Orientaciones pedagógicas para el diseño y apoyo de tareas de construcción colaborativa del conocimiento

Abstract

Research on Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) demonstrates that proposing that students work in groups does not improve their learning or increase their motivation. It is essential to design appropriate learning tasks and suitable pedagogical and technological support. The aim of this research is to identify pedagogical directions to design and support collaborative knowledge building tasks in on-line education. We conducted a case study at the Open University of Catalonia where we carried out two experiments: the first focusing on how teachers design and support collaborative on-line learning tasks and, the second, based on the control exerted over the tasks. As a result of the investigation we characterize the type of tasks that promote collaborative knowledge building, the teachers’ role and functions supporting these types of tasks, and we identify different stages in task regulation. Based on these results, we propose pedagogical directions to design and support collaborative on-line tasks divided into 4 stages: 1) Task design and individual preparation, 2) Task organization and group negotiation, 3) Task performance and collaborative knowledge building, and 4) Critical evaluation.