Collaborative digital learning in schools: teacher perceptions of purpose and effectiveness

Abstract

Research on the place of digital collaborative learning in schools has established its extensive use for the provision of online courses (Stevens, 2007 Stevens, K. 2007. The development of virtual educational environments to support inter‐school collaboration. The Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 8(2): 29–37. Retrieved March 6, 2009, from http://tojde.anadolu.edu.tr/tojde26/pdf/article_2.pdf [Google Scholar]), for learning within schools (Orech, 2009 Orech, J. 2009. Turbo‐charged wikis: Technology embraces cooperative learning Retrieved March 5, 2009, from Academic Commons website: http://www.academiccommons.org/commons/essay/turbo-charged-wikis-technology-embraces-cooperative-learning [Google Scholar]) and as a means of promoting inter‐cultural education (Austin, 2006 Austin, R. 2006. The role of ICT in bridge‐building and social inclusion: Theory, policy and practice issues. European Journal of Teacher Education, 29: 145–161. [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]). Given that teachers’ understanding and practice in collaborative learning is critical, the authors examine in this article teachers’ perception of collaboration and collaborative learning in terms of a model for understanding different levels of engagement with digital collaboration. They also seek to explore the reasons for teachers’ perceptions and how this may impact on their participation in online collaborative learning projects.