An analysis of growth patterns in computer conferencing threads
CSCL '99 Proceedings of the 1999 conference on Computer support for collaborative learning
Information ecology of collaborations in educational settings: influence of tool
CSCL '97 Proceedings of the 2nd international conference on Computer support for collaborative learning
CSCL '02 Proceedings of the Conference on Computer Support for Collaborative Learning: Foundations for a CSCL Community
Virtual communication in middle school students' and teachers' inquiry
CSCL '02 Proceedings of the Conference on Computer Support for Collaborative Learning: Foundations for a CSCL Community
Implementing virtual collaborative inquiry practises in a middle-school context
Behaviour & Information Technology - Computer Support for Learning Communities
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The aim of the present study was to analyze teachers' pedagogical designs, plans of organized technology-supported, collective student inquiry. Ten teachers in Finland designed and implemented eight, inquiry-learning units ('designs') in 12 primary and secondary level classrooms in various subject domains. The guiding principles behind the designs were the objectives of progressive inquiry, such as facilitation of question-and explanation-driven learning, and the use of collaborative technology to support the sharing of knowledge. The participating teachers received substantial pedagogical training on these issues before the classroom implementations. The present study concentrated on examining three aspects in the teachers' pedagogical designs: solutions for supporting students' inquiry efforts, organization of collaboration, and the role given to the web-based Collaborative Learning Environment (CLE). The teachers experienced the use of CLE as a valuable new possibility to foster collaboration in classroom work, but there was much variation in the ways that the affordances of the system were utilized. The results indicated that it was a challenge for the teachers, especially in secondary level, to find appropriate methods for supporting students' inquiry efforts. The most difficult aim to achieve appeared to be the promotion of real collaborative knowledge building; the social arrangements of many designs still relied on rather individualistic ways of working.