Supporting Online Collaboration: Do Blogs do the Trick?
Anne-Mette Nortvig [ame@pha.dk], University College Absalon, Denmark
Abstract
Blogs are often assumed to promote collaboration amongst students at all educational levels, and considerable interest has been invested in research into the relationship amongst blogs, collaboration and learning. On the basis of two learning designs, this paper investigates how educator orchestration influences students’ experience of collaborating on a blog in initial teacher training.
The study used a mixed methods design and an overall grounded theory methodology inspired the analysis. Data were generated though questionnaires, student activities and discussions. The quantitative data sets were analysed in SPSS.
Findings show that in order to make the students actually collaborate and see blog collaboration as relevant in their education, the educator needs to scaffold the process thoroughly. However, on the basis of such scripted instruction, the students found that the blog supported collaboration only to some degree, but that it supported individual work and knowledge sharing more.
Abstract in Danish
Der har gennem flere år været investeret stor forskningsinteresse i at undersøge forholdet mellem blogs, samarbejde og læring generelt, og her finder man ofte, at blogteknologien fremmer samarbejde blandt studerende på alle uddannelsesniveauer. På baggrund af to it-didaktiske designs undersøges det i denne artikel, hvordan underviserens løbende design påvirker de studerendes oplevelser af at samarbejde på en blog i læreruddannelsen.
Metodisk er undersøgelsen inspireret af mixed methods og grounded theory, og data er skabt via surveys, samt gennem observationer af de studerendes aktiviteter og diskussioner. De kvantitative datasæt er analyseret i SPSS.
Resultaterne peger på, at for at understøtte, at studerende samarbejder, men også ser blogs som relevant teknologi for dette samarbejde i deres uddannelse, er det nødvendigt, at underviseren stilladserer processen grundigt. Men, på trods af udførlig stilladsering, finder de studerende, at bloggen kun støttede samarbejde til en vis grad, men at den derimod langt mere støttede individuelt arbejde og videndeling.
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