TOOL 5100 CSCL Introduction to CSCL Computer Supported

TOOL 5100: CSCL Introduction to CSCL Computer Supported Collaborative Learning: Pedagogical and Technological Scaffolding Anders Mørch and Kathrine Nygård TOOL 5100, 27. 02. 07 Lecture 4, 27. 02. 2007

TOOL 5100: CSCL Introduction to CSCL Outline • • • What is CSCL Approaches and perspectives Basic concepts Intersubjectivity and related terms Methodological concerns The role of the computer Lecture 4, 27. 02. 2007

TOOL 5100: CSCL Introduction to CSCL What is CSCL • CSCL: Computer Supported Collaborative Learning • A field concerned with collaborative learning and how it can be supported by computers • The role of technology as “mediating artifact”, i. e. mediation becomes a key concern • It has been compared to the role of language in conventional education (e. g. Vygotsky) Lecture 4, 27. 02. 2007

TOOL 5100: CSCL Introduction to CSCL Computational implications • The computer is as a information processing device (it is built as such) – Support design of tools and environments • From the point of use ICT is mediating artifact not unlike other tools we interact with in everyday activity – Concrete tools (chairs, pencils, screens) – Abstract tools (language, symbols, ideas) Lecture 4, 27. 02. 2007

TOOL 5100: CSCL Introduction to CSCL Collaborative learning • Learning in groups and learning through virtual collaboration • Involves 2 or more participants – Usually 2 or more students, but can also be one teacher and students • An goal of CL is to reach a learning objective or take part in in a knowledge creation process that exceeds the sum of what the individuals can achieve on their own • Group cognition (Stahl, 2006) Lecture 4, 27. 02. 2007

TOOL 5100: CSCL Introduction to CSCL Cited shortcomings of CL • Collaborative learning have been criticized as having similar problems to those identified in problem-based learning and cased-based instruction (where learners work in groups) – – • The problem of lurkers (free passengers) The complexity of modeling real situations Reaching closure and scaling up Process becomes more important than outcome Many of these issues can be addressed by improvements to CSCL tools and environments Lecture 4, 27. 02. 2007

TOOL 5100: CSCL Introduction to CSCL Factors impacting collaboration • • The nature of the collaborative task: e. g. physics problem solving vs. editing a school newspaper The nature of collaborators (peer, teacher-student, studentcomputer, etc. ) The unit of analysis (individual, activity, group, classroom) The number of collaborators The previous relationship between collaborators The motivation of collaborators The setting of collaboration: classroom, workplace, home The time period of collaboration: from minutes to years Lecture 4, 27. 02. 2007

TOOL 5100: CSCL Introduction to CSCL Approaches and perspectives in CSCL • According to Ludvigsen and Mørch (2007): • Systemic approach – Cognitive science perspective • Dialogical approach – Socio-cultural perspective • Both approaches are important to understand design for CSCL Lecture 4, 27. 02. 2007

TOOL 5100: CSCL Introduction to CSCL Systemic approach • The systemic approach gives useful guidelines for how we can build scaffolds for cognitive processes like hypothesis generation, data interpretation, and scientific explanation. However, this model-based approach to learning and cognition needs to be supplemented by a situated approach from a social and cultural perspective to provide a full account of CSCL. Lecture 4, 27. 02. 2007

TOOL 5100: CSCL Introduction to CSCL Dialogical approach • The dialogical approach to CSCL provides new analytic concepts to analyze how students and teachers interact in collaborative learning. The dialogic approach gives broader insights and explanations concerning the development of traditional skills, and pays particular attention to skills such as those for communication, coordination, information sharing, collaboration, negotiation, critiquing, and decision-making, and how to design CSCL tools to support these activities Lecture 4, 27. 02. 2007

TOOL 5100: CSCL Introduction to CSCL Related approaches and perspectives • Following Rommetveit – Monological and dialogical • Following Hakkarainen et al. – Monological, dialogical, trialogical • Following Kaleidoscope EU Network of Excellence – The cognitive perspective – The social and cultural perspective – The design perspective and computational perspective Lecture 4, 27. 02. 2007

TOOL 5100: CSCL Introduction to CSCL Rommetveit’s distinctions (from F 3) • Monological approach – Associated with the cognitive science, thought is monologue with one self – Thought can be modeled to high accuracy and the computer is well equipped for thus purpose – Key proponents: Simon and Newell; Anderson • Dialogical approach – Mind embedded in a social context and mediated by a cultural collective – Additional proponents: Wertsch; Säljö Lecture 4, 27. 02. 2007

