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Collaborative Online Learning

© Audrey Choden

Collaborative learning isn't anything new. Small group discussions and study sessions are collaborative learning activities that have been used in education and training for decades.

So what is collaborative online learning? Is it simply a bunch of buzzwords or is it a valid instructional strategy?

Collaborative online learning involves four things:

Two or more peers with a shared learning goal.

A workspace or learning environment in which collaboration can be accomplished.

An interactive, facilitated process or structure for the learning experience.

One or more electronic or computerized tools to support collaboration activities.

Some people confuse Web-based training with collaborative online learning. In Web-based training, the learner works alone, determining the pace of the course that is delivered using an Internet browser. Collaborative online learning requires a team of learners led by a facilitator in a virtual classroom using tools such as:

E-mail

Discussion groups

Online forms

Chat

Whiteboard

File sharing

Instant messaging

Video or audio conferencing

In a virtual setting, collaboration can occur simultaneously or at different times. Simultaneous collaboration is referred to as synchronous e-learning. According to Brandon Hall's glossary of new technology definitions, synchronous or live e-learning means that communication occurs at the same time between individuals and information is accessed instantly. Examples include chat, instant messaging and video or audio conferencing. Hall's definition of asynchronous e-learning is when communication between people does not occur simultaneously. Examples include e-mail messages and discussion group postings.

In his article "The Network is the Teacher: Collaborative E-Learning," Richard Horn says "empowering learners in a collaborative e-learning setting fosters interactivity, responsibility for learning, and measurable learning outcomes...Collaborative learning is really not a technique as much as an architecture."

In an issue of his TechLearn Trends newsletter, Elliott Masie goes one step further by using the concept of team learning. In other words, he shifts the focus from the individual learner to a team of learners. He writes "Rather than think of the learner as a single person, why not deliver learning services to a team. If the key unit of performance is the team, why not service the learning needs of the team...Collaboration becomes a core element in this model and we focus the activity on raising the overall performance of the team, with both training and support."

However, this doesn't mean collaborative online learning is reserved only for teams. As an individual learner, you can take advantage of free collaborative online learning tools on the Web by participating in discussion groups, video/audio conferencing, and a host of other activities. Some of these are listed under Resources below.