Part 1: Introduction to Collaborative Learning

Collaboration arises from participation in group settings.

Learning through participation:
- involves interaction with group members
- inquiring and problem-solving in coordination with one another
- is a shared process that cannot be easily reduced to contributions of
individual members.

Definition & Characteristics
According to Roschelle & Teasley (1995), collaboration "is a process by
which individuals negotiate and share meanings relevant to the problem-
solving task at hand" (p. 70).

Collaborative Learning
- is an instructional strategy for learning in group-settings.
- entails goal-oriented interactions driven by the quest towards a shared
meaning.
- involves development of positive interdependence (reward, resource,
task, role, identity). (sink or swim together).

Dillenbourg (1999) outlined the differences neatly in the following:
"In cooperation, partners split the work, solve sub-tasks individually and
then assemble the partial results into the final output. In collaboration,
partners do the work together"(p. 8)

Collaborative learning is more than assembling of tasks according to the
roles the individual learners play; it involves ongoing efforts in meaning
negotiation and the establishment of shared understanding among them. In
other words, learning occurs socially as a shared meaning construction. On
the other hand, learning in cooperative learning is largely an individual
process. The aggregation of work towards the whole is just to result in a
group product.

Example 1: Group work for presentation, ends up cooperative rather than
collaborative.

Example 2: Grade 3 Newspapers, true collaboration

Example 3: Group discussion

Part 2: Importance of Collaborative Learning



Part 3: Role of ICT in Collaborative Learning


Part 4: ICT Strategies and Limitations

Implementation Strategies: Skillful teacher Questioning Techniques

Limitations