CSCL ch 2,3 and 7,8

This weeks readings were interesting. One issue they talked about was taking a computer supported intentional learning environment and first presenting it to western learners. Then they took the same program to Japan. The study showed that there were some parts of the program that had to be modified. My first thought was that this is only logical. Western culture and Japanese culture are alot different. There would have to be modification in several different areas. One in how the questions were asked or sentence structure. Plus expectations are different. Are they more literal learners or are they more abstract learners. All these issues have to be considered not only between east and west cultures. Sometimes you see this difference from northern and southern states or the east and west of the US.

Ch 3 Knowledge forum. The study was to take university students and vocational students and their learning. Both groups were enthusiastic with the program. Each group had a little different needs from the online community though. The vocational students needed a little more coaching than the university students. Yes the instructors need to monitor and occasionally steer the group. The students did like the collaboration they received in the forum. They felt like this can not be done as effectively in a classroom setting. In a classroom setting, collaboration is not encouraged like it is in an online setting. Collaboration has been a major learning tool for online learning. This is seen with ALL of my online classes that I have taken in my graduate learning. Not only collaboration but in sharing personal experiences when appropriate.

Ch 7 Lave and Wenger discuss legitimate peripheral participation. They believe learning online is first done peripherally. The learner's first experience is very limited. They are more likely to sit back and observe in the beginning. Gradually they will start doing more in the community and eventually gain full membership. I feel that this can be seen in any community online or not. Most people are a little timid and will sit back and observe the rules (spoken and unspoken) of the community before they jump in. (they put their toe in the water to test it out first) Once they feel more familiar with the community, then they will do more and more in the community until they are full members.

Ch 8. Views on learning. The first view is that learning is an individual process that can be encouraged or discouraged depending on the interaction of others. Another way to put this is positive or negative reinforcement. The second view is that individual learning and social interactions are different aspects of learning. Vygotsky believes there are two steps in acquiring new knowledge or a new ability. 1 is that learning emerges as it is distributed among others. (see one, do one, teach one) 2. learning is mastered by individuals. I feel that learning is a combination of all the above. Learning is an individual process. If someone really doesn't want to learn something, they won't. The see one, do one, teach one. When you have to teach something, you learn it inside and out. That also implies mastering the subject.

de Jong, F.P.C.M., Veldhuis-Diermanse, E., & Lutgens, G. (2001). Computer-supported collaborataive learning in uniersity and vocational education. In T. Koschmann, R. Hall, & N. Miyake (Eds.), CSCL2: Carrying Forward the Conversation (pp. 111-127). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc

Kaptelinin, V. & Cole, M. (2001). Individual and collective activities in educational computer game playing. In T. Koschmann, R. Hall & N. Miyake (Eds.) CSCL2: Carrying Forward the Conversation (pp. 297-346). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc

Oshima, J., & Oshima, R. (2001). Cooridination of asynchronous and synchronous communication: differences in qualities of knowledge advancement discourse between experts and novices. In T. Koschmann, R. Hall, & N. Miyake (Eds.), CSCL2: Carrying Forward the Conversation (pp. 55-109). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc

Suzuki, H., & Kato, H. (2001). Identity formation/transformation as a process of collaborataive learning of programming using algoarena. In T. Koschmann, R. Hall, and N. Miyake (Eds.) CSCL2: Carrying Forward the Conversation (pp. 275-296). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc