Does the Internet encourage

Collaboration or Cooperation?

Yellow Group

Collaboration or Cooperation

“Collaborative or group learning is based upon a learner centred model... Learner as an active participant”

(Harasim, Calvert & Groeneboer 1998)

"Collaboration is a philosophy of interaction and personal lifestyle whereas cooperation is a structure of interaction designed to facilitate the accomplishment of an end product or goal."

(Panitz 1996)

The Student's Prayer (Umberto Maturana)Don't impose on me what you know,

I want to explore the unknownAnd be the source of my own discoveries

Let the known be my liberation, not my slavery

The world of your truth can be my limitationYour wisdom my negation

Don’t instruct me: let’s walk together.Let my richness begin where yours ends

Show me that I can stand on your shoulders

Reveal yourself so that I can beSomething different

You believe that every human being

Can love and create.I understand, then, your fear

When I ask you to live according to your wisdom.

You will not know who I amBy listening to yourself.

Don’t instruct me; let me be.Your failure is that I be identical to you.

(Quoted in Zohar and Marshall, 2001)”

This poem is taken from Carroll and Gilbert (2011) p10

Self, Community & Group Process

“Working in an online group adds to the complexityof the group work process” (McDonald and Gibson, 1998)

Learning from each other is a very positive

experience: new ideas, new

structures, new ways of thinking

Working in this way may require more dependence on others and comes with a whole set of problems such as: non-contributing members, unequal workload, scheduling issues (Piezon and

Donaldson 1984), “Social Loafing” (Williams and

Karau 1991) and “Free riding effects” (Albanese and Van Fleet 1985)

Reflective view:

Technology

“I can’t access the whiteboard, this

prevents me contributing to the written summary”

Troubleshooting together with online

collaboration can help students increase their technical abilities and

problem solving

Technology is one of the greatest challenges in online education. A diverse student population means that technical abilities are varied and it should not be assumed that all students have had access to high level technologies.

One study reported that although students found working via online and internet highly collaborative and challenging of their thinking and ideas, 50% of the 316 students taking part found difficulty in the design. (Leahy & Twomey, 2005)

Motivation

One positive motivation can be

mutual gain

Lack of motivation can lead to problems such as: the “free rider effect” (Kerr & Brunn 1983),

the sucker effect (Kerr, 1983), the “status sensitivity” effect (Dembo &

McAuliffe, 1987) and the “ganging up on the task” phenomenon (Salamon &

Globerson 1987).” (cited by Roberts 2003 p vii)

Kerr (1983) noted these effects particularly in male group members. The “Ringelmann Effect” should also be considered where motivational loss increases with increased numbers. (Kravitz & Martin, 1986)

An important difference between collaboration and cooperation via the internet is elements of motivation. Where does the motivation come from? If the motivation is, “I want to contribute, social exchange and relations” would be more a collaborative approach. “I need to do this well and meet this goal” would be more a cooperation approach.

“Every time I overcome a

problem, I feel more motivated to take on the

next challenge”

PrivacyWith increased sophistication of computer

based technology and global access, asymmetrical sharing of information and

privacy can result in reduced collaboration and cooperation (Jiang, Hong &

Landay 2002)

Reflective view:

Considering privacy issues while collaborating using the internet can be used

to teach students valuable employment skills

regarding confidentiality and responsibility in sharing information

“Educators are finding the value of using the Web for facilitating collaborative groups”(Anderson, Reinhart & Slowinski 2001)

The question isn’t “how can we encourage

collaboration through the internet?” .. the internet is collaboration and will not

function in the way we know without it.

Conclusion

Reflective view:

ReferencesAlbanese, R., and Van Fleet, D.D. (1985). Rational behaviour in groups: The free-riding tendency. Academy of Management Review , 10, 244-255. Anderson, Reinhart and Slowinski (2001) A Journey in Virtual Collaboration: Facilitating Computer-Mediated Communication Among Pre-Service

TeachersBenklers, Y. (2005) Open Source Economics. http://blog.ted.com/2008/04/16/yochai_benkler_1/. (Updated 16/04/2008, accessed 06/02/2012). Bond, C. (2009) Nurses computers and pre registration education. Nurse Education Today. Vol 29 (7). Pp. 731-734. Carroll, M. and Gilbert, M. C. (2011) On Being a Supervisee: Creating Learning Partnerships 2nd Edition Vukani Publishing : London, UKDe Oliveira, M. (2009) What changes when Technology is Good Enough? The international Journal of Learning. Vol 16 (2) Pp. 477-487Goode, J. (2010) Mind the Gap: The digital Dimension of college Access. The Journal of Higher Education. Vol 81 (5). Pp. 583- 618.Harasim, L., Calvert, T. and Groeneboer, C. (1998) Virtual U: A web based system to support collaborative learning Chapter 18 p149-158 In: Khan, B.

