Computer Supported Collaborative Learning Classroom
Collaboration
On the Collaboration table at the Technology Showcase we’ll be exploring and explaining online collaborative University services that you can take advantage of today, as well as looking at technologies from beyond the University.
In particular we’ll be exploring:
- Wikis and Blogs, such as the Confluence and Wordpress services at Exeter
- The role of social networks, such as Facebook and Google+
- ELE and other virtual learning environments
- Real time conferencing tools, such as Skype, Google Hangouts & Adobe Connect
You can explore the relationship between these internal and external services through a Prezi on "Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) at Exeter and beyond".
A potted history of collaborative learning & technology
In the early days of the web, publishing content was a difficult and technical thing to achieve. You needed to understand a whole new language, that seemed to consist solely of acronyms - FTP, HTML, ASP … is was a technical space, filled with technical people.
The advent of what has often been referred to as ‘Web 2.0’ changed everything. This new ‘Read Write Web’, where you no longer needed any technical expertise in order to create web content, launched a whole new generations of bloggers, tweeters, digital artists, film directors, and more. Suddenly everyone was creating online.
With this new ability to create content, came the ability to create a profile. Social presence online became a reality, and with it social networking, social bookmarking, social media, everything became social. And, crucially from an educational point of view, it allowed for a massive new swathe of computer supported collaboration - if you can be seen online, and you can see others, then true collaboration becomes possible.
Computer supported collaborative learning, or CSCL as it is sometimes referred to, had been an on/off topic in education science since the early eighties, but the web has transformed it into a bustling and high profile area of research. From Twitter to Facebook, Pinterest to Tumblr, no web service has been left unresearched. For more on this, see the International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning.
