Postgraduate Researchers in Science Medicine Conference 2005: Abstracts
Organisational issues of global online collaborations
Grace Cookson, Dr J. Shaylor, D. Utian and Dr E. Zaitseva
Web-based collaboration is becoming increasingly common in HE institutions. The Collaboration Across Borders Project (CAB), was founded to exploit computer-mediated communication tools to facilitate student collaborative activities with emphasis on critical evaluation and reflection. Factors such as timing issues, motivation and social interaction have been identified as key elements to the success of such collaborations by Whatley & Bell (2003), and Lechner S.K. et al (2001). The aim of this research is to further explore the organisational issues and challenges of international educational web-based collaborations.
In order to contribute to a better understanding of the timing factor three case studies of web based collaborative activities were analysed. The collaborations took place between students at University College Chester in England and University of New South Wales in Australian within the framework of CAB. Each participating institute took part within the constraints of its own academic year, semester and module structure, this has been shown to be problematic by Marchman, Jenkinson and Page (2001). Students undertook peer-evaluation of multimedia coursework. Each cycle was organised by the tutors who negotiated a suitable a timescale within existing courses and modules.
The exact dates of student postings and the time taken for students to respond have been analysed. Differences between the scheduled and actual dates of collaboration have occurred due to organisational pitfalls that lead to delays, these are identified. The number and frequency of postings to the forum by groups of matched students show a significant time delay between postings in some cases. Issues affecting timing such as different patterns of access to discussion forums, levels of motivation and methods of assessment are identified and discussed. The level of students’ general satisfaction with the collaboration will be analysed in correlation with their perception of timing.
Lechner, S. K., Kandlbinder, P., Gonsalkorale, S., Bradshaw, M., Harris, K. M., & Winning, T. (2001, August 6 – 10). Negotiating the Maze: Case based, Collaborative Distance Learning in Dentistry. Retrieved February 7, 2005 from http://www.med-ed-online.org/pdf/t0000019.pdf
Whatley, J. & Bell F. (2003) Discussion Across Border: benefits for collaborative learning, Educational and Media International Journal, Taylor and Francis Group Marchman, III, J. F., Jenkinson, L. R., & Page, G. J. (2001).
Managing international academic design collaboration. International Conference on Engineering Education , Oslo, Norway. Retrieved February 7, 2005 from http://www.ineer.org/Events/ICEE2001/Proceedings/papers/446.pdf
Grace Cookson, Computer Science and Information Systems, University College Chester, Parkgate Road, Chester, CH1 4BJ
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