Flexibility in macro‐scripts for computer‐supported collaborative learning

Abstract

In the field of computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL), scripts are designed to support collaboration among distant learners or co-present learners whose interactions are (at least partially) mediated by a computer. The rationale of scripts is to structure collaborative learning processes in order to trigger group interactions that may be rare in free collaboration. Fixing the degree of coercion is a delicate design choice: too rigid scripts would spoil the richness of collaborative interactions; too flexible scripts would fail to induce the targeted interactions. Because of the unpredictability of how scripts will be enacted, both the teacher and the students must be allowed to modify some script features. In this article we propose a conceptual analysis of this notion of flexibility, arguing for a dissociation of constraints that are intrinsic to the pedagogical design of the script and constraints induced by the technology or contextual factors. This difference sets up the limits of flexibility both for the teacher and for the students and provides specification for the computational design. This analysis leads to the conclusion that the operationalization of CSCL scripts should be addressed by implementing script engines handling multiple representations of the script: the script to be executed, the emergent organization of teams, the set of intrinsic and extrinsic constraints and the visual representation of the script for students and teachers.

Technological support for the enactment of collaborative scripted learning activities across multiple spatial locations

“…This orchestration system supports both macro and micro scripts [11], which are the two levels of a CSCL script. This fact sets the basis of an underlying architecture to support generic CSCBL scripts.…”

“…According to [11], two levels can be identified in a learning script. First, the macro script level, which stands for the overall sequence of activities that produces the desired interactions.…”

“…The rationale of the scripts is to structure collaborative learning processes in order to trigger group interactions that may be rare in free collaboration [10,11]. When these interactions are technologically mediated, they are called Computer Supported Collaborative Learning scripts (or CSCL scripts) [8].…”

A “Laboratory of Knowledge-Making” for Personal Inquiry Learning

“…Dillenbourg and Tchounikine [17] identify two types of constraint that technology can bring to a collaborative context: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic constraints are a necessary part of the pedagogy, such as limiting each participants' access to information at the start of a Jigsaw script.…”

“…Dillenbourg and Tchounikine [17] distinguish between micro-scripts and macro-scripts. A macro-script specifies a pattern of collaboration enacted in order to produce a desired interaction among the participants.…”