Summary+of+Seminar

Each post 2 key strategies that we feel are important, and then a reflective comment about the whole seminar.

//Group 4// - Insufficient Time Allowance.** //Insufficient time allowance is a error with CSCL extra time must be allowed for meetings, developing shared philosophies, discussing view points, ICT intergration, clarifying expectations, times zones etc// ( Lock, 2006) (Quoted from Group 4)
 * __Hillary__
 * //Group 2//** - Collaborative activities need to be designed into the programme - collaboration won't just happen (Coomey & Stephenson, 2001; Garrison, 2007). Teachers must assist course participants to do more than simply engage with a problem or question: they have to be able to explore and integrate ideas, construct knowledge, experiment, create and test hypotheses (Bonk & Cunningham, 1998; Garrison, 2007).
 * //Reflective Comment -//** The groups individually have identified many common points as key. While the seminar did not run exactly as we expected it to, at the very least, it was an excellent learning experience for me as a facilitator of on-line activities. I found it very ironic that my own frustrations of working and collaborating with a group were mirrored in the feedback from the participants of the seminar. I also commonly get this same feedback from my secondary school students when they are working in groups. So it seems the challenges of collaboration surpass the boundaries of academic level, age, and mode of delivery.

====**S****ocial presence must be facilitated by the teacher** / tutor(s) to build a sense of community of 'real people' working together on a task (Gunawardena & Zittle, 1996; Nichols, 2008; Rovai, 2002). The process needs to include activities which promote social presence within the class group, and the facilitators need to be available online to address learner concerns (within a reasonable timframe). //This helps to ensure that the social interaction that is taking place is in fact focused on the learning goals and tasks intended.// **Alan said that "A** challenge was this lack of 'real person' contact, particularly with the people I shared the second task with."==== ====**//Group 4// - Insufficient Time Allowance.** //Insufficient time allowance is a error with CSCL extra time must be allowed for meetings, developing shared philosophies, discussing view points, ICT intergration, clarifying expectations, times zones etc// ( Lock, 2006) (Quoted from Group 4)====
 * Bron:**

====**Reflective Comment** - From the feedback it is evident that as students using a variety of online collaborative tools (many of which we get many of our students to use) around a collaborative learning framework, you have found it an interesting experience, both good and bad. You not only learnt from the readings and the contributions of others but you learnt from the experience itself. As Group 4 said, "Teachers must walk the talk". It is great to see that many of you have made links to how you would run online collaborative experiences in the future. I hope that this learning not only helps you with your own contexts but will help you with the future online Student led Seminars too.==== ====As a facilitator it was a big learning curve, especially within the set timeframe. We were striving to bring in some ‘higher order’ thinking and while the tasks themselves facilitated this, the 2 week time-frame did not. I didn't have a repertoire of skills to encourage all students to contribute and I found this frustrating.====

====I am still struggling with the notion of whether online collaborative activities are more effective (as in achieving set learning intentions) than face-to-face collaboration. Something to ponder for the future.====

Thankyou so much to all the participants for Seminar one. We appreciate the dedication and effort that many of you showed in keeping within the tight time-frame, while also putting a considerable amount of thought into the learning experience.
 * __Final Response__**

Our group has learnt a lot through this learning experience and we hope that it was beneficial for you. From the feedback we have so far, it is evident that as students using a variety of online collaborative tools (many of which we get our students to use) around a collaborative learning framework, you have found it an interesting experience, both good and bad. You not only learnt from the readings and the contributions of others but you learnt from the experience itself. As Group 4 said, "Teachers must walk the talk". It is great to see that many of you have made links to how you would run online collaborative experiences in the future.We hope that this learning not only helps you with your own contexts but will help you with the future online Student led Seminars too. :-)

While the seminar did not run exactly as we expected it to, at the very least, it was an excellent learning experience for us as facilitators of on-line activities. There was a big learning curve for us to understand the role of a facilitator, and to accomplish what we had set out to achieve within the timeframe.
 * //How did we feel about how things went for us when facilitating a collaborative experience? (Red Hat)//**

//**What are some benefits that we gained from facilitating a collaborative experience? (Yellow Hat)**// We gained experience in using CSCL as a learning tool. We began to gain a clearer understanding of the challenges that are evident when facilitating online learning experience in an environment where the social connections have not been cemented. We started out using a more co-operative style of working together but as time progressed we became better at collaborating and working to shared tasks together. This response is an example of that!

//**What are some challenges that we experienced facilitating a collaborative experience?(Black Hat)**// We were striving to bring in some ‘higher order’ thinking within a collaborative environment and while the tasks themselves facilitated this, the 2 week time-frame did not. We didn't have the repertoire of skills required to encourage all students to contribute and found this frustrating for us as facilitators, but also on behalf of you as learners. We understand that there are always circumsatnces that prevent people from contributing (those in a a face-to-face situation who are unable to attend) and yet we didn't know how to deal with this as easily as we could have in the face-to-face situation.

We found it very ironic that some of own frustrations of working and collaborating with a group were mirrored in your feedback about the seminar. Hillary also commonly gets this same feedback from her secondary school students when they are working in groups. So it seems the challenges of collaboration surpass the boundaries of academic level, age, and mode of delivery.
 * //What are some things we learned from this seminar and how will we use that within our practice? (White Hat and Green Hat)//**

We learned that allocated time should be a key factor in planning for online learning experience. Collaboration in an online environment takes time. Longer perhaps than in a face-to-face situation where it is much quicker and easier to establish a social cohesion.

We learned that adult learners may have different pressures, learning styles and learning perceptions than the students that we are used to teaching and taking this into consideration is important.

Perhaps this will provide us with a greater empathy for our students in the future? We are individually still struggling with the notion of whether online collaborative activities are more effective (as in achieving set learning intentions) than face-to-face collaboration. Something to ponder for the future.