Water Project: Computer-Supported Collaborative E-Learning Model for Integrating Science and Social Studies

Year 2011, Volume: 2 Issue: 3, 250 - 263, 01.09.2011

Jiyoon Yoon Lynn Brice

Abstract

This article reports a qualitative study on computer-supported collaborative learning during a multidisciplinary education project on environment. The water project is designed to provide the elementary teacher candidates opportunities to explore issues related to water and find solutions to them through the Internet. As a production of the water project, they created posters and fliers in a photograph application to educate people regarding water issues and discussed how their creations affected people’s awareness of water issues, using a web-discussion tool. The teacher candidates’ reflections revealed that the water project was a meaningful e-learning activity to raise awareness of the global water issues and create an opportunity for them to share their learning, incorporating science and social studies. This water project provided a computer-supported collaborative e-learning model for integrating science and social studies.

Keywords

E-learning, Computer supported learning, Collaborative learning, Integrated education, Science education, Social studies

References

• Artman, H., Ramberg, R., Sundholm, H., & C-Pargman, T. (2005). Action context and target context representations: A case study on collaborative design learning. In T. Koschman, D. Suthers, & T. W. Chan (Eds.), Computer supported collaborative learning: The next 10 years Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and education. New York: Macmillan.
• Hmelo-Silver, C.E. (2006). Analyzing collaborative learning: Multiple approaches to understanding processes and outcomes. Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Learning Sciences (pp.1059-1065). USA.
• Koschmann, T. (2002). Dewey's contribution to the foundations of CSCL research. Paper presented at the Computer Support for Collaborative Learning Conference. Boulder, CO.
• Loveless, A. (2002). A literature review in creativity, new technology and learning: A report for NESTA Future lab. Retrieved on 7 July 2011 from http://www.nestafuturelab.org.uk
• National Committee on Science Education Standards and Assessment. (1996). National Science Education Standards (pp.103-105). National Academies Press.
• Ma, A. (2008). Computer supported collaborative learning and social creativity: A case study of fashion design. Journal of Information, Information Technology, and Organizations, 3.
• Sierra Legal Report. (2006). The Great Lakes Sewage Report Card. Retrieved on 30 June 2011 from http://www.ecojustice.ca/publications/reports/the-great-lakes-sewage-report-card/ attachment
• Stahl, G., Koschmann, T., & Suthers, D. (2006). Computer-supported collaborative learning: An historical perspective. In R. K. Sawyer (Ed.), Cambridge handbook of the learning sciences, (pp.409-426). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
• Water Encyclopedia [Photograph]. (2010). Retrieved 20 October 2010 from http://www. waterencyclopedia.com/Da-En/Developing-Countries-Issues-in.html
• Wenden, A. (2004). Educating for a culture of social and economical peace. New York: SUNY Press.
• Yoon, S. (2007). The effect of shared-leadership and questioning scaffolding on collaborative problem solving in CSCL. Korean Journal of Education Research, 45(4), 115-144.
• Correspondence: Jyoon Yoon, Department of Education, University of Minnesota, Duluth,
• Minnesota, United States