A Literature Study on Experiential Collaborative e-Learning Based on ECEL Articles

Abstract

Educational institutions around the world continue to develop teaching practices in which the importance of digital solutions is expanding. The increasing digitization of education and learning has made it even more important to explore and test how experiential collaborative teaching methods can be digitized and designed to facilitate collaboration, active participation, and exploration, elements that are all crucial to support development of complex skills and competencies. Previous research reveals that many solutions for e-learning do not sufficiently support more complex forms of learning. The authors argue that many technologies developed for the field of education fall short of their purposes and neglect or ignore intended underpinning pedagogy and didactics. As new technologies are being developed, promising great improvements in supporting student’ learning processes, the problem is exasperated by a technological euphoria, supported by EdTech companies, which effectively undermines appropriate cautions and reservations. The article applies the overarching conceptualization Experiential and Collaborative learning (ECL) in an attempt of include an array of established and complex educational methods or pedagogical models, such as Problem-Based Learning (PBL), Reflective Practice-based Learning (RPL) and Inquiry- of ECL have been derived. Based on those keywords, a systematic literature study within the database of ECEL article from 2012-2021 has been conducted to investigate and summarize the potential gap often seen between pedagogical and technological development in Edtech. The research question is twofold: "How is ECL addressed in ECELs papers" and "What is the potential gap transforming ECL to digital solutions"? The findings reveal that ECL is present in many articles to some extent. However, after sorting the articles using PRISMA, only a few articles are included capturing the complexity of ECLs. Based on the selected articles, gaps and potentials are identified, indicating a need for further research.