Position Paper 2.01 Final version

Face-to-face vs. Online Collaboration

http://www.scienceofspectroscopy.info/edit/index.php?title=Using_wiki_in_education

The above wiki talks about using wiki in education.  Wiki is one of the applications of web 2.0 that I am interested in because of the appeal of its use in the classroom.  In the above link the author described wiki as an ideal tool for collaborative work.  Although I haven’t been able to use wiki in my own classrooms since I am on a mat leave, I can see how it could be a powerful tool for online collaborations.  I also love the idea that the collaboration could happen at your own time.  The students or the teachers do not necessary have to find a time and place for them to meet to collaborate.  I try to promote collaboration among students in classroom.  I do collaborative activities in classroom on paper but I would love to extend this to the outside of the class time as well.  I can’t talk about my own experience with wiki yet but from what I hear and read I can see how it would be a transformative tool for my classroom.

There are many articles that support that the online environment leads to more effective collaboration among students.  In those articles wiki is again described as a tool for online collaboration.  Many of them even used online collaboration in a district, or a community.  With the internet and the new generation of web 2.0 there really isn’t a limit or boundary for collaboration.  But I would like to look at its use in an educational setting.  One of the article talks about their success of online collaboration through wiki.  “Though momentum has been slow to build, after 4 months and some strategic refresher training sessions, our project teams and departments are discovering the creative power of the collaborative Web in action.” (Chase, 2007, p.53)  Another article talks about its inclusiveness in terms of participation.  “Students who may avoid live class participation are leveraging new communication forms to become more active and “vocal” in a virtual class. The freedom to publish and share ideas creates a learning environment that empowers and motivates both teachers and students.” (Yan, 2008, p.30)  I am glad to hear that the “shy” students in the class can freely collaborate with others online via wiki.  As a teacher you always want to see the shy students participating and contributing in these activities.  Maybe providing them the virtual space could be the answer to this.

On the other side, some researches show that the face to face collaboration is more effective than the online environment.  “Results indicated that participants in the face-to-face collaborative condition performed significantly better on the individual posttest than those in the virtual online condition”  (Tutty and Klein 118)  One of the suggested reasons for this result was that when they are in a virtual setting the visual cues aren’t there.  ”While observing student interactions, it was noted that several face-to-face dyads used visual cues such as pointing to their screen to provide an explanation to their partner or to acknowledge understanding. These visual cues were not available to students in the virtual dyads. “(Tutty & Klein 2008, p.118) Another study suggested that students’ perception of collaboration and community was changes while they are in the online setting. 

At the beginning of the semester, students in both sections held similar views of collaboration, with no significant difference in overall collaboration scores between the two sections.  However, online students’ collaboration scores were significantly lower at the end of the semester than they had been at the beginning, suggesting a decrease in their valuing of collaboration as the semester progressed.  This finding is in contrast to the literature that suggests that electronic communication enhances a sense of community.”  (Gaddis et al, 2000, p.143)

This change in their perception is not what I want from my students.  I personally believe that collaboration is one of the most effective way of learning and reflection on one’s own learning.  I want my students to have stronger sense of community and learn the value of collaborative works.

Chase, Darren. “Transformative Sharing with Instant Messaging, Wikis, Interactive Maps, and Flickr”
Computers in Libraries 27.1 (Feb 2007): p7-8, 52-54, 56

Yan, Jeffrey. “Social Technology as a New Medium in the Classroom”
New England Journal of Higher Education 22.4 (Win 2008): 27, 29-30

Tutty, Jeremy I. & Klein, James D.  “Computer-Mediated Instruction: A Comparison of Online and Face-to-Face Collaboration”
Educational Technology Research and Development 56.2 (Apr 2008): 101-124

Gaddis, Barbara,  Napierkowski, Harriet,  Guzman, Nadyne &  Muth, Rodney.  “A Comparison of Collaborative Learning and Audience Awareness in Two Computer-Mediated Writing Environments”
http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/19/25/b8.pdf

Position Paper Assignment Ver 2.0

I think my initial post about a resource was too brief to be considered a position paper assignment.  So here is my new position paper.  The resource is the same as before.

http://www.scienceofspectroscopy.info/edit/index.php?title=Using_wiki_in_education

The above wiki talks about wiki in education.  Wiki is one of the applications of web 2.0 that I am interested in because of the appeal of its use in the classroom.  In the above link the author described wiki as an ideal tool for collaborative work.  I agree with this statement.  Although I haven’t been able to use wiki in my own classrooms since I am on a mat leave, I can see how it could be a powerful tool for online collaborations.  I also love the idea that the collaboration could happen at your own time.  The students or the teachers do not necessary have to find a time and place for them to meet to collaborate.  I highly promote collaboration among students in classroom.  I do collaborative activities in classroom on paper but I would love to extend this to the outside of the class time as well.  I can’t talk about my own experience with wiki yet but from what I hear and read I can see how it would be a transformative tool for my classroom.

There are many articles that supports that wiki is a powerful tool for collaboration among students, and teachers.  Moreover, it could even be used in a district, or a community.  With the internet and the new generation of web 2.0 there really isn’t a limit to who can work together on an issue.  But I would like to look at its use in a educational setting for a classroom.  One of the article talks about its success as an online collaboration tool.  Though momentum has been slow to build, after 4 months and some strategic refresher training sessions, our project teams and departments are discovering the creative power of the collaborative Web in action. (Chase 53) Another article talks about its inclusiveness in terms of participation.  Students who may avoid live class participation are leveraging new communication forms to become more active and “vocal” in a virtual class. The freedom to publish and share ideas creates a learning environment that empowers and motivates both teachers and students. (Yan 30)  I am glad to heard that the “shy” students in the class can freely collaborate with others online via wiki.  Because as a teacher you want the shy students to participate in these activities.  Maybe moving the activity to the virtual space could be the answer to this.

I haven’t found an article that talks about the downside of wikis in classroom.  But I can see how you can value the face to face interactions when you are working together with people.  If you have any comments about wiki uses in the classroom feel free to add commnets to my post.  I would love to hear your experience in this.

Chase, Darren. “Transformative Sharing with Instant Messaging, Wikis, Interactive Maps, and Flickr”
        Computers in Libraries 27.1 (2007): p7-8, 52-54, 56

Yan, Jeffrey. “Social Technology as a New Medium in the Classroom”
         New England Journal of Higher Education 22.4 (2008): 27, 29-30.

Field Study Question

How can I promote/increase active student collaborations?

Do you need a break?

What Do Teachers Really Make? Taylor Mali Explains…

Article on wiki use

http://www.scienceofspectroscopy.info/edit/index.php?title=Using_wiki_in_education

Here is an “article” that I found on wiki.

I read this article when I first learned about wiki and its uses during the summer.

I wanted to find out how wikis are being used in classroom since I’ve never used it in my classroom.

I found out later that this itself is a wiki!

I hope this would be helpful.