Designing Environments for Collaborative E-learning 3 Designing Electronic Collaborative Learning EnvironmentsCurrent research on and design of collaborative learning environments -often referred to as Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) Environments -tends to focus on surface level characteristics. Educational researchers and designers are busy, for example, determining optimal group size for problem-based education as opposed to project-centered learning. To determine optimal group size, students' collaborative efforts and the results of these efforts are compared for groups of varying size in different educational settings. This approach resembles comparative research on the use of different media in education that was strongly -and we had hoped definitively -criticized by both Clark (1983) and Reeves (1993).Such research focuses on the media used and surface characteristics of the education provided. This surface level approach disavows the fundamental differences between the real determinants of learning and behavior in education and results in learning materials that are unreliable or even mathemathantic.A second problem is that educational institutions tend to apply traditional classroom ideas and pedagogy in non-contiguous collaborative learning environments, assuming that since these environments allow the interaction that we see in the classroom (e.g., chat, realtime meetings, and shared applications) traditional pedagogy can be used. Unfortunately these environments do not support such interactions in the same way that it occurs in face-to-face (i.e., time delay, lack of complete sensory contact, non-availability of off task activities, et cetera). The proximate result is often disgruntled or disappointed students and instructors, motivation that is quickly extinguished, poorly used environments, wasted time and money, and showcase environments that are often not much more than computer assisted page turning. The ultimate result is very similar to the first problem, no learning since the students tend to give up. Designing Environments for Collaborative E-learning 4The solution is as simple as it is elegant, namely attending not only to the technological prerequisites for collaboration (i.e., the technological environment), but also to the educational and social prerequisites for allowing collaboration to occur (i.e., the pedagogy and the social dynamics respectively). The educational part would take care of the first problem, namely choosing the right pedagogy to achieve one's aims and that take the characteristics of the media into account. The social part would enrich the chosen pedagogy by adding that element usually, almost automatically existent in contiguous learning, namely group formation and social dynamics within the group. This article provides a framework for designing such collaborative environments based upon the three prerequisites. It then goes into somewhat greater depth with respect to three non-surface level educational factors central to collaboration, namely task own...

No abstract

ABSTRACT. Sustainability transitions go hand in hand with learning. Theories in the realm of sustainability sciences mostly concentrate on diversity and learning outcomes, whereas theories from the educational sciences mostly focus on learning as an interactive process. In this contribution, we aim to benefit from an integration of these perspectives in order to better understand how different interaction patterns contribute to learning. We studied STAP, an innovation initiative of Dutch greenhouse growers. The Dutch greenhouse sector is predominantly focused on production and efficiency, which causes problems for its future viability. STAP aimed to make the sector more market-oriented while at the same time increasing its societal acceptability (societally responsible innovation). To that end, STAP focused on the development of integrated value chains (primary production, sales, trade) that can contribute to a transition towards a societally sensitive greenhouse sector. As action researchers, we collected extensive transcripts of meetings, interviews, and various other documents. We used an open coding strategy to identify different patterns of interaction and the learning outcomes produced by the initiative. We then linked the interaction patterns to the outcomes. Analysis suggests that seemingly negative attack-and-defend patterns of interaction certainly can result in substantial learning results, while seemingly positive synthetic interaction patterns, where participants strive to build on each other, can result in rather bland interaction without substantial outcomes. The results offer an empirical basis to our approach of linking learning interactions to learning outcomes, and it suggests that learning for sustainability can be enhanced by focusing on interaction patterns.

No abstract

Organisations increasingly use multidisciplinary teams to construct solutions for complex problems. Research has shown that multidisciplinary teams do not guarantee good problem solutions. Common ground is seen as vital to team performance. In this paper an ICT-tool to support complex problem solving is studied. A framework for knowledge construction inspired the design of computer support for knowledge construction. The basic support principle consisted of making individual perspectives explicit, which serves as a basis for negotiating common ground. This principle was embedded in a collaborative learning environment in three ways, which differed from each other in the extent to which users were coerced to adhere to the embedded support principles. Coercion, as expected, was correlated with negotiation of common ground; the more coercion, the more participants would negotiate the meaning of contributions to the ICT-tool, and the more common ground they would have. Self-report data suggested that Intermediate coercion resulted in the least common ground. This may have been caused by some disruption of group processes.