THE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF AN ONLINE COLLABORATIVE LEARNING IN MALAYSIAN TERTIARY CLASSROOM 1

By M.N.H Mohamad Said Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (Malaysia) [email protected]

INTRODUCTION |

|

|

Online learning is rapidly gaining popularity as a method of knowledge delivery through the use of Internet and network technologies. In the field of tertiary education, online learning has been seen as an alternative strategy to help educators to accommodate the numbers and the diversity of students who are coming into tertiary classroom. The flexibility of online learning has encouraged many educators to make their learning materials and resources available online so that students can reach th them through th h IInternet t t att anytime ti and d anywhere. h Thus, Th provides many more opportunities for dialogue compared to print or broadcast-based distance education

2

ONLINE LEARNING IN TERTIARY EDUCATION Learning g through g online methods specifically p y through the use of ICT has increased formally and informally in schools, colleges and universities throughout the world. world | This situation arises due to several factors. First, the coverage of Internet connectivity is widening that permit access to Internet. | Second, the emergence of web 2.0 as a result of the advancement of web technologies has great influence on learning online. |

3

E-LEARNING AT THE MALAYSIAN PUBLIC UNIVERSITY |

The use of e-learning g in p pre-service teacher education has increased tremendously in Malaysian public universities. This is due to the desire of the Malaysian government to optimise e e-learning learning as one of the instructional methods in higher education and also to fulfil the aspirations of the country to be a fully-developed f and knowledge-rich nation by the year 2020. E-learning also has been an integral part of institutional teaching p g and learning gp policy, y, with institutional encouragement for the lecturers to utilize e-learning in their classes and students to participate in online learning activity activity.

4

THE DESIGN PHASE The design g p phase of creating g an online collaborative learning involves the understanding of the concept of online collaborative learning, the Activityy Theoryy learning g framework and the model of collaborative discussion. | Collaborative learning, which is supported by Internet and network technologies, technologies is able to create online communities that allow learners to participate in social learning activities and in building socially shared expertise. expertise | Activity Theory is increasingly being applied to aspects of technology-based learning because of its emphasis on the mediation of tools and social development on human activity. |

5

CONTINUED The model of collaborative discussion was based on Harasim’s (2004) phases of online collaborative learning model and was adapted to collaborative problem based discussions by the use of authentic problem-based and relevant problems that situate learning. | It outlines three main phases for collaborative discussion: |

Idea generating y Idea linking y Intellectual convergence y

6

THE IMPLEMENTATION PHASE With the introduction of Learning g Management g Systems (LMS) also known as Virtual Learning Environments (VLE) in tertiary institutions, crucial g building g collaboration and knowledge communication can be facilitated. | An example of current growing LMS that could be used to facilitate collaborative learning is Moodle (Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment). | Moodle is designed pedagogically to assist teachers to produce online content tailored to their respective classes in a collaborative, interactive environment. environment |

7

THE LEARNING INTERFACE

8

CONCLUSION |

|

|

|

The completed online collaborative learning discussions provide the opportunities for the students to engage in learning by providing them a means to relate and support each other within each particular learning context. t t The activity theory learning framework ensures that socio-cultural dimensions of learning are considered as l learning i th through h collaboration ll b ti can nott b be coerced. d A key issue of this research highlights the crucial aspects of technology (tools), pedagogy (rules) and social i l (di (division i i off llabour) b ) iin understanding d t di th the integration of online learning. It also highlights participation is a situated activity which i d is driven i b by goals, l mediated di t d b by ttools l and d di distributed t ib t d through interacting with others.

9