Social Media for Online Collaboration

University of Warwick24th April, 2014

Online collaboration for design

Learning through design has two essential features:• learners construct meaning through the act of

design – constructivism• collaborative learning - meaning is constructed

jointly by a community – social constructivism• Combined in constructionism – Papert –

blends cognitivist and situative strategies

The learning we’re looking for

• Design as a trigger for a set of learning opportunities as the learner interacts with the object.

• Learning events happen as the learners interact with each other in the creation of artefacts.

• Also – learning the techniques of collaboration

Three projects

• Streaming Theatre in a Virtual Classroom Warwick and Amsterdam, 2006 – 2007, Jisc/SURF

• A Better Built Environment/BIM Hub, Coventry, Loughborough, Ryerson, 2010 to present, HP/HEA

• AMORES, Coventry, CARNet, etc, 2013 to present, EU

Streaming Theatre• Identify effective techniques for telematic

teaching• Create assessment tasks and criteria that

employ use of video materials (the pictorial essay)

• Identify effective online techniques for student collaboration

• Provide students with exposure to technology, but make cultural exchange the focus of the interaction, not the technology.

The ‘telematic environment’

Obervations• Set clear tasks for blog/forum/etc• Schedule time for online collaboration outside of formal

sessions• Have offline debriefing• Start with more ice-breaking sessions• Provide time at start of module for sharing cultures • Pair up students earlier??• Let them use the tool they want• Observe, moderate and evaluate constantly

BIM-Hub project

• Based on a project funded by HP Catalyst 2011 – 2012, funded by HEA, runs 2013 to 2014

• Loughborough University, Coventry University, Ryerson University (Canada)

• Teams of architects, construction engineers and project managers

• Design a building and submit report• Use GoToMeeting for synchronous and

students’ choice for asynchronous

Transactional Distance/ I O model

Soetanto, R., Childs, M., Poh, P., Austin, S. and Hao, J. (2012) Global multidisciplinary learning in construction education: Lessons from virtual collaboration of building design teams. Civil Engineering Dimension, 14(3), 173-181. ISSN 1410-9530 print / ISSN 1979-570X online

Soetanto, R., Childs, M., Poh, P., Austin, S. and Hao, J. (2014) Virtual collaborative learning for building design. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Management, Procurement and Law, 167, MP1, 25-34. http://dx.doi.org/10.1680/mpal.13.00002

Professional ethos

Completion of tasks to

time

Greater trust

Reliance on other

alignments diminishes

Greater co-operation

Lack of professional

ethos

Failure to complete

tasks to time

Diminishing trust

Greater reliance on

other alignments

Reduced commitment

to collaboration

Trust in online interactions

Only difference was when trust broke down, online found it difficult to re-establish it.Rourke et al, 1999 gives examples of studies in establishing trust in online interactions:• 27% of the total message content consisted of expressions of

feeling, self introductions, jokes, compliments, greetings, and closures.

• the more one discloses personal information, the more others will reciprocate, and the more individuals know about each other the more likely they are to establish trust, seek support, and thus find satisfaction

Use of technology in collaboration

Students showed high degrees of digital literacy• Selecting specific platforms to achieve specific

tasks• Moving fluidly between them to achieve the

desired results. • For quick communication all of the students

used Facebook• used Dropbox for sharing documents. • All used GoToMeeting.

Lack of socialising online

• Opinion held by about half the students in the class was “SCREENS ARE NOT ENGAGING” and “I still believe face to face meetings are key to success”

Yet:• No small talk in GoToMeetings.• No sharing of images.• Maintaining a professional distance.

Example of presence in GoToMeeting

AMORES project

• 5 Schools across Europe• CARNet, Coventry, Staffordshire, 36.6

Competency Centre• Discovering a love for literature through

creation of digital artefacts• Technology chosen mainly video• Plus videoconferencing• Use of Edmodo to facilitate sharing and social

aspects, avoiding security issues.

Conclusion

• Online collaboration effective for learning• But needs an online social aspect to maintain

trust and facilitate communication• Students tend to pursue online social

relationships only with people they know offline. Solely online connections need scaffolding.

• Therefore despite learners’ digital literacies, social activity does not spontaneously occur

• Need to devise specific activities to facilitate.

Streaming Theatre Team

• Amsterdam: Dr. Peter Eversmann and Dr. Erik Lint at the Universiteit van Amsterdam

• Warwick: Mark Childs, Jonathan Stevens, Tim White

BIM-Hub team• Coventry: Stephen Austin• Loughborough: Robby Soetanto (PI),

Jacqui Glass, Zulfikar Adamu, Chinwe Isiadinso

• Ryerson : Paul Poh, Dmitri Knyazev• Project evaluation: Harry Tolley,

Helen MacKenzie

References• Rourke, L, Anderson, T, Garrison, D R & Archer, W. (1999) Assessing social

presence in asynchronous text-based computer conferencing. Journal of Distance Education 14 (2) pp. 50–71

• Soetanto, R., Childs, M., Poh, P., Austin, S. and Hao, J. (2012) Global multidisciplinary learning in construction education: Lessons from virtual collaboration of building design teams. Civil Engineering Dimension, 14(3), 173-181. ISSN 1410-9530 print / ISSN 1979-570X online

• Soetanto, R., Childs, M., Poh, P., Austin, S. and Hao, J. (2014) Virtual collaborative learning for building design. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Management, Procurement and Law, 167, MP1, 25-34. http://dx.doi.org/10.1680/mpal.13.00002

• Stevens, J. Childs, M., Lint, F. and Eversmann, P. (2007) Streaming Theatres in a Virtual Classroom, 7th International DIVERSE Conference, Lillehammer University College, Norway, 27th to 29th June, 2007