a) The encouragement of collaboration among students is a key requirement for a successful online learning environment, and through the implementation of Web 2.0 software and hardware. This brings into question the idea of connectivism, which is primarily collaboration in the online sphere.
Generally speaking, connectivism is the learning process, where interconnections for knowledge must be created, distributed over many actual and virtual locations. What this implies is, is that student collaboration in the classroom can be achieved ONLINE. There are a number of different software tools in which to encourage this online social collaboration. However, following is a video of George Siemens, the man who created the term ‘connectivism’, and he explains what it is and what it means for the online world and learning.
One key software tool in which to promote collaboration among students, and using this idea of connectivism, is a Wiki. One useful website in which to create a wiki is PBWiki. According to Wikipedia (one of the online world’s most popular wikis), ‘A wiki is a type of computer software that allows users to easily create, edit and link web pages and Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites.’ This immediately implies the collaboration of students.
A wiki can be created for students to submit work, create projects, give feedback to other students, and to even make comments on the work given by the teacher. The great thing about the wiki is that it can have multiple contributors and editors, so that all students can collectively have input. If a wiki was created for a class of students, and all students became contributors, all work could be submitted and posted online, and therefore students have the opportunity to converse with each other online. This ultimately encourages collaboration among students.
Another example of encouraging social collaboration among students is through social networking websites. One such example is Facebook.
This Web 2.0 software tool allows students to ‘connect’ to each other by adding friends, as well as posting personal information which only your friends can see. Such a social networking tool can be useful in encouraging social collaboration among students in that students can discuss things online, and in their own time. Work can be posted to the site, and students can then have the opportunity to talk about it.
A useful blog which has been created to discuss the impact of Web 2.0 in the classroom can be accessed here – http://www.solutionwatch.com/512/back-to-school-with-the-class-of-web-20-part-1.
Also, on the right hand sidebar, there is an RSS feed to Hey Jude, which is a useful blogs which discusses the issues of Web 2.0, and how social collaboration can occur in an online classroom.
