Teaching and Learning in a

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Teaching andLearningin a
Collaborative Electronic Environment
Joy McGregor Lyn Hay Associate
Professor Lecturer in Teacher
Librarianship School of Library Information
Studies School of Information Studies Texas
Woman's University, Denton Charles Sturt
University, Wagga Wagga Texas, USA NSW
Australia
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Growing up digital
Growing up is about learning. The Net Generation
are beginning to process information and learn
differently than the baby boomers. The
destination is different and so is the route kids
must take. Don Tapscott (1996)
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Learning digital

• As teachers we need to
• rethink our educational delivery
• aware of new learning technologies
• evaluate the digital landscape
• test application of new tools
• work with colleagues to streamline
• IT integration
• professionally network beyond local

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What is a collaborative electronic environment?

• a site that integrates collaborative activities
  for workgroups, or learning groups
• place for teachers students to meet and share
  ideas and resources
• a mix of email, listservs, web forums, web
  resources, electronic meeting software
  (NetMeeting), IRC and MOOs

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Collaborative electronic
environments (CEEs)

• providing pathways to digital learning
• direct impact on student learning
• harnessing the available technologies
• digital information management
• entertainment and education merge
• students collaborate in real-time
• virtual classrooms created by staff students

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Challenge of online teaching
is to find a way to communicate that the
learners understand, actively engage in, and
gradually find as a flexible, user-centred style
of learning. The success of collaborative
electronic environments (CEEs) seems to depend on
building the social learning environment provided
by real time contact with other students,
teachers and a sense of "place" where the
learning happens. Many of the principles of
effective teaching practice are carried over to
the new environment and you become enriched as
you discover and share new teaching and learning
experiences with your students. (Eustace
19992)
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Enter Synchronous learning environments

• multi-object oriented programming (MOO)
• real-time collaboration
• sharing physical space
• experiencing a state of presence
• reflects real classroom
• wonderful worlds of words
• power of the imagination

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Cognitive Demands on Users

• MOO is more than dialogue
• requires interaction with environment,
• people things
• Students involved in
• engagement
• immersion
• construction
• synthesis, analysis, evaluation

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Learning Opportunities in MOOs

• real-time interaction for education across
  distance
• and time zones
• global student collaborative projects
• ideal for group brainstorming, information
  sharing
• and decision making sessions, eg. literature
  circles,
• debates and mock trials
• excellent PD facility for teachers and
  administrators
• eg. online conferencing

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A virtual world at LC_MOO

• a range of virtual places to meet
• access via raw telnet or MOO client
• Pueblo lthttp//www.chaco.com/pueblogt
• connect to Learning Communities MOO via
• telnet address ispg.riv.csu.edu.au 8762

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Basic MOO commands

• Communication commands
• Type
• text eg "Hi You say, "Hi"
• text jumps Joy jumps
• name Lyn Hi Joy to Lyn Hi
  
• -nametext -Lyn Hi pages Lyn with a
  private
• message from any room

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Movement Commands lily Goes in
the exit named lily _at_join Lyn
Teleports you to Lyn's location _at_go room or
name Teleports you to a room, if you can
enter. eg. _at_go 157 or _at_go LilyPond
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Other Commands who Gives a
listing of who is connected. look here
Shows the description of where
you are. look Lyn Shows Lyn's
description. _at_quit Exits
LC_MOO.
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Customising virtual classroom environments

• Factors to consider
• audience
• types of activities, forums, etc
• teaching styles
• learning styles
• presentation styles
• interactivity with environment, objects, etc

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Jasper Park Lodge

• an informal classroom area and small group
• meeting rooms
• 1 large, comfortable lodge area for large
• group discussions - Jasper Park Lodge
• 6 more traditional small group meeting
• rooms surrounding the lodge area - Maligne,
• Alberta, Pyramid, Skyline, Cavell, Miette
• a patio for relaxation (with a pool!)

