Information technology as boundary object for transformational learning

Collaborative work is considered as a way to improve productivity and value generation in construction. However, recent research demonstrates that socio-cognitive factors related to fragmentation of specialized knowledge may hinder team performance. New methods based on theories of practice are emerging in Computer Supported Collaborative Work and organisational learning to break these knowledge boundaries, facilitating knowledge sharing and the generation of new knowledge through transformational learning. According to these theories, objects used in professional practice play a key role in mediating interactions. Rules and methods related to these practices are also embedded in these objects. Therefore changing collaborative patterns demand reconfiguring objects that are at the boundary between specialized practices, namely boundary objects. This research is unique in presenting an IT strategy in which technology is used as a boundary object to facilitate transformational learning in collaborative design work

Implementation and Effects of LDC and MDC in Kentucky Districts

This brief summarizes early evidence on the success of two tools Kentucky districts have used to support their teachers' transition to these more demanding goals: Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) and Math Design Collaborative (MDC). With support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, LDC and MDC tools have been designed and implemented to embody the key shifts in teaching and learning that the new standards demand. By implementing the tools, teachers then engage in new pedagogy and address relevant learning goals of the Kentucky Core Academic Standards

Claim your space: re-placing spaces to better meet the needs of the net generation

The challenge for the Reid Library at The University of Western Australia was the transformation of a 1960s building into a welcoming space with services and facilities appropriate for a more technologically demanding generation. A key issue was how to balance the continuing need for access to physical collections with the rapidly expanding demand for new kinds of learning spaces and facilities oriented towards on-line and collaborative learning and research. This paper outlines the approach taken to identify client needs (both physical and virtual), define and propose new service models, and transform learning spaces while maintaining access to physical collections

Collaboration and motivation in an online learning environment: students’ perceptions of collaborative activities and attitudes towards online learning

The report about distance learning in higher education in Portugal (2009) states that only a small percentage of HE enrolments are in DL courses, that the demand for the modality is growing, and that the Portuguese research in DL needs development, to support innovation in the modality. This study aimed to identify the collaborative activities that the 122 students enrolled in Masters’ courses between 2009-2012, in two Portuguese Universities, considered more motivating, their preferred type of assignment, the tools’ perceived ease of use, the social and cognitive aspects of teamwork, the tutor’s influence on teamwork and preferred team organization. The results indicate that the students feel comfortable participating, interacting and debating and that some collaborative activities such as designing projects, simulations, problem-based activities, discussions and written reports are more motivating than others. The results also show that the students have positive attitudes towards online learning, that online trust takes time to develop, that both face-to-face meetings and videoconference increase trust, though time flexibility is a practical advantage of online collaboration and that the way that collaborative assignments are designed can facilitate or hinder adequate collaboration

Simulating Light-Weight Personalised Recommender Systems in Learning Networks: A Case for Pedagogy-Oriented and Rating-Based Hybrid Recommendation Strategies

Recommender systems for e-learning demand specific pedagogy-oriented and hybrid recommendation strategies. Current systems are often based on time-consuming, top down information provisioning combined with intensive data-mining collaborative filtering approaches. However, such systems do not seem appropriate for Learning Networks where distributed information can often not be identified beforehand. Providing sound way-finding support for lifelong learners in Learning Networks requires dedicated personalised recommender systems (PRS), that offer the learners customised advise on which learning actions or programs to study next. Such systems should also be practically feasible and be developed with minimized effort. Currently, such so called light-weight PRS systems are scarcely available. This study shows that simulation studies can support the analysis and optimisation of PRS requirements prior to starting the costly process of their development, and practical implementation (including testing and revision) during field experiments in real-life learning situations. This simulation study confirms that providing recommendations leads towards more effective, more satisfied, and faster goal achievement. Furthermore, this study reveals that a light-weight hybrid PRS-system based on ratings is a good alternative for an ontology-based system, in particular for low-level goal achievement. Finally, it is found that rating-based light-weight hybrid PRS-systems enable more effective, more satisfied, and faster goal attainment than peer-based light-weight hybrid PRS-systems (incorporating collaborative techniques without rating).Recommendation Strategy; Simulation Study; Way-Finding; Collaborative Filtering; Rating

COLLABORATIVE LEARNING IN THE 21ST CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING LANDSCAPE: EFFECTS TO STUDENTS’ COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE AND PSYCHOMOTOR DIMENSIONS

Collaborative Learning (CL) is an approach to teaching and learning that involves a group of learners working together. The study aims to assess collaborative learning effects in the 21st century teaching-learning landscape, particularly on the students' cognitive, affective and psychomotor dimensions. This study utilized the descriptive-evaluative method of research with a validated questionnaire as the primary data gathering instrument. Results showed that females dominate male students as to their number in first and second-year levels. The majority of the respondents aged 20 and below have participated in various collaborative activities and assignments in and out of the class with a typical size of 5 to 7 group members. Collaborative learning found to have a very high effect on Students' Academic Learning (cognitive), Collaborative Skills (affective) and least on Skills development (psychomotor). The researchers recommend that male students be engaged in group dynamics and learning activities; it must involve teenagers and suffice their activities' preference. Activities that demand greater participation, drills and exercises, and thinking activities must allow the students to develop their cognitive, affective, and psychomotor dimensions for holistic learning

Can They Work Well on a Team? Assessing Students\u27 Collaborative Skills

[Excerpt] Among the many critiques of legal education are criticisms that law students do not graduate with effective emotional intelligence skills-in particular, they have not learned to work well with others. Working with others is an important legal skill; and as law practice increasingly relies on collaboration among lawyers, legal staff, clients, and other individuals, so have legal employers raised the demand for effective collaborative skills among law students and recent graduates. This essay will focus on ways to engage students in collaborating and assessing that collaboration effectively. Students\u27 interpersonal collaborative skills can be effectively taught and assessed in large doctrinal classes by including effective collaboration as a course learning objective, enlisting students to establish assessment criteria, providing students with multiple opportunities to collaborate, enabling students to get feedback on their skills in working with others, and using students\u27 experiences to gather data about their classmates\u27 skills

OER meets COL: Learning about collaborative online learning with OER

... The design of advanced blended learning arrangements demands a shift of focus from mere content-based knowledge delivery to moderated interactions between topics, peers and educators. The provision of suitable learning content does not serve primarily as learning resources, but rather as a trigger for active learning as an appropriate combination of individual and collaborative engagement to achieve learning goals which address the higher levels of Bloom’s taxonomy. This triggered interaction benefits strongly by demand-driven and goal-oriented tele-tutorial moderation, perhaps based on deeper insight into learners’ interactions, provided by Learning Analytics. [Aus: Collaborative Online Learning

Achieving the Potential of Health Care Performance Measures: Timely Analysis of Immediate Health Policy issues

The United States is on the cusp of a new era, with greater demand for performance information, greater data availability, and a greater willingness to integrate performance information into public policy. This era has immense promise to deliver a learning health care system that encourages collaborative improvements in systems-based care, improves accountability, helps consumers make important choices, and improves quality at an acceptable cost. However, to curtail the possibility of unintended adverse consequences, it is important that we invest in developing sound measures, understand quality measures' strengths and limitations, study the science of quality measurement, and reduce inaccurate inferences about provider performance