Collaborative Online Learning

ONLINE FORUM

• Equivalent to traditional bulletin board, and a technological evolution of the dialup bulletin board system 
• People participating in an Internet forum may cultivate social bonds and interest groups for a topic made from the discussions.
• Most Online forums require registration to post. 

WIKIS

• Easiest and most effective Web-based collaboration tool in any instructional portfolio. 
• Provides direct (and immediate) access to a site’s content, which is crucial in group editing or other collaborative project activities. 
• These collaborative projects help promote “pride of authorship” and ownership in the team’s activities. 
• In addition, wikis are being used as e-portfolios, illustrating their utility as a tool for collection and reflection.
• Can use wikis to collaborate on projects, whether editing a textbook, preparing a journal article, or assembling a syllabus or reading list. 
• Wiki enabled projects can provide various levels of site access and control to team members, offering a fine-tuning element that  enhances the teaching and learning experience.

PODCASTING

 

• A podcast is a series of digital media files (either audio or video) that are released episodically and downloaded through web syndication. 
• Podcasting is a method of publishing audio files (usually MP3s) to the Web, which are then made available through subscription and automatically downloaded to a personal computer or portable MP3 player.
• The mode of delivery differentiates podcasting from other means of accessing media files over the Internet, such as direct download, or streamed webcasting. 
• Commonly used audio file formats are Ogg Vorbis and MP3.

• Podcasting could be used for:
    • news/updates;
    • guest lectures;
    • student presentations;
    • student-produced podcasts;
    • interviews with guest experts;
    • tours/fieldwork;
    • internships/residencies;
    • feedback/evaluation of student work;
    • supplementary material such as speeches, music, or other audio recordings; and
    • short language lessons, or other lessons that help students develop listening and speaking skills. 

SECOND LIFE

• In Second Life participants use avatars, virtual selves that reflect the creators’ personalities, to interact with one another within the online environment. 
• A free client program called the Second Life Viewer enables its users, called Residents, to interact with each other through avatars.  
• Residents can explore, meet other residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities, and create and trade virtual property and services with one another, or travel throughout the world 
• Through this feature Second Life can bring people, ideas, and subject matter together in a fuller representation of real human relationships. 
• Second Life enhance social presence that can support collaborative online activities and enrich interpersonal understanding among their participants.
• In terms of educational practice, this virtual world allows for a reimagining of the classroom as one that meets the new needs of online instruction while providing students with a sense of belonging to a learning community. 
• For example, Second Life allows for online interactions that mimic the face-to-face conversations of the campus classroom while minimizing the formality that usually prevails in academic discussion forums.  
• The flexibility of Second Life also makes it an ideal vehicle for constructivist pedagogy.