submitted for consideration in the ALT-J © [2006] Association for Learning Technology; ALT-J is available online at: http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com/openurl.asp?genre=article&issn=0968-7769&volume=14&issue=3&spage=261.ISSN
2156-7077;2156-7069Language
- en