CHAPTER 2: Developing a Model for Online Collaborative Learning

By the early 1980s, “cooperative learning” methods were emerging as an accepted and effective way of teaching. Cooperative methods such as Jigsaw (Aronson, Blaney, Stephan, Sikes, & Snapp, 1978) and STAD (Slavin, 1995) were gradually being introduced into the classroom. However, most classrooms were not set up to be conducive to the logistics of cooperative learning (CL) which, among other procedures, requires working in groups and changing group composition, a marked change in the roles of teachers and students.

I found these procedures useful while teaching EFL reading-comprehension courses at the university level. They engaged the learner and allowed the students to interact with each other and with the text on a deeper level. The students built up their collaboration skills through various activities, and the classroom became a very active place for learning. Students sat in small groups and had assignments to carry out together. An example is Jigsaw activities, in which each member becomes an expert in a different part of the text and explains his or her understanding to others. However, at that time university studies were either formal large lectures or smaller seminars led by the lecturer. On one occasion at the beginning of my teaching at the Hebrew University, the students were working in jigsaw groups and having intense discussions on the material. A well-known professor was teaching in the room next door. He stormed into the room and shouted, “What is all this noise about? This is supposed to be a university. Can’t you wait quietly until the lecturer comes?” One of the students was brave enough to say, “But the lecturer is in the class.” The professor turned to me and yelled, “This is what you call learning?” Needless to say, I didn’t try to tell him that the noise was productive and this was collaborative learning.