How can ICT contribute to the improvement of cooperative learning? The experience with the "ATTAC" project

Author(s):

MariaTeresa Segués(presenting / submitting)Jordi Vilà Villalonga(presenting)José Ramon Lago

Conference:

ECER 2015

Network:

16. ICT in Education and Training

Format:

Paper

Session Information

16 SES 10 B, ICT and Cooperative Learning

Paper Session

Time:

2015-09-10

15:30-17:00

Room:

307. [Main]

Chair:

Greta Björk Gudmundsdottir

Contribution

The aim of this paper is to present some results of the doctoral thesis in progress linked to ATTAC research project[1]. This project is part of the Industrial PhD Programme promoted by the Government of the Generalitat of Catalonia[2].

The research maintains a connection with the project PAC 1[3] (2006-10), enabled the development of the Program CL/LC ("Cooperating to Learn/ Learning to Cooperate"[4]) and with the project PAC 2[5], linking with the research line on "ICT and cooperative learning” (GRAD, 2012). Currently the Program CL/LC is being developed in approximately 300 schools in different communities of Spanish State.

The aim of our research is to adapt the didactic tools of Program CL/LC to the conditions of learning environments mediated by ICT and check in which way do contribute to the improvement of learning processes of class-groups who participating in the study. Should be noted that a large number of schools that follow the program make this demand, and the project aims to give an answer to these needs.

The proposal of this paper is presenting some of the results extracted on the analysis of the pupils and teachers activity log in the virtual environment, while were carried out a cooperative learning process. We aim to check whether the use that they made of the didactic tools of the virtual environment helps to increase the cooperative learning skills.

To achieve our aim we use the virtual social networking site developed by the Company ATTA (www.attacommunity.com), an educational social network website supported by mobile devices and/or tablet pc and gamification, that offers to the teachers and the educational community, resources and tools so that the students can be connected while they are learning and can do it cooperatively.

Several studies show the potential of ICT to create new teaching dynamics in classrooms that help to improve the teaching-learning processes. The application of ICT in the classroom provide different benefits for both pupils and teachers, among these are included (Becta, 2006; Kessel et al., 2005; Underwood, 2006; Lopez, 2012; Karsenti, 2013; Vilà & Segués, 2014):

The implementation of ICT development aid skills and competencies, facilitates independent learning, stimulate interest and motivation and promotes new forms of knowledge building and capacity development of creativity, communication and reasoning.
Facilitate communication and feedback between students and between students and teachers as they offer many tools communicative exchange.
Facilitate participation, teamwork and cooperation, enabling the exchange of ideas, also cooperate to find a solution to a problem, share information and act as a team, improving student achievement.
The use of social media as an educational tool encourages openness towards sociability and group participation.

[1] The expedient and the explanation of the ATTAC research project (2013 DI 009) is available on the http://doctoratsindustrials.gencat.cat/files/file/attachment/171/di_atta_uvic_a02_2013_046.pdf

[2] Industrial Doctorate: Strategy promoted by the Government of Catalonia, in collaboration with public and private universities, which aims to contribute to the competitiveness and internationalization of Catalan industry, retain talent and position doctoral students in conditions to develop Research and development (R & D) in a company.

[3] Project PAC 1: “Programa didàctic-inclusiu per atendre a l’aula alumnat amb necessitats educatives diverses. Una investigació avaluativa (SEJ2006-01495/EDUC)”.

[4] The explanation of what is the CL/LC Program and how it is being implemented in the schools is available on the http://www.cife-ei-caac.com/programa.asp.

[5] Project PAC 2: “Estudio de casos sobre el desarrollo y el proceso de asesoramiento del programa de apoyos educativos inclusivos del proyecto PAC (EDU-2010.19140)”.

Method

The methodology used to perform this research is qualitative, based on the methodology of case studies (Miles and Huberman, 1994; Stake, 1995, 2010). As we aim to analyse the interactions registered in the activity log of the ATTA virtual environment. To get our aim we track on two cooperative teams. The selection criterion was the grade of success in the task resolution process. Every cooperative team had four pupils and work with a laptop. Both teams were in the same class-group in 6th grade of primary education. In total there were five cooperative teams. The different cooperative teams worked simultaneously about the same task. The tasks were designed as didactic challenges that were a part of a didactic project about sciences, concretely about the human reproduction. The school center is located in a town near from Barcelona, Catalonia. The class-group had experience using the CL/LC Program, but not using ICT as a resource in the classroom in a regular way. The data collection instrument was the activity log of the cooperative teams and their teachers, registered in the educative social network. The data was collect among April-June 2014. To elaborate the results we have performed an analysis of the content and sequencing of the interventions of students and teachers in order to: -describe how and when the pupils use the didactic tools and the orientations that the virtual environment provides to them; -describe how and when the teacher participate in the virtual environment during the cooperative teams work; -assess the improvement with the cooperative skills.

