Online Collaboration: The Key to Success in Distance Education

Due to Covid 19, all the educators and students were thrown into distance learning for two years. They couldn't physically collaborate and were forced to rely on online collaboration. So, they were using different online tools for student-teacher collaboration and student-student collaboration.

Initially, different educators and students believed that this distance learning would cause isolation. But after some days of being in distance learning, on Twitter, a lot of educators shared that community is power. No matter if it is online or physical, this online collaboration helps them in going through the tough phase of Covid 19.

Now, online collaboration has become a part of education to facilitate disabled students and those who are in remote areas. Online collaboration is helping them to access knowledge and it is enhancing their achievement levels too.

However, to achieve a successful online community or collaboration, educational stakeholders need to take certain steps and apply specific strategies. This article is going to discuss them in detail.

Benefits of Online Collaboration

For Students

Different researchers have proved that there is a positive correlation between collaborative learning and student achievements. Because, online tools enable students to communicate with each other, share information and work on projects whenever they want. The flexibility of using online tools fosters self-discipline and time management skills. You can build a community with various learners like you from around the globe to get motivated by them.

For Teachers

Online collaborative tools ensure that you give timely feedback to students. This can help them in their self-learning journey. Moreover, teachers can implement new teaching tools and strategies in their classrooms. They can also build a community where different peers can share their knowledge. They can also have effective communication with their students to solve their problems. They can also track their pupil's progress through different online tools.

For Parents and Tutors

Online learning and collaboration save a lot of time for kids. They don't need to commute often to learn and collaborate. This can save time and cost so they can spend quality time with their parents. Moreover, online learning allows parents to track the progress of their kids and address their educational issues effectively.

For School Administrators

School administrators can use online tools to automate a lot of management tasks. This can give them free time and work would be done without any errors. Moreover, different stats proved that online classes are more cost-effective than physical classes. So, every type of school can afford virtual collaboration over the traditional one.

Tools and Platforms for Online Collaboration

The choice of tools and platforms for online collaboration has a major impact. So, you should select those tools that are efficient and allow both synchronous and asynchronous communication.

Communication Tools

Online collaboration includes video conferencing, task management, document sharing and real-time messaging. So, you need effective communication tools for fulfilling these purposes.

For this, there are various platforms such as Zoom, Trello, Slack and Google Workspace. You can do live video conferencing on these platforms along with chatting and sharing feedback.

Collaborative Learning Platforms

Teachers can use different platforms to make the learning interactive and interesting. They can share eye-catching visuals, presentations, quizzes, games, surveys and videos with their students so that they can engage and learn.

For this purpose, they can use different tools such as Learning Studio to make attractive online courses and classes. They can interact with their students through Google Classroom, Edmodo or Blackboard.

Research in 2020 found that students who used social media are more research-oriented, dynamic and creative. They have a high degree of interaction with their colleagues and peers as they can share and create content on it.

The best example here is Padlet. It is a web-based app on which teachers and students can write a post on a virtual wall and others can share their insights regarding it.

Specialized Educational Software

There are different educational software that school administrations can integrate into their Learning Management System (LMS). From this software, students can learn new courses, and skills and enhance their existing skills and information.

Some examples of these are Khan Academy, Coursera and DigitalDefynd.

Strategies for Effective Online Collaboration

Creating an Inclusive Online Environment

The first thing school administration should do is to make sure that online tools are accessible to everyone. For this, they should use either free tools for online collaboration or buy subscriptions for teachers and students.

Moreover, they should help students and teachers in learning the online tools they are going to use for collaboration.

Establishing Clear Guidelines and Expectations

Teachers should develop clear rules and guidelines for the students in the online classroom. When peers are collaborating, they should give proper roles to each other.

For example, a teacher on LinkedIn says that they have given guidelines to their students that they should pretend they are in person in the virtual classroom. It means no side chat and remaining active in the classroom discussions.

Utilizing Different Collaboration Techniques

To enhance the productivity of students, teachers should use different collaboration techniques. It includes synchronous learning (having a live online conversation) or asynchronous learning (letting students learn at their own pace).

To keep the students active, teachers can use surveys, discussion forums and groups. To make a strong community, they can use group projects or peer review collaboration techniques.

Supporting and Training Participants

While students and teachers are in online collaboration mode, the administration should take feedback from them now and then. They should address their problems, give them resources to solve their issues and make the collaboration better by adding more simple tools in their LMS.

Case Studies and Success Stories

There are different online platforms like iEarn that connect students and educators around the globe on a specific theme. They collaborate online on different projects, assignments and discussion forums to learn about global issues and topics.

Moreover, Purdue University offers an Online Writing Lab (OWL) where students submit their work for peer review. They get constructive feedback from classmates, develop critical thinking and improve writing skills through this program.

Challenges and Solutions

Technical Challenges

Students can face various technical challenges in online collaboration. It includes failure of equipment, internet issues, or tools issues making the course inaccessible.

For this, institutes should have a dedicated tech team and support system for students. Teachers should also devise alternate ways for students to access online class material and discussions if they have any temporary internet issues. For example, instructors can record the live-streaming class and share it with students through emails.

Engagement Challenges

Online learning can face engagement challenges because there are digital distractions, lack of motivation, anxiety about using new tools, difficulty in understanding instructions and overwhelming feelings in students.

So, teachers should provide them with scaffolding to teach new skills and adjust in a new environment. For this, they can keep track of the discussion forum to make sure everyone is interacting. They can make their classroom material interactive and give support to students whenever they want.

Privacy and Security Concerns

Online tools can compromise the privacy of students, causing their data to leak, invading their personal space and causing various privacy problems.

For this, institutes should give proper knowledge about safeguarding privacy to students and teachers. Moreover, they should add robust security software to their educational software. With it, they should use those tools that have high privacy and security policies.

Conclusion

In short, online collaboration is becoming the future of education. Because it is accessible, affordable, flexible and productive. In the future, artificial intelligence is going to enhance the features and productivity of virtual classrooms. So, educational stakeholders should integrate online collaboration in their institutes and curricula to help their students grow.