TOOL 5100: CSCL Introduction to CSCL Key trends and characteristics • A trend toward support of process rather than outcome, differs thus from cognitive perspective • Theoretically motivated empirical studies and methodological informed by design experiments • Unit of analysis is complex and positioned on an axis between the individual and the social • Time scale varies from a few seconds of an exchange of utterances to a school year • Internalization, externalization, trajectories Lecture 4, 27. 02. 2007

TOOL 5100: CSCL Introduction to CSCL Basic concepts and terms • Socio-cultural perspectives • Socio-cognitive studies – Piaget; Dillenbourg • Intersubjectivity and common ground – Rommetveit; Clark; Baker • Computational – Exploring the potential of the computer to support learning in groups and virtual collaboration Lecture 4, 27. 02. 2007

TOOL 5100: CSCL Introduction to CSCL Socio-cultural perspectives • Unit of analysis is ‘activity’: individuals acting together to achieve goals mediated by artifacts and rules to guide the activity • Vygotsky’s ‘genetic law’ which says that interpsychological (social) processes precedes intrapsychological (thought) processes is central to this perspective • The role of mediating artifacts in these processes, from everyday physical tools and computers to abstract tools like language play important roles Lecture 4, 27. 02. 2007

TOOL 5100: CSCL Introduction to CSCL Socio-cognitive studies • Originated with Piaget and later extended to include social influences on individual development • Unit of analysis is individual development in the context of social interaction, implying two planes: social and individual • An issue becomes how to intertwine the two planes • Studies by experimentation often using by pre- and post tests to e. g. assess the relative usefulness of collaborative learning to individual learning Lecture 4, 27. 02. 2007

TOOL 5100: CSCL Introduction to CSCL Intersubjectivity and related terms (from Rommetveit) • Intersubjectivity – Spoken utterances driven by speaker and listener’s goal of “mutual attunement, ” reaching for a shared social reality (external state of affairs) – Neither private nor public (objective), but shared by two or more people who (get to) know(s) each other • Grounding (e. g. Clark) – This is related to intersubjectivity but not the same – Deliberately contributing to creating shared meaning rather than adaptation in everyday communication – Shared subjective reality rather than social reality Lecture 4, 27. 02. 2007

TOOL 5100: CSCL Introduction to CSCL Methodological concerns • Empirical approaches – Identify existing technology in use in a setting (e. g. classroom) – Study technology in use as part of an ongoing practice – Theoretical understanding of the learning activities • Design-based research – – Introduce a new technology to an existing practice Study technology in use and changes in practice Lessons learned and design principles Repeat if necessary Lecture 4, 27. 02. 2007

TOOL 5100: CSCL Introduction to CSCL Design-based research • Pedagogical design – Technology is only one component out of many and the focus in on creating use around technology and developing knowledge practices • Technology design – Developing new tools and environments – Improving existing tools (e. g. CSCW —> CSCL) Lecture 4, 27. 02. 2007

TOOL 5100: CSCL Introduction to CSCL DBR methodology • Partnerships among researchers and educators with the goals of conducting rigorous and reflective inquiry in classrooms, • Testing and refining innovative learning environments, and • Defining new design principles based on previous research Lecture 4, 27. 02. 2007

TOOL 5100: CSCL Introduction to CSCL DBR theoretical approach • Suggesting design principles based on theories of learning • Applying these principles to the design of learning environments • Refining the principles based on empirical findings and iterating the design experiment Lecture 4, 27. 02. 2007

TOOL 5100: CSCL Introduction to CSCL The role of the computer in CSCL • Provide shared spaces (groupware for learning) • Peer-to-peer (handheld devices for classroom interaction) • Mediating artifact (ICT seen from the point of view of use) • Design of new functionalities into tools and environments (e. g. software agents; awareness) • Innovative new tools • New collaborative environments Lecture 4, 27. 02. 2007

TOOL 5100: CSCL Introduction to CSCL Examples of CSCL functionalities • Scaffolding – – Subject domains Scientific inquiry Presence of others Principles of virtual collaboration • Levels of feedback – Mirroring, meta-cognitive support, guidance • Intervention technique – Pro-active, re-active, passive Lecture 4, 27. 02. 2007