When students work together they learn from one another and extend their interaction and learning outside of classroom. Busy schedules and commuting students often make group work difficult to coordinate. When properly applied, technology can eliminate these barriers to collaboration.

Common Goals

• Provide a comfortable setting for student collaboration and cooperation.
• Enable convenient collaboration from any place and at any time.
• Archive meeting notes and student exchanges.
• Provide students with experience and support in teamwork.
• Help students learn from each other.

Options

Options for promoting student collaboration are suggested below.

Electronic discussion

Email and a suite of other tools in this category can help you disseminate information widely and set up alternative forums for class discussions, extending the opportunity for students to exchange ideas outside the classroom. Students may continue small group discussions through a threaded newsgroup. Study groups and project teams can also coordinate their efforts online through email and online discussion groups. Mailman is the Web-based email list manager supported by UW Technology, and can help you set up and manage email lists for courses or other groups.

Catalyst ShareSpaces tool

Collaboration often requires a convenient place for documents and other files to be saved that all group members can access. With ShareSpaces, you can create a shared space in which to store group files, and give group members access to it. You can allow others to just view and download the files, or also give the group members permission to update the file.

Catalyst Peer Review tool

This flexible, Web-based tool opens doors to student cooperation and collaborative learning. The Peer Review tool provides a common space for students to view, create, and discuss projects, papers, Web pages, and other assignments. By exchanging and building upon each other's ideas, students are encouraged to work and learn together. Anything that can be viewed on the Web is fair game for the Peer Review tool, including sound and video files. Use the Peer Review tool to host group projects, from music compositions to research studies.
Planning considerations

Catalyst GoPost tool

GoPost allows you to create a Web-based discussion board where your students can compare notes, discuss assignments, post attachments, and work together online. Messages can be posted and read with any Web browser. You have control over who has access to the GoPost forum, and you can even allow students to use pseudonyms to make them feel more comfortable.
Planning considerations

Wiki

A wiki is a Web site that can be viewed and easily edited by anyone with Internet access and a Web browser. They can be a very useful tool for student collaboration and cooperation. Not only can students easily collaborate on a project using a wiki, they can also easily make it public and invite experts in the field to react to their contribution.

MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching)

MERLOT is an online educational portal that contains a collection of online learning materials created by college faculty in all subject areas. All material is peer-reviewed. You can easily find the material you need to promote student cooperation and collaboration.

Campus Resources

• Catalyst Workshops - Catalyst offers workshops to help you use the tools and technologies you need to promote collaboration. Participation Catalyst workshops are free for all UW instructors, employees, and students. Advance registration is required for some workshops.
• Center for Instructional Development and Research (CIDR) CIDR offers a variety of resources and services designed to promote effective teaching and learning. The center is open to all UW faculty and teaching assistants.

Further Reading

• Oblinger, D. (October 2004) Leading the Transition from Classrooms to Learning Spaces, National Learning Infrastructure Initiative White paper. Retrieved June 20, 2006 from http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/NLI0447.pdf.
• Beichner, R.J. and Saul, J.M. (July 2003) Introduction to the SCALE-UP (Student-Centered Activities for Large Enrollment Undergraduate Programs) Project, Proceedings of the International School of Physics. Retrieved June 20, 2006 from http://www.ncsu.edu/per/Articles/Varenna_SCALEUP_Paper.pdf.
• Funaro, G.M. (1999) Pedagogical Roles and Implementation Guidelines for Online Communication, ALN Magazine, 3(2). Retrieved June 20, 2006 from http://www.aln.org/publications/magazine/v3n2/funaro.asp.
• Seven things you should know about Wikis, Educause Learning Initiative, July 2005. Retrieved June 20, 2006 from http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7004.pdf