Technology-supported Collaborative Learning Research Articles

SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW OF INTERVENTIONS SUPPORTED BY INTEGRATION OF ICT IN EDUCATION TO IMPROVE LEARNERS' ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN STEM SUBJECTS IN KENYA

Poor Learners' Academic Performance in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) Subjects has become one of the main problems of education systems in many countries and worldwide learning institutions. They are expected to become more common in the forthcoming decades. This article aims to provide a systematic literature review and a descriptive evaluation of the interventions supported by the integration of information and communication technology (ICT) in education to improve learners' academic performance in STEM Subjects. This paper adopted a systematic literature review of five databases namely: -Emerald, EBSCOhost, JSTOR, Wiley Online, and Taylor & Francis. The paper provides a quantitative and qualitative description of `critical studies about Interventions Supported by Integration of ICT in Education for the Improvement of Learners' Academic Performance in STEM Subjects in Kenya. The following factors were considered for the analysis: teacher's plausible skills capacity interventions, Access to ICT in Education, and availability of digital content in the cloud. The systematic review demonstrated that interventions supported by the integration of information and communication technology (ICT) in education to improve learners' academic performance in STEM Subjects have several gaps that need to be addressed to make them more effective. Study findings show varying perspectives regarding ICT integration in STEM subjects. ICT access, skills capacity interventions, and access to cloud digital content pose a challenge in teachers' pedagogical practices, affecting learner performance. Despite the comprehensive literature search and review across geographical regions within limits of time and access, it is clear that the study findings prepare the ground for further research and the possibility of capacity-building interventions,
 This paper has established a need for a more effective pedagogical design promoting technology-supported collaborative learning to prepare learners for the twenty-first century STEM subjects. Further, this study recommends future studies to evaluate interventions to overcome barriers, including teacher access to ICT Education in parts of the world, technology infrastructure, software, and relevant teacher training curriculum for STEM competencies. In addition, further work is required to address the challenge of the glaring lack of access, relevant content, and the necessary infrastructure for digital cloud solutions, particularly with rich STEM subjects’ content.

Improving problem-solving skills through technology assisted collaborative learning in a first year engineering mathematics course

PurposeThe purpose of this research study is to explore simple collaborative technique for teaching mathematics and thus improving the problem solving skills of the students. Better pedagogic activities are required to motivate the students to perceive mathematics as a subject that stimulates problem-solving skills required for engineers.Design/methodology/approachThis paper presents a research study on the application of technology-supported collaborative learning in improving the problem-solving skills of first-year engineering students in a mathematics course. The experiment was conducted in a mathematics course “Engineering Calculus” with 286 first-year engineering students in two groups: experimental group (N = 60) and controlled group (N = 226). The academic performance of the students was measured and analyzed with statistical techniques.FindingsFrom the results obtained, it was found that the academic performance of the experimental group was better than the controlled group. Also, interest shown by the students in the topic that dealt with collaborative learning was more than in other topics taught using conventional teaching methods.Research limitations/implicationsThe teachers are required to find effective pedagogical activities to improve the problem-solving skills in mathematics. The research work proposes a collaborative method in mathematics for attaining higher cognitive level in an entry level engineering course. The limitation of this study lies in group formation techniques and the grading policy which deals only with individual assessment scores.Practical implicationsPractice of collaborative learning is made easy with simple technology. A clear strategy for the conduct of collaborative learning sessions has been presented. The solutions recommended are practically feasible and does not require any special infrastructure or specific training.Social implicationsUsing technology in mathematics teaching may not be very easy for all teachers. Especially, for an undergraduate engineering fresher, mathematics may not be a very easy task. This work shall bridge the gap with simple technology-assisted collaborative learning. The teachers need not spend too much time and effort in learning technology for mathematics teaching. The effect of this learning is significant in terms of the performance and satisfaction evaluation.Originality/valueThis work presents a systematic implementation of collaborative learning that shall result in improved problem-solving skills and engaging learning sessions. The statistical analysis methods and the visualization of obtained results shall help in understanding the implications of the presented work. Practice of collaborative learning is made easy with simple technology. The solutions recommended are practically feasible and does not require any special infrastructure or specific training.

Effect of Technology-Supported Collaborative Learning Techniques on Prospective Teachers' Sense of Learning Community Through the use of Moodle

Technology-supported collaborative learning can help educators develop twenty-first-century workforce skills among students. The study aimed to assess the effect of technology-supported collaborative learning techniques on prospective teachers' sense of learning community through the use of MOODLE and Google Docs. In this study, a "pre-test post-test non-equivalent control group(Quasi-experimental) design" was applied. A sense of learning community questionnaire was prepared for prospective teachers. Effect of intervention was measured through independent samples t-test: paired sample t-test and effect size. The finding of the study showed a statistically significant effect of the intervention on prospective teachers' sense of learning community scores. The study concluded that a sense of learning community is an integral and important element of technology-supported collaborative learning strategy and it helps to accept any new technology integration in classroom practices and decrease the dropout rate of the students in higher education online learning classes.

