Schedule: 2009-09-11 (16:30 - 17:30)
Poster Presentations and Commercial Exhibition (Exhibition Hall)

Title: Learner development in an online collaborative learning environment
Authors: Heejin Chang
Abstract: The focus of this research study is an online course that has been designed to provide learners with a non-threatening, supportive environment in which they are encouraged to collaborate with other students and with the lecturer on content-based online activities. The aim was to observe how individual students participated in the activities, what form their collaboration took and how the pattern of collaboration changed as the course progressed.

The course lasted a semester, 15 weeks, and the subjects were 47 Korean university students learning EFL at a university in Korea. The course was delivered using a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), and consisted of 15 units to be completed at the rate of one a week. Each unit focused on a different topic and consisted of a reading passage followed by some writing activities including a weekly written assignment. The main feature of this assignment was that students were encouraged to post their work on the web so that others could comment on it.

The research questions focused on identifying the way in which the VLE provides opportunities for collaborative learning; how the learners actually collaborated; the extent to which learners were oriented towards language or content; how they constructed new knowledge; whether and how their attitude and motivation toward learning English changed, and what factors affected this.

As well as data gathered from their assignments, students were asked to keep a learning journal, and to complete a questionnaire at the end of the course. A record was also kept of their usage of different components of the course.

The data suggest there is evidence that learners benefited both from seeing other learners’ assignments, and from comments made on their own assignments. This was reflected in entries in their journals and in the work they produced, and the benefits were evident in improved attitude and motivation, in the quality of the work they produced, and in the development of autonomous learning strategies, particularly as a result of reflection on their learning processes.

Some of the less computer-literate learners had initial problems with the technology, as did those for whom there was a mismatch between the technology and their expectations of it, but for the majority of students the medium allowed them to collaborate according to their wishes, allowing the more proactive learners to post assignments early and benefit from others’ comments, and other learners to learn from others’ work. As the course progressed there was evidence in their work of language that had been learned from assignments posted on the web-site, and of changes in learners’ approaches to sharing their work, with some learners becoming more confident about posting their work early. The use of a VLE both helped learners collaborate in ways in which they felt comfortable, and enabled the researcher to gather evidence of the way they worked.
Keywords: VLE, LMS, CMC, social-constructivism, collaboration

Main topic: Learning Management Systems

Biodata: PhD candidate in Educational and Applied Linguistics.
Type of presentation Poster

Paper category (Other)

Target educational sector Adult education

Language of delivery English

EU-funded project No

Schedule:	2009-09-11 (16:30 - 17:30) Poster Presentations and Commercial Exhibition (Exhibition Hall)
Title:	Learner development in an online collaborative learning environment
Authors:	Heejin Chang
Abstract:	The focus of this research study is an online course that has been designed to provide learners with a non-threatening, supportive environment in which they are encouraged to collaborate with other students and with the lecturer on content-based online activities. The aim was to observe how individual students participated in the activities, what form their collaboration took and how the pattern of collaboration changed as the course progressed. The course lasted a semester, 15 weeks, and the subjects were 47 Korean university students learning EFL at a university in Korea. The course was delivered using a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), and consisted of 15 units to be completed at the rate of one a week. Each unit focused on a different topic and consisted of a reading passage followed by some writing activities including a weekly written assignment. The main feature of this assignment was that students were encouraged to post their work on the web so that others could comment on it. The research questions focused on identifying the way in which the VLE provides opportunities for collaborative learning; how the learners actually collaborated; the extent to which learners were oriented towards language or content; how they constructed new knowledge; whether and how their attitude and motivation toward learning English changed, and what factors affected this. As well as data gathered from their assignments, students were asked to keep a learning journal, and to complete a questionnaire at the end of the course. A record was also kept of their usage of different components of the course. The data suggest there is evidence that learners benefited both from seeing other learners’ assignments, and from comments made on their own assignments. This was reflected in entries in their journals and in the work they produced, and the benefits were evident in improved attitude and motivation, in the quality of the work they produced, and in the development of autonomous learning strategies, particularly as a result of reflection on their learning processes. Some of the less computer-literate learners had initial problems with the technology, as did those for whom there was a mismatch between the technology and their expectations of it, but for the majority of students the medium allowed them to collaborate according to their wishes, allowing the more proactive learners to post assignments early and benefit from others’ comments, and other learners to learn from others’ work. As the course progressed there was evidence in their work of language that had been learned from assignments posted on the web-site, and of changes in learners’ approaches to sharing their work, with some learners becoming more confident about posting their work early. The use of a VLE both helped learners collaborate in ways in which they felt comfortable, and enabled the researcher to gather evidence of the way they worked.
Keywords:	VLE, LMS, CMC, social-constructivism, collaboration
Main topic:	Learning Management Systems
Biodata:	PhD candidate in Educational and Applied Linguistics.
Type of presentation	Poster
Paper category	(Other)
Target educational sector	Adult education
Language of delivery	English
EU-funded project	No