H. (1998) Web based Instruction (Third edition) Englewood Cliffs : New Jersey USAJiang, X,, Hong, J. I. And Landay, J. A. (2002) Approximate information flows : Socially-based modelling of privacy in ubiquitous computing Lecture

Notes in Computer Science 2498 176-193 doi: 10.1007/3-540-45809-3_14Leahy, M. and Twomey, D. (2005)Using web based design with pre service teachers as a means of creating a collaborative learning environment.

Educational Media International. Vol 24 (2). Pp.143-151Kerr, N. L. (1983) Motivation losses in small groups: A social dilemma analysis Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 45 (4) 819-828 doi:

10.1037/0022-3514.45.4.819Kerr, N. L. and Bruun, S. E. (1983) Dispensibility of member effort and group motivation

losses : Free rider effects Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 44 78-94 Cited by:T. Roberts (2004) Online Collaborative Learning: Theory and Practice Information Science Publishing : London, UK pvii

McDonald, J. and Gibson, C.C. (1998) Interpersonal dynamics and group development in computer conferencing The American Journal of Distance Education 12 (1) p 7-25

Neilson, M. (2011) Open Science now. http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/michael_nielsen_open_science_now.html (updated 11/11/2011, accessed 06/02/2012)

Panitz, T (1996). A definition of collaborative vs cooperative learning. http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/deliberations/collaborative-learning/panitz-paper.cfm. updated 2000, accessed 01/02/2012)

Piezon and Donaldson (2005) Online Groups and Social Loafing: Understanding Student-Group Interactions Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, Volume VIII, Number IV, Winter 2005 University of West Georgia, Distance Education Center Available at: http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/winter84/piezon84.htm[Accessed at 23.18 on 14.02.12]

Posey, L. & Pintz, C. (2006) Online teaching strategies to improve collaboration among nursing students. Nurse Education Today. Vol 26 (8). Pp. 680-687.

ReferencesReece, I. & Walker, S. (2008) Teaching Training and Learning: A Practical Guide. M&A Thomson Litho LTD. Glasgow.Roberts, T. (2004) Online Collaborative Learning: Theory and Practice Information Science Publishing : London, UKRosendale, P. (2010) Introduction to Second Life (Historical View) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b72CvvMuD6Q. (updated 10/09/2006 accessed

06/02/2012).Sargeant, J. Curran, V. Allen, M, Jarvis, S. and Kendall, H. (2006) Facilitating Interpersonal Interaction and learning online: linking theory to practice.

The Journal of Continual Education in the Health professions. Vol 26. Pp. 128-136.Stoltzman, R. and Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, (2008). Maid with the Flaxen Hair by Debussy, Fine Music, Vol. 1 [MP3]Twomey, A (2004) Web based teaching in nursing: lessons form literature. Nurse Education Today. Vol 24. Pp 452-458Von Ahn , L. (2011) Massive Scale Online Collaboration.

http://blog.ted.com/2011/12/06/massive-scale-online-collaboration-luis-von-ahn-on-ted-com. (updated 06/12/2011, Accessed 06/02/2012).Wiersema, N. (2000) How does collaborative learning actually work in a classroom and how do students react to it?

http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/deliberations/collaborative-learning/wiersema.cfm (updated 2000 accessed 01/02/2012Williams, K.D., & Karau, S. J. (1991). Social loafing and social compensation: The effects of expectations of co-worker performance. Journal of

Personality and Social Psychology , 61(4), 570-581Zohar, D. And Marshall, I. (2001) Spiritual Intelligence – the ultimate intelligence Bloomsbury : London

If you have more time ..You may like to read the accompanying notes pages or listen to these additional notes on:

• Privacy

• Motivation .. Technology

Notes on Motivation

Notes on Technology

A positive view of privacyNotes on privacy

And a Reflective View on the

process: