Online collaboration has various issues associated with it, particularly when the result is design. The presentation looks at some of the theories behind learning through design and how to develop online activities to enable it.

1. Supporting online collaboration
for design
1: The factors that encourage online
collaboration

2. Mark Childs
Senior Research Fellow,
Coventry University

3. AMORES Project

4. Five schools
• Skaegkaerschool in Silkeborg, Denmark
• Horvati Primary school in Zagreb, Croatia
• Primary School ABiS - School4Child in Lodz,
Poland
• Karlbergsskolan in Köping, Sweden
• St. Mary’s Catholic Primary, in Newcastle-under-
Lyme, Staffordshire,

5. Aim
• Encourage a love for literature through the
creation of digital artefacts
• Two technologies focused on for creation
– Videos (PowerPoint, Prezi, Slidemaker, keynote)
(iMovie, Moviemaker) (Animoto, Tiki-Toki,
Photobooth)
– Comic Strip generators (Lego Storyteller, various
online eg Makebeliefs, ToonDoo, Witty Comics)
– Statistics-based card game “Top Trumps”

7. Why creation?

8. Revised Creating
Bloom’s
taxonomy
Evaluating
Analysing
Applying
Understanding
Remembering

9. Online collaboration for design
Learning through design has two essential
features:
• learners construct meaning through the act of
design – constructivism
• collaborative learning - meaning is
constructed jointly by a community – social
constructivism
• Combined in constructionism – Papert –
blends cognitivist and situative strategies

10. So online social tools key too
• Edmodo for asynchronous sharing
• Skype or Connect for synchronous link
• DK use Facebook, PL use videoconference
“In England in particular where we have legislation
about social networking and things like that. I know it’s
a secure server but I still think that’s a big concern, even
though it’s in an educational setting. It’s something we
need to look into before we can say for definitely. “

12. Professional
ethos
Completion
of tasks to
time
Greater co-operation
Greater
trust
Reliance on
other
alignments
diminishes

13. Lack of
professional
ethos
Failure to
complete
tasks to time
Reduced
commitment
collaboration
Diminishing
trust
to
Greater
reliance on
other
alignments

14. Virtual teams (Lin, Standing and Liu)
Communication
Cohesion/
relationship
building
Coordination Performance Satisfaction

15. Third pedagogical theory: storytelling

18. Predictions
• Artefacts creation
• Synchronous communication
• Asynchronous sharing and mashing (the
aesthetic interaction)
• So … any tips?

19. Further information
http://www.amores-project.eu/
Email mark.childs@coventry.ac.uk
Flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/amorespr
oject

20. References
• Bloom’s digital taxonomy: Andrew Churches, (2008) Bloom's Taxonomy Blooms
Digitally, Tech & Learning, 4th Jan, 2008 http://www.techlearning.com/studies-in-ed-
tech/0020/blooms-taxonomy-blooms-digitally/44988
• Experiential learning cycle: Kolb, D.A. (1984) Experiential learning: experience as
the source of learning and development Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. P. 24
• Trust cycles: Soetanto, R., Childs, M., Poh, P., Austin, S and Hao, J. (2014) Virtual
collaborative learning for building design, Proceedings of the Institution of Civil
Engineers: Management, Procurement and Law 167 February 2014 Issue MP1,
Pages 25–34
• Virtual Teams: Lin, C., Standing, C. & Liu, Y. 2008, "A model to develop effective
virtual teams", Decision Support Systems, vol. 45, no. 4, pp. 1031-1045.
• Storytelling model: Sheherezade Consortium (2011) Sheherazade, 1001 stories for
adult learning Theoretical background for methodology: summary,
http://www.sheherazade.eu/sites/default/files/deliverable/d3/deliverable3_EN.pd
f