Karel Kreijns

Designing Electronic Collaborative Learning Environments

Electronic collaborative learning environments for learning and working are in vogue. Designers design them according to their own constructivist interpretations of what collaborative learning is and what it should achieve. Educators employ them with different educational approaches and in diverse situations to achieve different ends. Students use them, sometimes very enthusiastically, but often in a perfunctory way. Finally, researchers study them and—as is usually the case when apples and oranges are compared—find no conclusive evidence as to whether or not they work, where they do or do not work, when they do or do not work and, most importantly, why, they do or do not work. This contribution presents an affordance framework for such collaborative learning environments; an interaction design procedure for designing, developing, and implementing them; and an educational affordance approach to the use of tasks in those environments. It also presents the results of three projects dealing with these three issues.

Measuring perceived sociability of computer-supported collaborative learning environments

Most asynchronous computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environments can be characterized as functional environments because they focus on functional, task-specific support, often disregarding explicit support for the social (emotional) aspects of learning in groups which are acknowledged by many educational researchers to be essential for effective collaborative learning. In contrast, sociable CSCL environments emphasize the social (emotional) aspects of group learning. We define sociability as the extent to which a CSCL environment is perceived to be able to facilitate the emergence of a sound social space with attributes as trust and belonging, a strong sense of community, and good working relationships. Specific environmental characteristics, which we have designated social affordances, determine sociability. This explorative study deals with the construction and preliminary validation of a self-reporting (Dutch language) Sociability Scale for determining the perceived degree of sociability of CSCL environments. It is one-dimensional Scale consisting of 10 items and has an internal consistency of 0.92. It was further validated on the basis of a well-developed nomological network. The results of the explorative study are promising and show that the sociability scale has the potential to be useful as a measure for perceived sociability.

Social Aspects of CSCL Environments: A Research Framework

Although there are research findings supporting the positive effects of computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL), problems have been reported regarding the learning process itself, group formation, and group dynamics. These problems can be traced back to impeded social interaction between group members. Social interaction is necessary (a) for group members to learn from each other in a CSCL environment and (b) for socioemotional processes to help create a social space where trust, sense of community, and strong interpersonal relationships exist. This article introduces a theoretical framework consisting of three core elements: sociability, social space, and social presence, along with their relationships with group members’ mental models, social affordances and learning outcomes. It postulates that the three core elements influence the social interaction needed for both learning and the emergence of a social space. This framework serves as a basis for a research agenda for systematic social CSCL research.

The social affordances of computer-supported collaborative learning environments

Field observations report that contemporary computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environments do not completely fulfill the expectations of both educators and learners regarding their potential for supporting interactive learning and collaborative knowledge construction. This raises questions amongst educators whether CSCL environments do indeed provide genuine opportunities for learning processes that rely on social interaction. The authors believe that one of the factors that may explain this is the generally accepted assumption that social interaction can be taken for granted. Social interaction in CSCL environments can no more be taken for granted than it can in face-to-face settings. A theoretical framework is presented proposing the support of social interaction by embedding certain properties in the CSCL environment that act as social contextual facilitators relevant for the learners social interaction. They refer to these properties as social affordances. A group awareness widget (GAW) is a software tool providing the learner with group awareness on the others in different contexts while at the same time enabling the learner to communicate with them. The authors hypothesize that GAWs provoke social affordances and formulate guidelines for designing GAWs.

Measuring perceived quality of social space in distributed learning groups

Distributed learning in groups is usually supported by computer-supported collaborative learning environments. Although these environments have the potential to facilitate working in groups, they often do not fulfill this potential because of their inability to provide a sound social space where social relationships exist and where a sense of cohesiveness and community is achieved. This article reports on the construction and validation of a self-reporting (Dutch-language) Social Space Scale. The raw Social Space Scale was launched in three different distance education courses from the Open Universiteit Nederland using two different computer-supported collaborative learning environments. Factor analysis revealed that the Social Space Scale has two interpretable factors which are identified as the Positive Group Behavior dimension and the Negative Group Behavior dimension. The raw Social Space Scale was refined thereby reducing the number of test items from 44 to 20; each dimension encompasses 10 items. The internal consistency was 81 for the total scale, 92 for the Positive Group Behavior dimension and 87 for the Negative Group Behavior dimension. A nomological network was used for further validation. The findings suggest that the Social Space Scale has potential to be useful as a measure for social space. However, it must be realized that this measure is a first step and further validation research is needed.