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Shearwater Shack ThinkTank

• 2 classrooms for MLS students
• 1 informal workshop area - Shearwater Shack
• - relaxing, fun environment for PM discussion
• - 1 to 1 consultation
• 1 formal panel discussion area - ThinkTank
• - brainstorming, decisionmaking

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Casuarina Conference Resort

• formal conferencing centre
• simulates real conference centre environment
• public lobby areas
• large auditorium for 1 to many style
  presentations
• breakout meeting rooms for workshops
• social meeting areas, eg. verandah, café, bar

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The LilyPond World

• classrooms for K-9 literature circles groups
• central launching or meeting point
• experience a learning journey
• 4 paths from LilyPond to meeting rooms
• 4 paths from meeting rooms to Departure Lounge
• Last Minute Chat Room Souvenir Shop
• plus childrens author rooms, eg. Andy Griffiths

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• Jennie Bales 1999

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This kind of environmental interaction provided
my students with precisely the kind of
surroundings that foster learning and
metacognition naturally
English, JA. (1997). Actualizing the environment
a study of student MOO activity.
lthttp//leahi.kcc.hawaii.edu/org/tcc_conf97/pres/e
nglish.htmlgt.
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Plato and his students wandered around Athens
arguing their way to understanding. While my
cyber-students learn also from the collaborative
efforts of online debates, conferences and
papers. They will think about what they have to
say, and they will come to class each week
amazingly prepared to argue and type their way
toward insight.
Phillips, V. (1998). Education in the ether.
Salon Magazine, 20 Jan. (online). Available
lthttp//salon magazine.com/21st/feature/1998/01/20
feature.htmlgt
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Other CEEs

• LinguaMOO supports a writing and rhetoric
  program. http//lingua.utdallas.edu
• AtheMOO for people interested in theatre.
  http//moo.hawaii.edu/athemoo/
• Tapped In PD for K-16 teachers, staff,
  researchers. http//tappedin.sri.com

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Potential CEE Activities

• Playground from simple play (e.g. swing on a
  swing) to complex problem-solving (e.g. puzzles,
  mazes, obstacle courses)
• Building worlds reflecting fiction and
  non-fiction (e.g. The Little Prince, a gold
  mine)
• Author visits, ask-an-expert forums

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From real to virtual classroom

• An effective classroom provides
• tools that learners use at the point of need
• an environment conducive to learning
• opportunities for teachers students share
• information exchange ideas
• freedom to experiment and take risks
• mechanisms for evaluating performance
• safe haven for learning to take place
  (Porter 199724)

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Teaching a virtual class

• Establishing a time window, eg. Friday 11am
• 1. Convene a meeting via e-mail
• 2. Set an agenda prep on a webpage
• 3. Send MOO transcripts to ALL students
• 4. Survey and evaluate sessions
• E-mail, WWW and MOO as CEE

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Dont reinvent the wheel

• adapt teaching strategies, eg. online roll
• call, pointing to students, taking/holding
• the floor..., group work, student leaders
• develop new strategies, eg. electronic
  preparation, logging session transcripts,
  synchronise time zones, open classroom
  management, MOO client troubleshooting, MOO
  netiquette

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Doing time

• on your L-Plates
• familiarity with CEE management
• clock up online hours in MOO, eg. 12 hrs
• informal MOO conferencing with experts
• skill up with MOO teaching colleagues
• trial classroom management strategies
• with small groups of students

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Position vacant MOO mentor

• Alliance with MOO expert essential...
• software support, eg. downloading MOO client,
  getting connected
• MOO commands, eg. _at_join, _at_page
• custom build virtual classroom
• presence while prac teaching

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Teaching andLearningin a
Collaborative Electronic Environment
http//golum.riv.csu.edu.au/lhay/aasl/cee.html
Joy McGregor Lyn Hay Assistant
Professor Lecturer in Teacher
Librarianship School of Library Information
Studies School of Information Studies Texas
Woman's University, Denton Charles Sturt
University, Wagga Wagga Texas, USA NSW
Australia