DIGITAL LIBRARY
THE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF AN ONLINE COLLABORATIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT IN MALAYSIAN TERTIARY CLASSROOM
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (MALAYSIA)
About this paper:
Appears in: EDULEARN11 Proceedings
Publication year: 2011
Pages: 5487-5492
ISBN: 978-84-615-0441-1
ISSN: 2340-1117
Conference name: 3rd International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies
Dates: 4-6 July, 2011
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Abstract:
The paper describes the design and implementation phases of research investigating an online collaborative learning environment in a Malaysian university through the Course Management System (CMS), which aims to promote learning online through collaboration among Science and Mathematics pre-service teachers (Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics). In the design phase, Activity Theory was used to examine the context of Malaysian tertiary classroom on the aspects of technology, pedagogy and social while the model of online collaborative learning (Harasim, 2004) was adopted to collaborative problem-based discussions. The discussions were framed and shaped by the use of authentic and relevant problems that situate learning. Finally, the implementation phase established the collaborative groups and the students engaged in online group through interactions and teamwork in order to tap into cognition as distributed goal-directed activities through the online technology to mediate the learning.
Keywords:
e-learning, on-line learning, collaborative learning, activity theory, science and mathematics.