Care, Communication, Support: Core for Designing Meaningful Online Collaborative Learning

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify emergent themes regarding higher education instructors' perceptions concerning the provision of collaborative learning activities and opportunities in their online classroom. Through semi-structured interviews, instructors described their teaching experiences and reported specifically about the online collaborative opportunities offered in their online classrooms. A multi-phase coding process was used to analyze the information, including the constant comparative coding method for theme and category development. The three main themes that emerged from this study are: the importance of online communication approaches, challenges and supports for online collaborative learning, and online learner support as the core of online learning. In the online classroom, additional factors must be considered in order to develop successful online collaborative learning. Beyond group work, these considerations include additional time and nurturing, scaffolding, instructional design, and understanding students' comfort level with collaborative online work. The findings of this study are discussed, and recommendations are provided for the development and design of meaningful online collaborative learning.

Students’ Learning Support and Perceptions in an Online Mathematics Course in a Business Faculty

“…Such demonstrations of an instructor's interpersonal abilities encourage open communication and risk-free expressions from the students, as part of social presence (Garrison, 2011;Yang, 2017). These also contribute to an increased sense of the instructor's presence by showing his or her accessibility and care, which are at the center of an online course and provide support to students' learning (Robinson et al, 2017).…”

“…Finally, note that the increased number of ICT facilitates synchronous interactions in online courses (Peterson et al, 2018;Watts, 2016). While asynchronous interactions grant flexibility (Robinson et al, 2017) and reflexivity (Tallent-Runnels et al, 2006), adding synchronous interactions gives a sense of immediacy (Robinson et al, 2017) and lessens transactional distance (McBrien et al, 2009). As Watts (2016) points out, "Both formats play a part in keeping students connected, learning the content, and providing satisfaction in the classroom" (p. 30).…”

“…Such problems encouraged student-content interactions, which supported them in their learning process. Further, professional or personal relevance of content and activities enhanced students' positive perceptions of the course through motivation and cognitive engagement (Park & Yun, 2018;Robinson et al, 2017).…”

“…Therefore, online courses have to be thoughtfully designed to guide and support students' learning (Anderson, 2004;Lee et al, 2011;Swan, 2001). As a facilitator, the instructor guides the students through the course learning objectives and activities, in a learnercentered approach (Kaser & Hauk, 2016;Ma et al, 2015;Robinson et al, 2017). Still, online courses can remain less popular than face-to-face courses (Guest et al, 2018), and student satisfaction has been shown to be slightly lower than in face-to-face courses (Siemens et al, 2015).…”

Teaching Strategies that Motivate English Language Adult Literacy Learners to Invest in their Education: A Literature Review

“…Collaborative learning sessions are enhanced by strategically partnering heterogeneous learners based on their compatible language ability, known as the zone of proximal development (Vygotsky 1978 cited in Robinson, Kilgore and Warren 2017). Such partnerships mutually assist both learners because activities are scaffolded (Robinson et al 2017), allowing peers to assist each other in improving language performance (Crook 1994 and Donato 1994 cited in Hsieh 2017). Furthermore, collaboration supports 'forced output,' encouraging learners to apply their language abilities and produce more target-like results (Swain 2000).…”