Responded to:

Module 4

Collaboration Assignment 1 Module 3

Do you believe that humans have a basic instinct to"interact and work as a group", as Rheingold proposed in his discussion of the evolution of Wikipedia as a collectively developed encyclopedia?

Yes, from early man, he has been known to move towards working in nomadic tribes and traveling in clans.  From the time of early agriculture, when man worked in groups and they began using specialization in agriculture this is when communities began to be formed.  According to many sociologists of our times, man learned when they work together much can be accomplished.

How can technology facilitate collaboration among learners based on constructivist principles?

Technology is increasingly viewed as an “optimal medium for the application of constructivist principles to learning” (Murphy 1997b). Although the advent of the personal computer has streamlined and economized the processing of information, new technologies such as e-mail, listservs, synchronized chat, and the World Wide Web have facilitated the exchange of information and expanded access to a global environment. The constructivist approach to learning is facilitated by the World Wide Web because
“the theory focuses on making connections and making meaning in the learning process. Web-based courses that are designed with a constructivist approach encourage the learners to navigate, create,
and construct their unique knowledge base” (Conceição-Runlee and Daley 1998, p. 39). They afford the opportunity to engage learning in creative and collaborative activities that promote knowledge construction. They encourage self-directed learning, collaborative learning, and critical analysis by expanding the environments from which knowledge is constructed.

Find a current research study that has been conducted in the last 5 years that supports collaboration as an effective tool for learning.  Include the link and reference for this study in your blog.

I found the following research that was very interesting on research and collaboration.  Highlight and copy this link into a browser.

http://sprouts.aisnet.org/10-3

Blogs I posted to - Kimberly Dean

I posted to the following blogs:

http://learningsmarternotharder.blogspot.com/2011/06/cognitivism-as-learning-theory.html?showComment=1309739464955#c983491618352269382 - John

http://smcdow.blogspot.com/ - Sabrina

http://educ7015.blogspot.com/ - Lou Ann