LEAP

Despite a crucial role in providing public health services, Community Health Workers (CHWs) remain disadvantaged in receiving effective skill-building opportunities. Due to the lack of health experts and appropriate infrastructure, it becomes challenging to provide training on a regular basis. Our aim is to investigate opportunities for designing technology-supported collaborative learning to compensate for the limited availability of instructors. We designed a mobile learning-based peer-led educational intervention, and conducted an eight week long between-group study with 120 CHWs across four districts of Delhi, India. We found that CHWs were able to participate and use the system on their own leading to significant knowledge gains and increased desire to learn. With little guidance, CHWs exhibited benefits of collaborative learning in terms of positive interdependence on each other and use of interpersonal skills. The informal peer learning environment encouraged CHWs to have discourses on deeper societal aspects e.g. their role in society.

A literature review of features and trends of technology-supported collaborative learning in informal learning settings from 2007 to 2018

Recently, collaborative learning in informal learning settings has been gained increasing interest. This study reviewed 70 papers about technology-supported collaborative learning published from 2007 to 2018. The subjects, objects, rules, contexts, interactions, and tools were analyzed based on the adapted framework of activity theory. The results indicated that undergraduate and postgraduate students mainly participated in technology-supported collaborative learning in the past 12 years. Mixed learning outcomes in natural science learning domains were the major learning objectives. In terms of rules, most studies adopted mixed collaborative learning methods and provided guidance for students. However, no rewards were provided in most studies. In addition, most studies mainly occurred in online learning community or after-school clubs. Technology-mediated interactions were generally adopted and participants mainly interacted with group members. In terms of trends of technology-supported collaborative learning, the findings revealed that the increasing trends in the higher education level and large sample size were found from 2013 to 2018. More and more studies focused on engineering design tasks and adopted self-selected heterogeneous groups. Mixed hardware and software with mixed functionalities significantly increased from 2013 to 2018. The findings were discussed in depth, together with implications and recommendations for future studies.

Trends in mobile technology-supported collaborative learning: A systematic review of journal publications from 2007 to 2016

This study reviewed the literature on mobile technology-supported collaborative learning from 2007 to 2016. Several issues, such as the distributions and research methods, learning devices and learning environments, participants, research issues, application domains, grouping methods and collaborative learning strategies, are addressed. In addition, the relationship between the learning strategies and measurement issues are investigated. The review found that the amount of research on mobile collaborative learning increased and the connection between new mobile technology and collaborative learning activities became tighter. College students received the greatest emphasis, but more focus should be put on junior and elementary school students. Few studies were conducted on teachers and adults. In the most recent five years, the research was focused on improving learners' performance in science, especially social science, and in natural scenarios outside of the classroom, but less emphasis was put on developing learners’ skills and higher order skills. There was little research focusing on different selection methods of group members and the teaching effects of grouping design. Most research adopted conceptualized collaborative learning strategies. Furthermore, some studies proposed that the collaborative learning activities conducted in mobile learning environments should be designed carefully to guide students to experience more effective collaborative constructivist learning. Based on the findings, in-depth discussion and suggestions for future studies are given.

Lessons learned from the successful countries and distinguished authors by reviewing 2007-2016 journal publications on mobile technology-supported collaborative learning

In this study, a review of mobile collaborative learning was conducted to identify the main contributing countries and authors of this field by analysing journal papers published from 2007 to 2016. Based on the analysis results, the outstanding countries and authors are presented; more important, the key factor of successfully promoting mobile learning studies and applications in a country was investigated. The findings and suggestions of this study could provide a good reference for policy makers and administrators who intend to implement successful mobile learning research and practice in their countries.

Lessons learned from the successful countries and distinguished authors by reviewing 2007-2016 journal publications on mobile technology-supported collaborative learning

Lessons learned from the successful countries and distinguished authors by reviewing 2007-2016 journal publications on mobile technology-supported collaborative learning

Wikis and collaborative learning in higher education

While collaborative learning and collaborative writing can be of great value to student learning, the implementation of a technology-supported collaborative learning environment is a challenge. With their built-in features for supporting collaborative writing and social communication, wikis are a promising platform for collaborative learning; however, wiki-supported collaborative learning cannot function without an effective learning design. This article highlights theory and prior research on wiki use in education and uses a design-based approach to develop strategies for using wikis to support collaborative learning in a classroom environment. In order to explore and refine these strategies, an iterative, design-based research method is used to create wiki-supported collaborative classroom activities. The authors discuss the design approach as it relates to wikis and consider the strategies that develop over four design iterations, including suggestions for learning community management, inquiry-based topic selection, teacher scaffolding, student evaluation and supporting wiki technology with other social media. This study demonstrates that while wikis can be a tool for post-secondary collaborative learning, appropriate pedagogical supports are required for successful implementation.

What are the Trends in Collaborative Learning Studies in 21st Century?

Collaborative learning, assists individuals to work as a team for a common purpose or mission. Today, individuals are working for a mission by using computer, internet and such technologies. A lot of studies had been done with using collaborative learning. In order to learn the effectiveness of collaborative learning, a variety of studies and techniques should be prepared. Besides, there exist considerable numbers of studies that were done on the techniques of technology supported collaborative learning. In significant proportion of the presented studies, the online systems have been introduced that were developed for technology supported collaborative learning. In literature, meta-analysis studies were also found related to collaborative learning methods. There is not exist any recent made researches on the trends of this topic in literature. The aim of this study is to determine trends for those who aim to make research in Technology Supported Collaborative Learning (TSCL), published in popular magazines in the field of education technology between the years 2005 and 2010. 114 studies have been attained after the scan made on SSCI covered journals. The reporting of the study was grouped according to following criteria; publishing year of the finding, research field, method and study environment.