Using Technology to Evolve Cooperative Learning Environment for Distant Education Courses
Summary: Cooperative learning is a successful teaching strategy in which small teams, each with students of different levels of ability, use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding of a subject. Each member of a team is responsible not only for learning what is taught but also for helping teammates learn, thus creating an atmosphere of achievement. Cooperative groups increase opportunities for students to produce and comprehend language and to obtain modeling and feedback from their peers. Much of the value of cooperative learning lies in the way that teamwork encourages students to engage in such high-level thinking skills as analyzing, explaining, synthesizing, and elaborating. However, how to effectively implement cooperative leaning to increase group and individual student learning performance in distant education courses is always a question? Thus, the purpose of this presentation will conclude with an opportunity to discuss and introduce tools that instructors can implement in their distant education courses.
Description:
Using Technology to Evolve Cooperative Learning Environment
for Distant Education Courses
Kuan-Chou Chen, Ph.D.
Department Head
Department of Information Systems
Purdue University Calumet, Hammond, IN 46323
Phone: (219) 989-2336
E-mail: kchen@calumet.purdue.edu
Carin Chuang
Assistant Professor
Department of Computer & Information Technology
Purdue University North Central, Westville, IN 46391
Phone: (219) 785-5723
E-mail: cchuang@pnc.edu
THE PROBLEM AND OBJECTIVES
Cooperative learning is a successful teaching strategy in which small teams, each with students of different levels of ability, use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding of a subject. Each member of a team is responsible not only for learning what is taught but also for helping teammates learn, thus creating an atmosphere of achievement. Cooperative groups increase opportunities for students to produce and comprehend language and to obtain modeling and feedback from their peers. Much of the value of cooperative learning lies in the way that teamwork encourages students to engage in such high-level thinking skills as analyzing, explaining, synthesizing, and elaborating. However, how to effectively implement cooperative leaning to increase group and individual student learning performance in distant education courses is always a question? Thus, the purpose of this presentation will conclude with an opportunity to discuss and introduce tools that instructors can implement in their distant education courses.
METHODS
This study will look at a number of cooperative learning tools for distant education to guide the instructors as they attempt to steer this learning approaches. Distant education collaboration tools including Google and Web portal will be presented. Effective use of these tools for cooperative learning on an online setting, team activities, support and remediation will be demonstrated. These tools enable instructors to demonstrate concepts and clarify perceptions that are otherwise difficult to convey in distant education courses. These offer training sessions, visual instructions, real-time conversations and interactivity with our students. This presentation will introduce each tool to show how to make effective and efficient use of time, technology, and resources.
RESULTS
Cooperative learning appears to be a promising method by which distant education teachers can simultaneously achieve both academic and socio-moral objectives. Students taking a distant education course have much the same experience or sometimes better experience than our in-house courses.
for Distant Education Courses
Kuan-Chou Chen, Ph.D.
Department Head
Department of Information Systems
Purdue University Calumet, Hammond, IN 46323
Phone: (219) 989-2336
E-mail: kchen@calumet.purdue.edu
Carin Chuang
Assistant Professor
Department of Computer & Information Technology
Purdue University North Central, Westville, IN 46391
Phone: (219) 785-5723
E-mail: cchuang@pnc.edu
THE PROBLEM AND OBJECTIVES
Cooperative learning is a successful teaching strategy in which small teams, each with students of different levels of ability, use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding of a subject. Each member of a team is responsible not only for learning what is taught but also for helping teammates learn, thus creating an atmosphere of achievement. Cooperative groups increase opportunities for students to produce and comprehend language and to obtain modeling and feedback from their peers. Much of the value of cooperative learning lies in the way that teamwork encourages students to engage in such high-level thinking skills as analyzing, explaining, synthesizing, and elaborating. However, how to effectively implement cooperative leaning to increase group and individual student learning performance in distant education courses is always a question? Thus, the purpose of this presentation will conclude with an opportunity to discuss and introduce tools that instructors can implement in their distant education courses.
METHODS
This study will look at a number of cooperative learning tools for distant education to guide the instructors as they attempt to steer this learning approaches. Distant education collaboration tools including Google and Web portal will be presented. Effective use of these tools for cooperative learning on an online setting, team activities, support and remediation will be demonstrated. These tools enable instructors to demonstrate concepts and clarify perceptions that are otherwise difficult to convey in distant education courses. These offer training sessions, visual instructions, real-time conversations and interactivity with our students. This presentation will introduce each tool to show how to make effective and efficient use of time, technology, and resources.
RESULTS
Cooperative learning appears to be a promising method by which distant education teachers can simultaneously achieve both academic and socio-moral objectives. Students taking a distant education course have much the same experience or sometimes better experience than our in-house courses.
Kuan Chen
Associate Professor/Department Head
Purdue University Calumet
Associate Professor/Department Head
Purdue University Calumet
Kuan C. Chen is Department Head of Department of Information Systems at Purdue University Calumet. His primary teaching responsibilities are in database management, computer programming, e-business, decision support systems, knowledge management, project management, and system analysis and design. Research interests are focused on the system management, network design and security, instructional design for information technology training, data mining, system dynamics, information technology economics of information systems, and applications of neural networks to network design. In his consulting career, he specialized in database design and management, information technology project evaluation and feasibility studies, web site planning and analysis, and networking planning and design. Prior to coming back academia, Dr. Chen worked as information analyst and project manager for four years. Dr. Chen received a 2005-2006 outstanding teaching award in Purdue University Calumet.
Dr. Chen awarded his Ph.D. from the Michigan State University as well as a MBA degree in Management Sciences from National Cheng-Kung University at Taiwan. He has published numerous journal articles in information systems, decision support systems, data mining, instructional design, and systems thinking model. He is an active participant in several professional journals and serves on four journals reviewer boards. He has been taught at several universities: Lansing Community College, Purdue University West Lafayette, Bowling Green State University, IVY Tech State College, and Davenport University. He also was acting Department Head of Department of Accounting at Purdue University Calumet in 2006- 2008. Dr. Chen was nominated as a 2006, 2007 and 2008 outstanding scholar award in Purdue University Calumet.