Online Collaborative Learning, also known as “OCL”, if this instructional method is offered to students in a way that engages and creates enjoyment among students (Zhang, Liu, & Lee, 2021), is a wonderful addition to any course: online, hybrid, and in person, instructor-led courses alike.
The goal of this post is to introduce the raw truth of online collaborative learning: it must be used correctly. As I work in higher education, I will focus on how online collaborative learning can be incorporated into higher education courses.
A key quality of a successful online collaborative learning community is that the community is facilitated, at least initially, by an instructor who specializes in the theme, subject, or topic of the online collaborative learning community at hand. “Initiation”, or “establishing the essential knowledge for students’ collaboration in the initial stage of a course” (Tsai, 2009), is an important step to help set up your students for success.
Do you feel that an instructor needs to initiate an online collaborative learning by introducing the theme, the subject, or the topic at hand to students before students begin to collaborate in an online environment (such as a website, any social media sites, a forum within a Learning Management System, or LMS, a web conferencing platform, or an instant messaging medium)? Take a moment to answer this question in your head.
If you answered the above question with “yes, I do feel that an instructor needs to initiate an online collaborative learning community by introducing the theme, the subject or the topic at hand to students”, then, personally, I agree with you!
If you answered the above question with “no, I don’t feel that an instructor needs to initiate an online collaborative learning community by introducing the theme, subject or topic at hand to students”, why do you feel this way? My guess is that maybe you think that an instructor can add unnecessary pressure, dissuade students from providing their free-flowing thoughts toward the conversation, or simply intervene in a generally negative way, due to the student-centered nature of online collaborative learning environments. Did any of these points align with your thoughts? The conversation (or conversations) within an online collaborative learning community, and the community itself, will grow if students feel engagement and enjoyment with their fellow students. Personally, I think a way to positively influence conversation is to have a specialist, such as an instructor or expert, initiate an online collaborative learning community. However, then this instructor must make sure to step back and allow students to create the heart, soul, and vocal cords of the online collaborative learning community. Of course, as an instructor, re-initiate the community whenever need be.
To reiterate, follow these steps to create an online collaborative learning community for your students:
- Initiate the online collaborative learning community.
- Take a step backward & let students initiate their conversation(s).
- Re-initiate the online collaborative learning community if need be.
Let’s create an online collaborative learning community ourselves. Imagine an undergraduate media course instructor in higher education. There is so much opportunity for this instructor to use online collaborative learning to create a community for students. The media instructor could initiate the community by asking students to create a media project based on a theme, subject, or topic that the students are passionate about, post their project within the online collaborative learning medium for their peers to view, critique and/or praise, and proceed to interact with their peers in a positive, fulfilling way. This new community “could contribute to the development of students’ computing skills and competence” (Tsai, 2009), these two qualities relating to media.
Think about how you can create an online collaborative learning community yourself, because the benefits of online collaborative learning communities can be seen in online collaborative learning communities centered on any subject. Follow the three steps I have outlined, and best wishes to you that your online collaborative learning community and students will thrive.
Thanks so much for learning with me!
~CLL
References
Tsai, C.-W. (2009, May). Do students need teacher’s initiation in online collaborative learning? Computers & Education, 54(4), 1137-1144. https://doi-org.csumb.idm.oclc.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2009.10.021
Zhang, Z., Liu, T., & Lee, C. B. (2021, June). Language Learners’ enjoyment and emotion regulation in online collaborative learning. System, 98. https://doi-org.csumb.idm.oclc.org/10.1016/j.system.2021.102478