Beldarrain, Yoany. (2006). Distance Education Trends: Integrating new technologies to foster student interaction and collaboration. Distance Education, 27(2), p139-153. Retrieved from ProQuest Database on May 21, 2007.
Summary
In this article, the author discusses the reasons why student interaction and collaboration are so important and how to utilize new technologies to increase this aspect of distance education. He points out that many learning theories tout the virtues of interaction. Situated learning theory says that students need to be involved in solving problems in communities, and the goal of anchored instruction is to improve students' problem solving skills by having them role play or interact to come up with solutions. Engagement theory brings technology into the mix--it says that technology actually makes unique kinds of engagement and interaction possible for students. Last, social learning theory "interprets human behavior as the product of a person's interaction with the cognitive, behavioral, and environmental influences that surround him [or her]"(148).
The author offers up several new ways to foster collaboration in distance education. First are blogs. Blogs provide students with a 'real' audience and allow them to share their reflections with other students. Instructors can also use blogs to create class community by using them to post information or reflections of their own. Podcasting is another new technology that may foster interaction and community by allowing them a medium to share information with other students. If students create podcasts to share, they can collaborate on teams to create the podcast and also create community by sharing these feeds with other students. Podcasts also allow an instructor to "push" certain information to all students (by having them subscribe to those podcasts), thereby ensuring that the entire learning community is getting the same information. Wikis can also be used to create community by allowing students to actually collaborate to create content. Last, instructors can access open source software to use with students and further create a feeling of community. Three options are described: Imeem, a social networking software that allows students to blog, share files, and chat; InstaColl, an application that allows students to edit Microsoft Office documents and meet or chat live; and Writeboard, which lets students access shared files from the Internet and allows the instructor to see who has contributed what.
All of these new technologies focus on the needs of today's learners--the desire to be self directed yet part of a group and the need for quick feedback. They also shift the role of the instructor to more of a partner. Although barriers exist (cost, equal access to computers, lack of support), these tools need to be explored to further student collaboration online.
Response
I found this article poorly organized for one thing. It was hard to follow how the author wanted all of the information he gave to fit together. But I did get the basic idea: there are a lot of tools out there the help online learners feel more connected. We have looked at most of these tools (and used them) in class, or at least looked at something similar, and while I've always seen distance learning as a pretty isolating way to learn, I'm starting to feel differently. I didn't realize there were so many ways for students to still connect to each other and their instructor, and not just feel like they're 'floating' out there in cyberspace. However, when we've used the tools, it's been as a part of a face-to-face class, so I'm not sure how connected they would truly make me feel in a class that was solely done online.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
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