What is Collaborative learning (By Lara van Druten)

"Collaborative learning programs are not based on individualized reading and a single final examination but rather on multiple interactions leading towards common and negotiated understandings based on differences in ideas, knowledge and attitudes amongst all the participants.

In this the educational experience is process and not just product oriented. The focus is on constructing an individual knowledge and skill base within the context of a wider group.

Participants are required to actively take on different roles within the group. In fulfilling their different roles they have to take into account their own knowledge level and understanding as well as that of the audience.

In order for this to be effective participants need to take an active approach to learning as well as take responsibility for how someone else understands. In this latter aspect the sense of ‘community’ is vital. The shared responsibility is increased by the fact that all contributions are added to a communal knowledge pool (hosted by the organization but maintained by the group itself).

Numerous researchers have investigated the relative merits of passive versus active, collaborative versus individual approaches. Collaborative learning, it is argued, promotes active learning (i.e. ‘what do I need to know to solve the problem at hand and how do I gain access to this information, rather than what is it that you are going to tell me today?’) and increasingly thoughtful participation in the learning process leading to a greater understanding of the issues being tackled. The improved results in students performance (in the various studies cited) were attributed to the fact that students had to constantly query, challenge and/or seeking justification for what they were hearing, reading or discussing; inconsistencies that percolated to the surface, as well as the necessity of trying to understand different viewpoints, were discovered during the groups discourses.

In an online environment this process is supported by the fact that views are ‘recorded’ online offering participants a digital memory of the issues and arguments heard. The turning point in an argument, the moment of ‘insight’, or the moment when you realize your arguments are incomplete or one-sided are accessible through one easy click, to be reflected on and learn from. In broad strokes, learning can be understood as a very fluid, four phased cycle repeated along a longer learning trajectory. Each phase within the cycle holds the potential to be organized as a collaborative process (Source: New Knowledge Frontiers, by Laura van Durten).

On Re-integration of Teaching and Research through Online Programmes (by Gerd Junne)

"In most universities around the world, teaching and research activities have become more and more separated. This, however, threatens the very core of what a University is (or should be): a place where students and more advanced scholars together embark on an adventurous trajectory of continuous learning, questioning, discovery, discussion and construction.

Direct access to the practically unlimited "adventure space" of the Internet offers an opportunity to re-establish a close link between teaching and research in a double sense: it allows even junior students at an early stage to come up with new ideas or to fill a gap, while it allows researchers to share their unpolished, raw thoughts which used to remain buried in personal notes with a large number of students. On the other hand, it makes it possible to offer much more specialised courses. Since they can reach a world-wide audience, the chances are much higher to find enough participants for very specialised topics" (Source, Gerd Junne: www.netuniv.nl).

From abstract ideas to field experimentation:

Through their ideas Gerd and Lara had shaped the way this class will be evolved. Reading their on-line documents I found out that the best way to test their ideals of collaborative learning and collaborative research will be through field-experimentation. Therefore this course offer you interactive interaction with your students colleagues as well as the instructor and the courses' team. The course emphasizes the importance of learning through discussion and thus your input to the discussion groups in critical to your personal development as well as to the success of this class. In addition we offer you a participation in collaborative research effort.

Source: Harasim Linda et al., Learning Networks: A field Guide to Teaching and Learning Online, The MIT Press, Cambridge Mass. and London, 1995, p. 31.