“to What Extent Do You Agree with Collaborative Approaches to Learning?”

As learning and collaborative practices occur in many contexts throughout life, this paper aims to focus and discuss these terms in a higher education, online environment. A combination of social, technological and economic drivers has resulted in major pedagogical changes in higher Education online (Engineering Subject Centre 2011). Much of the change is centred to accommodate the increased amount of diverse students and their needs as they pursue study in the online environment. The increased diversity of online students is believed to enhance collaborative experiences in an online environment. John-Steiner (2000) states that, "collaboration thrives on diversity of perspectives and constructive dialogue between individuals negotiating their differences while creating their shared voices and visions". Collaboration forms the foundation of community learning online, as it allows for mutual exploration of ideas, development of critical thinking skills, an opportunity to reflect on and develop those ideas, and a collaborative, supportive approach to academic work (Preece 2000). A true collaborative learning environment must contain a setting where the learner acts by using tools or devices and collects and interprets information whilst interacting with others (Atan, Samsudin & Idrus 2003). Theorist and research has shown and proven that collaborative environments are highly influential in the learning process; as humans are in fact, very social beings. Collaboration in the online environment does not only equip students with the skills and ability to construct content knowledge in their courses; it is fair more versatile and transferable by supporting future interactions and embodies lifelong learning. The implications of collaborative approaches to learning and the way in which advancing technology influences the way in which we interact with each other will be also discussed in this paper. Collaborative approaches to learning have been proven to suit the needs of

References: Arnold, N. & Ducate, L. 2006, Future foreign language teachers’ social and cognitive collaboration in an online environment. Language Learning & Technology, 10(1), 42-66. Beaudoin, M Brooks, M,L. 2002, Drawing to learn. Unpublished PhD Thesis, Alberta: University of Alberta, Canada. Reviewed on February 6, 2013 from: http://www.une.edu.au/Drawing/pdf%20files/Social%20constructionism.pdf Dabbagh, N Engineering Subject Centre, 2011, Deep and surface approaches to learning, Higher Education Academy , viewed 5 February 2013, . Atan, H, Szalina, D., Idrus., R, 2003, The effects of collaboration in the constructivist web-based learning environment of an undergraduate physics course. Malaysian Journal of Education Technology. University of Sains Malaysia. Vol.3 No.1 Hatano, G Hiltz, S. R. 1997, Impacts of college-level courses via asynchronous learning networks: Some preliminary results. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks 1(2) John-Steiner, V.,1997 Johnson, L., Levine, A., & Smith, R. 2009. The 2009 Horizon Report. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium. Palloff,. M. R, Pratt, K, 2005 Collaborating Online: Learning Together in Community. John Wiley & Sons, Jossey- Bass, San Francisco CA. Preece, J Sutton, L. A. 2001. The principle of vicarious interaction in computer-mediated communications. International Journal of Educational Telecommunications 7 (3): 223-242. Swan, K., 2003, Learning Effectiveness: What the Research Tells Us Wilson, B.G. 1996. What is a constructivist learning environment? In B.G. Wilson (Ed.)