Group awareness widgets for enhancing social interaction in computer-supported collaborative learning environments: design and implementation

Our research on enhancing and fostering social interaction in asynchronous distributed learning groups (DLGs) utilizing computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environments, centers on the sociability of these environments, i.e. the extent to which the CSCL environment is able to facilitate the emergence of a social space characterized by social relationships, trust and belonging, and group cohesion. A sound social space indicates the establishment of a learning community and enables the desired social interaction-vital in collaborative learning to take place. We present here a theoretical framework for fostering social interaction in both the educational and the social (psychological) dimension, although we are emphasizing the latter dimension. This framework is based on the ecological approach to social interaction which sees social affordances as the main determinant for enhancing the sociability of CSCL environments. We operationalize these social affordances through group awareness widgets (GAWs)-software tools which provide a learner with an awareness of other learners and which also enables him/her to initiate a communication episode with them. This paper describes the architecture of the CSCL environment and how GAWS can be integrated in this environment. Because we neither have the time nor the programming capacity for programming a CSCL environment by ourselves, we have selected three open source applications to construct the CSCL environment: MITREs Collaborative Virtual Workspace (CVW), Sun Microsystems OpenOffice, and the Scalable Internet Event Notification Architecture (SIENA). We also use the Electronic Course Book (ECB) that is developed at the Open University of the Netherlands (OUNL).

Why teachers use digital learning materials: The role of self-efficacy, subjective norm and attitude

Although Information and Communication Technology (ICT) seems a promising tool in an educational context, many teachers are reluctant to integrate it in their daily practice. A large scale survey was undertaken amongst primary and secondary school teachers in the Netherlands to explore possible determinants of the educational use of digital learning materials (DLMs) in order to develop interventions to reduce teachers’ reluctance to use ICT and more specifically to stimulate the use of DLMs. Basing on the Integrative Model of Behaviour Prediction it was conjectured that self-efficacy, attitude and subjective norm would take a central role in explaining the intention to use DLMs. Several other predictors were added to the conceptual model whose effects were hypothesized to be mediated by the three central variables. All conjectured relationships were found using mediation analysis on survey data from 1,484 teachers. Intention to use DLMs was most strongly determined by attitude, followed by self-efficacy. ICT skills was in its turn the strongest predictor of self-efficacy. Subjective norm played only a limited role in the intention to use DLMs. Basing on the outcome of this study, persuasive communication focusing on positive outcomes and skills based training seem appropriate interventions to promote a positive attitude towards DLM and improve self-efficacy in using DLMs.

Enhancing sociability of computer-supported collaborative learning environments

Most computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environments are purely functional, that is, they concentrate on a specific pedagogy. This is not surprising since their design and use is based on educational grounds and is driven by educators, educational technologists and educational researchers. Unfortunately, these functional environments do not always enable collaborative learning because they miss social interaction, a key element in collaborative learning. One approach for stimulating social interaction is using specific pedagogical techniques that enforce collaborative learning. This chapter presents an alternative approach that is based upon an affordance framework for designing sociable collaborative learning environments. This affordance framework is materialized by devices that enhance group awareness for users of CSCL environments.

Awareness of cognitive and social behaviour in a CSCL environment

Most distributed and virtual online environments for and pedagogies of computer-supported collaborative learning CSCL neglect the social and social-emotional aspects underlying the group dynamics of learning and working in a CSCL group. These group dynamics often determine whether the group will develop into a well-performing team and whether a sound social space emerges. Using a theory-based CSCL framework, two studies evaluated whether two tools, Radar and Reflector, supported cognitive, social and socio-emotional aspects of team development, encouraging promotive interaction and group processing in the teams. While not affecting product quality, tool use did lead to groups who perceived their team as being better developed, as having higher levels of group satisfaction and lower levels of conflicts. The results support that promotive interaction and group processing was increased by using Radar and Reflector.

The design and validation of an instrument to measure teachers' professional development at work

ABSTRACT After graduation, it is essential for teachers to continue working on their professional development since they need to be prepared for the requirements of tomorrows knowledge- and technology-based society, a more varied student and pupil population creating new responsibilities, and higher social expectations from schools and the society as a whole. Although attention for teachers’ professional development at work is increasing, the availability of valid survey instruments that measure their participation in professional development at work is still limited. Based on a literature review, such an instrument was designed. This 21-item self-report measure, using a 4-point rating scale, makes an inventory of teachers’ participation in activities contributing to professional development. The purpose of the instrument is to make teachers, school leaders and other stakeholders aware of whether, and to what degree, teachers engage in learning at work. This is important because ultimately the quality of education depends on it. A survey was administered in 9 Dutch primary schools and 15 Dutch secondary schools. Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis confirmed a six-factor structure, and augments earlier findings in the field. The reliabilities of the six subscales were sufficient to good.