Expected Outcomes

Early analysis carried out suggest the following findings: • We found significant differences in the degree of academic achievement of the teams. • We found significant differences in the organization level of the teams. • The team that best organizes its participation is also the team with a higher level of academic achievement. • These results are directly related to the degree of adjustment of the teams to the structure of cooperative activity that proposes the virtual environment. • Starting from the virtual orientations about cooperative structure, the pupils interpret and construct their own "cooperative structures". • The team that best fits to the proposal cooperative structure shows a more equitable participation and feedback between students (simultaneous interaction). • We identify a limited presence of the teacher. The teams manage their joint activity alone. • The virtual environment allows the teachers to track the cooperative work of the pupil teams and helps them to assess their work. • The management done by the responsible of the team in the didactic challenge, influences the degree to which the cooperative work done by the team conforms to the cooperative structure. • The previous knowledge of the class-group about cooperative learning and ICT is no significant. • Gamification not necessarily favours cooperative learning. In conclusion, guidance on the cooperative activity structure, the gamification and the evaluation elements become the key to assess the quality of cooperative learning in the ATTA virtual environment.

References

Becta (2006). The Becta review 2006: evidence on the progress of ICT in education. Coventri: Becta. Retrieved from http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/1427/1/becta_2006_bectareview_report.pdf GRAD, (2012). Estudio de casos sobre el desarrollo y el proceso de asesoramiento de un programa de apoyos inclusives (proyecto PAC): estado actual. Paper presented at the IX Congreso Internacional de Prácticas en Educación Inclusiva. Dialogos entre escuela, ciudadania y universidad. Puerto Real: Cádiz, Spain. Karsenti, T. & Fievez, A. (2013). Les tabletes tactiles à l’école primaire: avantages, défis et recommandations pour les enseignants. Vivre le primaire, 26 (4), 33-36. Kessel, van N., et al. (2005). ICT Education Monitor: Eight years of ICT in schools, the Netherlands, Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. Lago, J. R.; Naranjo, M.; Riera, G.; & Segues, T. (2012). Cooperative learning in virtual environments using ICT to support inclusion in the classroom. Paper presented at the European Conference on Educational Research. Universidad de Cádiz: Cádiz, Spain. López, J. S. (2012). Valoración del impacto que tienen las TIC en educación primaria en los procesos de aprendizaje y en los resultados a través de una triangulación de datos. RELATEC. Retrieved from http://dehesa.unex.es:8080/xmlui/handle/10662/775 Miles, M. B. & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: an expanded sourcebook. [2nd Edition].Thousand Oaks: Sage, Publication Inc. Pujolàs, P. (2012). Aulas inclusivas y aprendizaje cooperativo. Educatio Siglo XXI, 30 (1), 89-112. Scardamalia, M. & Bereiter, C. (2003). Knowledge building environments: Extending the limits of the possible in education and knowledge work. In A. DiStefano, K.E. Rudestam, & R. Silverman (Eds.). Encyclopedia of distributed learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications . Stake, R. E. (1995). Investigación con estudio de casos. [2a edición]. Madrid: Ediciones Morata. Stake, R.E. (2010). Qualitative Research: Studying How Things Work. New York: The Guilford Press. Underwood, J. et al. (2006). ICT test bed evaluation-evaluation of the ICT test bed project. Nottingham, Inglaterra: Trent University Vilà, J. & Segués, M.T. (2012). Introduction of a cooperative activity structure with ICT support to improve the inclusion in the classroom. Paper presented at the 2nd Annual International Workshop on higher education. Vic: University of Vic, Spain. Vilà, J. & Segués, M.T. (2014). ATTAC project: Cooperative learning on an educational social networking site through the mobile devices, tablets and personal computers. Paper presented at the European Conference on Educational Research. Porto, Portugal.

Author Information

MariaTeresa Segués (presenting / submitting)

Vic University, Spain

Jordi Vilà Villalonga (presenting)

University of Vic

Department of Psychology

Manresa

José Ramon Lago