Digital collaborative learning in elementary and middle schools as a function of individualistic and collectivistic culture: The role of ICT coordinators' leadership experience, students' collaboration skills, and sustainability

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of online collaborative learning experiences on students' digital collaboration skills and on the sustainability of e‐collaboration in schools' culture—comparing individualistic versus collectivistic cultures. In addition, we explored how the leadership experience of schools' ICT coordinators was predicted by their sense of professionalism and cognitive, emotional and social aspects of perceived learning (PL), while leading the collaborative projects. The participants were ICT coordinators from 513 Israeli schools; 214 of whom were Hebrew‐speakers, and 299 Arabic‐speakers. The participants were asked to complete an online questionnaire, which included multiple‐choice and open‐ended questions. The results showed significant differences between a variety of the coordinator‐related variables as a function of learning culture (more individualistic vs.more collectivistic). Coordinators' leadership experience was a powerful predictor of students' digital collaboration skills, but did not predict the sustainability of e‐collaboration. Coordinators' emotional PL predicted the sustainability of collaboration in both schools with more individualistic and with more collectivistic learning cultures. The implications of the findings for educational theory and practise are discussed.

A Comparison between Collaborative and Individual Writings in Promoting Motivation and Language Acquisition

“…It should be borne in mind that the collaborative method promotes learning in a sustainable development context, which is essential in these times [51][52][53][54][55].…”

“…In addition, it can be indicated that the application of collaborative teaching methods promotes sustainability [51]. An example of this is the European Project Semester (EPS) programme, which encourages multidisciplinary and multicultural teamwork and increases the ability to communicate, problem-solve, creativity, etc.…”

Factors promoting the use of virtual worlds in educational settings

“…The vast majority of Arab and Jewish students in Israel study in separate school systems (Birenbaum, Nasser, & Tatsuoka, 2007; Mittelberg, Rozner, & Forgasz, 2011) and teacher‐education colleges. There are gaps between the schools serving the different cultures in budgets, infrastructure, programs and performance, (Blau, Shamir‐Inbal, & Hadad, 2020; Hadad Haj‐Yahya & Rudnitzky, 2018).…”

Bibliometric Study of Scientific Production on the Term Collaborative Learning in Web of Science

“…This methodology encourages the development of other skills in students, such as interaction, communication, problem solving, motivation, sense of community, and autonomy, among other aspects [38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49]. In addition, the collaborative learning method promotes and facilitates the acquisition of knowledge in areas of study where sustainable development is essential [65][66][67][68][69].…”

“…In addition, it should be noted that studies indicate that the collaborative learning method favors sustainability, especially if this method is developed digitally [65] In addition, collaborative learning, associated with specific sustainability programs such as the European Project Semester (EPS), promotes multicultural and multidisciplinary teamwork, communication, problem solving, creativity, leadership, entrepreneurship, ethical reasoning, and global contextual analysis [66]. The collaborative learning method has been applied in the training of students of various kinds, especially students of interior design [67], administrative studies [68], or agro-food systems [69], with a view to sustainable development.…”