Search

Collaborative learning has documented benefits. Restrictions because of the COVID-19 pandemic prevented in-person collaborative experiences, therefore creating a pathway for online ones. An inter-university team previously created and published a novel framework that fosters collaborative learning for emergency/disaster preparedness and uses scenarios that attract student participation from a spectrum of disciplines. Here, we detail the implementation and evaluation of this framework in a virtual setting. Analysis of pre- and post-surveys from the virtual event revealed similar results to the previous in-person iterations. Results for both in-person and virtual events demonstrated that students had higher confidence and interest in emergency/disaster preparedness and interprofessional teamwork after participation. Implementation of this framework in a virtual setting can facilitate a positive student learning experience and inter-university collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to give an overview of the challenges, mechanisms, and achievements of internationalisation at home through reporting the unfolding of two virtual exchanges across the Mediterranean. Study design/methodology/approach: The research study was in three phases: course design, the implementation of the virtual exchanges and their evaluation through students’ questionnaires. The evaluation was twofold; quantitative through student questionnaires and qualitative through forums analysis and synchronous meetings observation. Findings: Results were in line with the quasi-consensus over the efficiency of virtual mobility in improving students’ intercultural communicative competence, collaboration in virtual teams and English proficiency and hence supporting them in their internationalisation at home process. Originality/value: The value of the current study lies in showing on a practical ground the viability of researching the benefits of virtual exchange, therefore adopting it as a strong strategy for internationalisation at home.

Purpose: Despite progressing research in the field of Virtual Mobility and Internationalization at Home, recent theories and technologies are challenging to implement for Higher Education Institutes (HEIs). The present paper focuses particularly on Albania, where the current education system has not been able to sufficiently incorporate Virtual Mobility and Internationalization in higher education programs. Study design/methodology/approach: This paper analyses the prevalent situation within Albania’s higher education system regarding Virtual Mobility and Internationalization at Home activities. The underlying data has been collected in qualitative semi-structured interviews, conducted with teaching staff and students from Albanian universities who are experienced with Virtual Mobility modules. It was evaluated through a mixed approach of qualitative content analysis by Mayring (2014) using inductive and deductive category formation. Findings: The results show the benefits that an increasing integration of Virtual Mobility activities in the education system could facilitate for students and teachers in Albania’s HEIs. Nevertheless, it became clear that in order to implement a higher degree of Virtual Mobility at university level, it is necessary to overcome the legal obstacles set by the Ministry of Education as well as structural obstacles within the HEIs. Originality/value: Due the actual lack of development, concepts, infrastructures, and legal foundations, the implementation of Virtual Mobility as an affordable instrument to foster the international experience of Albanian students is of high importance. This could raise the quality of academic education and tackle capacity gaps in the education system of Albania towards the grade of international experiences of students.

Purpose: Supervising roles within virtual collaborative learning (VCL) environments face many different challenges and are often having difficulties keeping an eye on everything and comprehending every participant’s or group’s workflow. To help supervisors with problems like that we developed a software prototype to support their daily workflow and overcome the mentioned challenges. Study design/methodology/approach: This study used a design science research approach to investigate how learning analytics might be able to support teaching staff in VCL settings. Previous studies demonstrated that this approach is very well suited to derive design guidelines for such software artifacts. Initially, a qualitative interview series with four experienced tutors was carried out to get an in-depth understanding of the challenges and tasks teaching staff typically faces in VCL environments. The interview material was systematically analysed to acquire the underlying software requirements. These were then combined with existing knowledge about support software of similar use cases to create a first prototype, primarily based on a supervised machine learning model that classifies online messages sent within the teams. Findings: The software tool we have developed has shown that machine learning processes can indeed be used to support teaching staff in VCL environments. The tool achieves satisfactory classification performance in categorizing chat messages. It could therefore be demonstrated that it is possible to classify chat messages using a software tool. The interviews conducted revealed a particular interest in the statistical evaluations of group activities in Microsoft Teams. This was said to save a lot of time in the subsequent evaluation of the groups. The interviewed eTutors also expressed an interest in receiving private information on the development of possible conflicts within groups. The interest of the interviewed supervisors was very high and additional interviews could lead to further possible feature ideas. In general, the evaluative interviews resulted in positive feedback regarding how our prototype supported eTutors during their work. Originality/value: In current times, spatially distributed and asynchronous education plays a bigger role than ever before. VCL environments are useful tools to overcome these challenges of time and space. However, unlike research on conversational agents or automated feedback systems, the focus of this work is not on the communication interface between software and users or the exclusively quantitative analysis of messages. The goal is to evaluate the content of sent messages within VCL environments using the six defined categories to gain a better qualitative understanding of the teams’ collaboration and its workflow.

