Collaborative learning and teaching

What is the role of collaboration in understanding?  And if it helps increase understandings and knowledge then what is the responsibility, and how do we build in collaboration in learning particularly in virtual environments?  And if it helps in learning, how can it help in teaching? 

While a social constructionist perspective definitely sees understanding as coming from a shared social space, most of us probably have anecdotal support for the role of collaboration in understanding, whether it be through the exposure to different perspectives from one's own or the requirement to articulate a view to others; this is also often a iterative process, allowing all parties to come to new understandings. An obvious example of this would be this blogging assignment: not only do I understand the concept better as I explain myself, but I also benefit from reading and commenting on my group's blogs as well as their comments on this one.

If we see learning as coming to a new understanding, then learning could certainly be assisted via collaboration. In an online learning environment, this collaboration is often not as easy to come by in a f2f class, especially a f2f class that has a student participation component, as they often do. As a result, it becomes even more important for an online teacher to build in collaboration in order to expose students to more views and facilitate social reflection.

Often overlooked is the importance of collaboration in teaching. As an adjunct who goes from school to school and often does not see other English instructors unless I go out of my way to seek them, I have a distinct understanding of how lack of collaboration hurts teaching. I have often had the feeling of trying to reinvent the wheel, knowing that someone has probably figured out a better approach or what to do in a situation. From the perspective of a librarian in a school setting, teaching goals are similar if not exactly aligned with the instructor's, so collaboration makes perfect sense. (For instance, how many college classes have essays that require source use? That's information literacy.) Additionally, what a librarian teaches will "stick" better if the student can tie it directly to other course work (i.e., transfer) and collaboration helps ensure this.

Online v. F2F

In what ways is online learning qualitatively different than face to face learning?

Certainly the largest difference between the two is that in online learning all interaction is mediated through a computer instead of "face to face." Because of this, interaction online is often asynchronous. Thus, online learning poses more challenges in facilliatating interaction between students and teachers and students and other students. Online learning becomes a more individual activity as students need to find the time for a class that is often spread over the week instead of meeting at designated times. Feedback is easily delayed in online classes. However, for a student who prefers to think before speaking, online classes can better suit communication style, with their use of discussion boards and email messaging versus the F2F classroom discussion. Also, this format can facillitate questions from students to instructors, especially from students who are shy; however, some students would be less likely to ask questions in this form. Verbal feedback is easier in F2F classes and it can be easier to avoid misunderstandings - however, this is certainly not guarenteed. At any rate, confusions or misunderstandings take longer to resolve online. In all, online learning takes more effort to create social learning; however, because of this, the social learning that does happen is probably more focused.