LEAD - Problem solving through face to face networked interaction in the classroom

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Exploring the potentials of networked computing support for face-to-face collaborative learning

The main objective of the workshop is to examine face-to-face collaborative learning situations and to discuss the potentials of networked-computing support for these situations. The aim of the workshop is to create a community of researchers and to set an agenda for future research and development.

Much research into technology-enhanced learning reflects a future of online collaboration, distance learning and virtual teaching. These visionary views consider networked-computing support primary as a means to bridge time and space. It is assumed that these collaborative technologies connect learners who couldn't collaborate otherwise. This partial orientation towards networked computing may limit our understanding of the potentials of such technologies for collaboration and learning. Collaborative technologies may also provide effective support for learners who meet face-to-face to collaborate, to discuss and to solve problems.

The starting-point of the workshop is the notion that face-to-face learning situations are an important setting for collaboration and learning and that collaborative technologies can support these processes effectively. We believe that one of the most important challenges for technology-enhanced learning is to provide learners who are in same room with the appropriate technologies that will facilitate their collaborative learning activities. The aim of the workshop is to set some directions of how this may be achieved.

We make a distinction between three situations of technology-enhanced collaborative learning (see figure). In the first situation (upper right corner of figure 1), learners interact with a stand-alone computer model that represents and simulates a certain problem situation. A computer model typically displays processes that change with respect to time. Learners can manipulate the model and get feedback about their intervention by running a simulation. This form of technology-enhanced learning – sometimes referred to as ‘single-display groupware’ (SDG) – has received some investment in terms of research. The third situation (lower left corner of the figure) represents networked learning environments that aim to connect learners who are dispersed in time and/or space. The majority of research into technology-enhanced learning focuses on this type of collaboration. For many researchers, it represents the archetypal context for computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL).

The participants of the workshop will focus on the second situation (lower right corner of the figure): networked-computing support for face-to-face collaborative learning situations.

The workshop theme will be approached from different perspectives: pedagogical, cognitive, (social-) psychological as well as technical. The following two broad perspectives will be addressed in the workshop.

• Group interaction, cognition and learning:
  
  Collaborative technologies break down group communication into a face-to-face and a computer-mediated part. Both modes of communication may lead to the occurrence of particular forms of interaction, which would trigger specific learning mechanisms. In order to develop a deeper understanding of the effects of the technology we will address the following topics like:
  
  • the interplay between face-to-face and computer-mediated communication,
  • the social, cognitive, and developmental processes of technology-enhanced group work,
  • the learning mechanisms in these situations
  • the learning outcomes.
  
  
• Design and implementation issues for collaborative technologies:
  
  Collaborative technologies mediate the interactions between learners with the aim to support their collaborative learning activities. This kind of support has to be designed. In the workshop we will address various issues that relate to the design. First, the collaborative technology that mediates the communication provides its users with pre-defined architectures that direct their actions and interactions. The design must take into account aspects like the organisation of the discussion (e.g. through Intranets, Local Area Networks and Ad-hoc Networks), communicative acts (e.g. notation system) or the accessibility of information sources. The second kind of support refers to the analysis of activity traces in collaborative interactions. The (inter)action data can provide researchers with valuable insights about learners’ actions and interactions.

We welcome full papers and position papers:

Full papers - these will be reviewed by the program committee. They have a format of 4-8 pages.

Position papers - these are voluntary. They have a format of 1-2 pages, which offers participants and workshop organisers an opportunity to interact beforehand.

The accepted full papers and the position papers will be published in the workshop proceedings.

Submission deadline: July 2, 2006

Notification of acceptance: August 1, 2006

Final version: August 29, 2006

In general the workshop consists of three sessions:

• Pedagogical issues with regard to technology-enhanced face-to-face collaborative learning
• The design of face-to-face learning systems
• Interactive session: issues and agenda setting

The detailed program of the workshop will be published in September.

Wouter van Diggelen / Research Centre Learning in Interaction / Utrecht University / The Netherlands

Vittorio Scarano / ISIS Lab Dipartimento di Informatica ed Applicazioni / Università di Salerno / Italia