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to assess the implementation of a Virtual Collaborative Learning model (VCL) applied at a university level course/module with students of the bachelor cycle in a HEI in Albania. Study design/methodology/approach: A single descriptive case study design has been used. At the end of the pilot VCL-based course activity deployment, an open-ended survey was conducted, and the response transcripts were analysed and elaborated. Course instructor and E-tutor first-hand observation has been also utilized. Findings: Data obtained from the survey shows that the implementation of the VCL model alongside its challenges, is generally well-acknowledged and considered a positive experience. The majority of respondents, 93% of the students who participated in the survey highly recommend VCL as a new approach in learning. Communication issues are noticed particularly at first when students are trying to get accustomed to this model. Originality/value: The expected novelty of this pilot project was the development of the teaching and learning processes through alternative innovative approaches such as through virtual collaborative learning.

Copyright of International Journal of Research in E-Learning is the property of Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Slaskiego and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstrak: Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis efek perlakuan virtual collaborative learning (VCL) dalam meningkatkan kemampuan komunikasi siswa dalam Bahasa Inggris. VCL adalah metode belajar-mengajar sederhana yang mengharuskan siswa untuk bekerja sama dan berdiskusi dalam kelompok atau pasangan secara virtual sehingga mudah dipahami oleh siswa sekolah dasar di Thailand. Dalam penelitian quasi-experimental ini, desain time-series yang digunakan adalah masing-masing tiga kali pre-test dan post-test kepada dua belas siswa dari dua sekolah berbeda di Thailand. Data penelitian yang terkumpul dianalisis secara deskriptif. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa kemampuan komunikasi Bahasa Inggris siswa meningkat sekitar 48%. VCL juga meningkatkan kepercayaan diri siswa Thailand dalam berkomunikasi menggunakan bahasa Inggris. Penelitian ini juga menemukan potensi penggunaan VCL karena pelajar diusia muda lebih tertarik untuk belajar secara kolaboratif dengan lingkungan dan teman baru. Abstract: This study was carried out to analyze the effect of virtual collaborative learning (VCL) for enhancing and encouraging students to improve their English communication ability. VCL is a simple teaching-learning method that requires students to work and discuss in groups or pairs virtually which are easy to understand by primary Thai students. In this quasi-experimental research, a time-series design that used three times in each pre-test and post-test were applied to collect data from twelve students from two different schools in Thailand. The data collected were analyzed descriptively. The findings of the study showed that all respondents had improvements in their English communication ability with around 48% of improvements. The VCL was also improved Thai students’ confidence in communicating using English. This study had also found the potential use of VCL as young learners had more interest in learning collaboratively with new environments and friends.

Purpose: E-tutors often participate in collaborative online international learning (COIL) settings and guide students in group work and related learning processes. They moderate, organize, and observe the group and individual learning processes and are often students’ first point of contact. This support requires several competencies, which are also largely reflected in the so-called future skills. Thus, it seems sensible to examine these competencies more closely and promote them to enhance the course experience and support for students in COIL settings on the one hand and to make student e-tutors fit for the modern working world on the other. Study design/methodology/approach: As a starting point for this project, a comprehensive systematic literature analysis on e-tutor competencies and qualifications was conducted in Langesee (2023). A competency ranking and task-based competency profile for e-tutors in higher education were developed during this research. To investigate the validity and practicability of these artifacts, an evaluation was conducted with 16 international experts and practitioners (e-tutors) using a questionnaire. Findings: The competencies identified in Langesee (2023), the ranking, and the profile created were recognized as helpful and practical. Additional comments from respondents allowed both artifacts to be revised and expanded. The three most relevant competencies of the nine detected are communication, pedagogical and social competencies. Originality/value: The resulting artifacts can be used in the next step as a basis for a self-evaluation tool (SET), enabling e-tutors to assess their competence equipment. Based on this, individual instruments will be recommended to initiate possible improvements.

Virtual collaboration continues to gain in significance and is attracting attention also as virtual collaborative learning (VCL) in education. This paper addresses aspects of VCL that we identified as critical in a series of courses named 'Net Economy': (1) technical infrastructure, (2) motivation and collaboration, and (3) assessment and evaluation. Net Economy is an international online setting, focusing on the business impact of new technologies and is highly notable for the divergent educational and cultural backgrounds of its participants. Having been subject to research from the onset in 2008, in which approximately 10 students were analysed and evaluated, the course has continued to gain significant success as a learning tool, with over 150 students currently enrolled throughout the various course cycles. In this paper we focus on how we implemented changes with regard to the above mentioned critical elements as part of canonical action research between the last course cycles. We outline the general learning scenario behind our VCL-courses, describe problems that we identified with the help of evaluation results and explain solution approaches and the impact of their implementation. The paper aims to provide a comprehensive example for virtual collaborative learning as well as explaining and exemplifying a systematic approach of improving complex e-learning settings through a series of steps, developed to ease the transition between each stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]