DESIGNING FOR ONLINE PROFESSIONAL COLLABORATION SKILL DEVELOPMENT

Barbara Brown, Christy Thomas

ISSOTL 2023

Thursday, November 9th

Our Team

Dr. Barbara Brown (PI) is an Associate Professor and Associate Dean, Teaching and Learning in the Werklund School of Education at the University of Calgary.

Dr. Christy Thomas (Co-PI) is an Assistant Professor in the School of Education at Ambrose University and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Werklund School of Education at the University of Calgary.

Amber Hartwell is a field advisor at UBC-Okanagan and doctoral candidate in the Werklund School of Education at the University of Calgary.

Bruna Nogueira is a PhD student at the Werklund School of Education.

Land Acknowledgement

Context

• Online learning and virtual collaboration landscape rapidly growing
• Professional collaboration online is an essential skills for employability in digitally connected professional environments
• Two Canadian Teacher Education Programs, Case Study
• 68 Student Surveys, 12 Student Interviews
• 17 Instructor Surveys, 10 Instructor Interviews

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Literature Review

Guiding Questions for our Review of the Literature:�

• How do authors define online professional collaboration skills in education professions?
• What frameworks are used in educational studies examining online professional collaboration?
• What is known about online professional collaboration in teacher education? (benefits, challenges, design)
• What are the gaps in the literature in online professional collaboration in the field of teacher education and what are the implications for future research?

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HOW DO YOU DEFINE ONLINE PROFESSIONAL COLLABORATION?

Q1. Defining Online Professional Collaboration in Education

• Joint effort to address challenges and solve problems (Hendarwati et al., 2021; Tawfik et al., 2014; Vartiainen et al., 2022; Wicks et al., 2015)
• Collaboration as a cohesive group effort involving integrated participation from all members VS. Cooperation when there is an individual division of tasks that are merged in the end (Demosthenous et al., 2020; Hammond, 2017; Rakha, 2023).
• Cooperation as a subset of collaboration (Oyarzun & Martin, 2023) and a scaffold to help prepare students for more complex collaborative activities (Huang, 2019)

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Our Definition for Online Professional Collaboration in Education:

“A small group of aspiring or practicing professionals in education using technology to work together online to solve a shared problem.”

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WHAT ESSENTIAL SKILLS ARE NEEDED FOR ONLINE PROFESSIONAL COLLABORATION?

Essential Skills for Online Professional Collaboration

• Communication Skills
• Disciplinary/Content Knowledge/ Pedagogical Knowledge
• Capacity to Design/Actively Participate in Authentic Collaborative Learning Environments
• Navigate Technology-Enabled Environments
• Capacity to Integrate Multiple Perspectives for Co-Creating Knowledge
• Ability to Self-Organize, Self-Regulate, Self-Evaluate
• Ability to Share Information and Ideas, Compare Perspectives, Identify Gaps in Knowledge, Resolve Disagreements Towards a Common Goal

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I think a professional skill is how to listen to others. What are the strengths on our team and how can we leverage that, so that we can all succeed to reach that common goal. Being able to give feedback to others isn't always easy. When you're working in a group, having those conversations is a professional skill that isn't easy for everyone. I think that's a significant aspect and the different ways that they could communicate, whether it was through an email, through Zoom, asynchronous. I think just the different ways they could communicate helps build that professional capacity.

(Instructor Interview)

Online Professional Collaboration

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Q2. Frameworks Used: Collaborative, Social, Learning Theories, Online Learner Collaboration

Oyarzun &Martin (2023) Custom Framework for Systematic Review - Online Learner Collaboration

• Collaborative Technologies
• Collaboration Design
• Collaboration Facilitation
• Collaboration Outcomes

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Q3. What is Known? Professional Collaboration Outcomes

(Alberta Education, 2018; BC Teachers’ Council, 2019; Ontario College of Teachers, 2020; Friesen, 2009; Hargreaves, 2019; OECD, 2018; Rios et al., 2020; Ronfeldt et al., 2015)

Q3. What is known? Benefits of Online Professional Collaboration Design & Using Collaboration Technologies

• Authentic Learning Opportunities (Han & Resta, 2020)
• Engaging and Interactive Learning Opportunities (Gunning et al., 2022; Rakha, 2023)
• Helps Develop Sense of Connectedness (Parrish et al., 2021)
• Helps Develop Skills and Preparedness for Real-World Collaborative Scenarios (Demosthenous et al., 2020)

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WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES OF ONLINE PROFESSIONAL COLLABORATION?

