Week 6 Blog (again) since the first time apparently never posted! Sorry for the delay

Week 6 Blog Post

Collaborative learning communities are continuously changing and adapting to meet the needs of their learners. Some of these collaborative learning tools that we are expected to use at Walden, our own collaborative learning community, are blogs and wikis. Participation in these blogs and wikis is imperative to successful collaboration. As learned through the resources this week, professors can evaluate participation by using LMS (learning management systems). Siemens (2008) discusses the use of these LMS logs to assist in assessment by reviewing the number of times a learner logs into the class and posts to a discussion. Instructors play a key role in assuring that group collaboration is taking place. The instructors can use these logs to help support the students who are struggling to participate, but also reward and thank those who are participating effectively.

Regardless of the students varying levels of skill and knowledge the students bring into a classroom, there is the expectation that they utilize the resources provided by the instructor. Therefore, the instructor’s “fair and equitable assessment” of learning can relate to how effectively each individual learner utilizes the resources and the knowledge they gain while in the course.  However, a research study prepared by WestEd & Edvance Research (2008) reminds evaluators to consider technology challenges when assessing new students in an online collaborative environment.

If a student does not want to network or collaborate in a learning community, members of the learning community should first, email or talk to the unwilling member. We are all human and sometimes life comes at us too fast and people fall behind in collaborative efforts. Hopefully, the support of the members will get the student back on track and willing to participate. However, if the offer of support does not work, the members need to address the situation with the instructor and consult them for support.

As I previously stated, instructors play a key role in assuring group collaboration takes place.  Instructors should serve as facilitators of the collaborative learning community and the learning communities should be student-centered. A successful learning community should be able to work effectively on its own, 90% by students interactions with one another, and 10% with feedback from the administrator.

References:

Siemens, G. (2008). Assessment of collaborative learning. [Vodcast]. Principles of Distance Education DVD produced by Laureate Education, Inc. Baltimore.

WestEd & Edvance Research, Inc. (2008) Evaluating online learning and challenges and strategies for success. Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/admins/lead/academic/evalonline/evalonline.pdf