Patterns – Comprehensive Question

By Adam Lund, Lynn Anderson, and Chris Turner

Name:

Utilization of multiple means of communication.

Category:

pedagogical and technical

Abstract:

Distance education permits group formations that are outside of the usual constraints of place and time. Learners from widely dispersed areas geographically have the opportunity to collaborate on authentic learning tasks in the pursuit of their learning objectives. Given the distribution of learners in place and time, the option of multiple means for communication increases the likelihood that learners will select a medium that meets the needs of the unique group members. All members of the group must unanimously agree on choices of communication tools.

Problem:

How can natural communication and collaboration between members of an online learning group be facilitated?

Analysis:

Distance learners who work in a collaborative fashion rely on “technology” to permit communication that in a traditional learning environment would occur ‘face to face’. Each learner brings to the collaboration their individual learning styles, previous experiences with different technologies, and varied access to software, hardware and other resources for communication. Each collaborative group will require various software tools in order to effectively pursue their learning objectives.

It is not possible to prospectively design a communication system that will work for all learners, for all tasks, at all times. No single system of communication is flawless and will meet everyone’s individual needs. As such, no single system of communication should be mandated as the way to perform group work by distance learners. Flexibility and freedom of selection of communication resources is key to the naturalistic functioning of a group, and is an important aspect of the social construction of a positive working group. At any point in time there may be technical glitches and alternatives need to be available. The act of negotiating a means of communication is part of the group’s early socialization as a shared, functional task. In addition, by limiting communication through managed systems like a Learning Management System, an instructor may constrain the ‘level’ of discussion that can occur, as learners are aware that they may be monitored and archived.

Known solutions:

Good instructional design takes into account variability in preference for communication style and means. By introducing and/or incorporating a palate of communication options in a disaggregated fashion, the instructor permits the learners to work with one another by taking advantage of the communication tools that best suit the needs of the unique group in question.

Research questions:

- Descriptive research could seek to illustrate the range of options presently employed by distance learners for group communication.

- It would be interesting to know the number of different communications tools that a single group might use for a collaborative task, and how many might be used concurrently. For example, how many learners are connected to each other using Skype, MSN or other synchronous communication tools during a presentation, such as an Elluminate session. How much parallel communication is going on?

- What are the communication preferences of specific learner types?

- What features and advantages are presented by various communications software?

Context:

A group of distance learners who wish to collaborate on small or large tasks in the pursuit of shared learning objectives. These learners need to form a consensus quickly on a task or assignment over a short term and this not only includes the type of communication device to be used but also a style (e.g. synchronous or asynchronous).

Conditions:

- The group, in its entirety, is unable to meet face-to-face due to distance and/or time constraints.

- All members of the group must be able to access minimum specifications of the hardware necessary for communication using the selected tools.

- All members of the group must agree on the communication medium in a way that respects minimum bandwidth, minimum operating system requirements, or special learning needs of any member of the group. Generally, these are similar conditions as required to be participants in the chosen program of study and are non-platform specific.

- No group member should endure undue costs to participate using the chosen medium.

Discussion/consequences:

- The provision of multiple options for communication for collaboration increases the likelihood that each unique group of learners can select a medium that is most suited to their communication style and technical requirements.

- A community of learners is more likely to evolve when private discussion between group members is facilitated.

- Teachers lose the ability to control and monitor communications when flexibility and choice are left with each learner group.

References:

Downes, S. (2005). Online Learning Daily – multiple postings. Last accessed on November 3, 2005 at: http://www.downes.ca.

Good, R. (2004) Synchronous collaboration tools for the academic world. E/merg 2004: Blended Learning and Collaborative Technologies Conference. Last accessed on October 30, 2005 at: http://www.voxwire.com/kolabora/emerge/

Related patterns:

Asynchronous collaborative learning

Synchronous collaborative learning

Forming groups for collaborative learning