Q3. What is Known? Challenges of Online Professional Collaboration & Using Collaboration Technologies

• Difficulties Scheduling (Kasim et al., 2022; Parrish et al., 2021)
• Frustrations with technology interfaces and language barriers (Han & Resta, 2020)
• Internet connectivity issues impede communications (Kasim et al., 2022)
• Asynchronous collaboration/camera-off during synchronous can foster sense of disconnectedness (Kupczynski et al., 2013)
• Lack of time, accountability, commitment can hinder participation and collaboration (Vartiainen et al, 2022)
• Limited ability to resolve discrepancies in agreement (Tawfik et al. 2014)
• Social loafing/free-riding (Havard et al., 2023)
• Performance evaluation and grade fairness issues (Gunning et al., 2022)

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Lack of Contribution

Instructor

Student

Some members do not contribute to group assignments

Technology Comfort Level Needed

Instructor

Student

Technology comfort level of the group members in needed for success in group assignments

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The technologies that help the most are things that we can work on together live and help us have that feeling of being in a room together… that's really helpful because we can see each other in real time, type things out and actively work.

(Student Interview)

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Collaborative Technologies

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Q3. What is Known? Recommendations for Designing Group Assignments to Support Learner Collaboration

• Small Size groups (Oyarzun & Martin, 2023)
• Clear Structures and Communication Channels (Demosthenous et al., 2020)
• Project Management to Track Progress (Ahtinen et al., 2023)
• Technical and Social Support help Navigate Platforms (Ahtinen et al., 2023)
• Scaffolding (Huang, 2019; Lowell & Ashby, 2018)
• Implementing Self and Peer Assessments (Gunning et al., 2022; Havard et al., 2023; Lock & Duggleby, 2018)
• Emphasize Value for Developing Professional Collaboration Skills for the Profession (our key contribution to the literature)

Qualitative Document Analysis

• Groups range from 2-5
• Weightings range from 20-50 for assignments
• Assignments:
• Emphasize co-design
• Authentic learning tasks - relevant to the profession
• Include Self-Reflection
• Examples: designing unit plans, lesson plans, exploring problems of practice, analyzing and critiquing, parent meetings 

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Common Group Tasks

1. Clearly articulate the purpose of group work,
2. Provide scaffolding, learner support, teaching presence
3. Be intentional in how groups are established, and
4. Leverage digital tools for collaboration and accountability

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Design Considerations

Q.4 Future Research Ideas

• Exploration of Innovative Technologies for Effective Learning Designs (e.g., AI for designing, intelligent chatbots, etc.) & digitally transferable professional collaboration skills
• Collaboration Expectations in Teaching Training & Assessment of Collaboration Skills for Teachers
• Instructor Facilitation of Online Collaboration & Mitigating Social Loafing
• Training for Online Collaborative Learning & Long-Term Impacts
• Perceptions and Experiences of Teacher Trainees Experiences in Online Collaboration in International and Cross-Cultural Settings

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HOW CAN AI SUPPORT PROFESSIONAL COLLABORATION?

Future Area for Research: AI for Learning Designs

Example 1: Students co-create an inquiry related to an educational problem of practice and develop a set of questions to seek input from a stakeholder group. Using and AI persona simulator, the group asks the questions and collaboratively analyze transcripts, negotiate themes and prepare an infographic.

Example 2: Students co-create an interdisciplinary unit plan and use the AI to develop learning outcomes, a set of lessons for the unit, rubrics for assessment and differentiated activities to meet a range of learning needs in the classroom.

AI Chatbot could help:

• Norms for collaboration (Prompt: Suggest norms for collaboration for a group of teachers working together to create an inquiry)
• Group Contract (Prompt: Prepare a group contract for the project)
• Timeline (Prompt: Prepare timeline for the 3-week project)
• Ask questions (Prompt: What suggestions do you have for managing group conflict?)

Contacts:

Barbara Brown - babrown@ucalgary.ca

Christy Thomas - christy.thomas@ambrose.edu

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Publication List - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1U90cnhKhyHwvNgnL143ex67xpZoUG4qN6PPMQhshz6w/edit?usp=sharing

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