Book reviews

Stephen Bostock

Implementing Computer Supported Cooperative Learning,
David McConnell, 1994, Kogan Page 0-7494-1237-2
In search of the virtual class,
John Tiffin and Lalita Rajasingham, 1995, Routledge, 0-415-12483-2

While both these books are concerned with learning with the help of telecommunications technology, they are very different in style and approach. David McConnell's book is a practical guide for 'reflective practitioners', and one based on a particular educational philosophy which he describes and supports with published work and his own experience. In contrast, John Tiffin and Lalita Rajasingham present a grander vision of education in the Information Society being revolutionised, transformed into 'telelearning in virtual reality'.

Implementing Computer Supported Cooperative Learning starts with three chapters laying the groundwork by defining cooperative learning, describing the telecommunication applications which can support it, and comparing face-to-face and computer supported learning in groups. Secondly, it describes a philosophy for CSCL, and its practical implications in the design of educational experiences (instruction, courses) using CSCL. It then describes as a case study the MA in Management Learning at Lancaster University, U.K., which McConnell has taught using 'traditional' computer conferencing software. Thirdly, it describes some recent technologies and case studies

Cooperative learning is not a single idea but 'encompasses a wide range of activities and methods' mostly based on group work. In cooperative learning an individual's goals contribute to those of others, in contrast with individualistic learning where they are independent and with competitive learning where one person's goals frustrate those of others. An example of the latter is a limited number of rewards (grade As, scholarships) on a course. McConnell characterises two extreme situations into which cooperative learning could be introduced. The teacher-centred environment is highly structured, with the teacher in control of the process, the content and the assessment of learning, and student motivation is based on external rewards (qualifications). A learner-centred environment is unstructured, with little teacher control, learner-based content assessment and motivation. The former is found in U.S. schooling in which structured cooperation is part of the syllabus and policed by the teacher. The latter (open, negotiated learning) can be found within post-compulsory education in the U.K., notably adult education. In both cases there is evidence that collaboration is beneficial to learning concepts and skills and promoting critical thinking through conversation, argument and recognising different perspectives.

Chapter 2 classifies the variety of computer applications that could support cooperative learning, with the interest focusing on asynchronous text 'computer conferencing'. There is only brief mention of the underlying hardware requirements and more description of the logical structure of a conferencing environment, the learner skills needed to use it and some typical uses within a course. Chapter 3 contrasts cooperative work face-to-face and online, in a computer conference. This is based on the experience of the MA in Management Learning at Lancaster University which is part-time with short residential periods and online work in- between using the Caucus conferencing system. Amongst the conclusions are that many participants find the experience offers quality educational experiences but that there are also possible drawbacks due to the limitations of text, possible overload of messages and reluctance to participate collaboratively. There are also issues of gender.

Chapter 4 is, for me, the heart of the book: designing for CSCL. Despite the earlier implication that cooperative learning can be involved in either teacher-centred or learner-centred learning environments, cooperative learning is here identified with learner-centred rather than traditional environments. It does seem most at home there. McConnell's philosophy of CSCL includes self determined learning, a learning community which cooperative for practical purposes, and collaborative assessment of learning products and processes. Collaborative assessment is the most controversial. It is discussed in detail, answering each objection which many of us have considered. This leads to a discussion of the teacher as the facilitator whose roles include leader, designer, expert, assessor and institutional representative. As an example the CSCL design of the electronic learning environment in the Lancaster MA is described. This is described in more detail in chapter 5, with numerous transcripts of conferences.

Chapter 6 describes briefly some other case studies; well known projects such as Athena at MIT and Intermedia at Brown University, and others in the UK and the European Community. The final chapter summarises past research in CSCL and proposes an agenda for future research which involves describing what happens during CSCL in terms of participation and group dynamics, using external examiners to assess CSCL transcripts, and facilitating a group's self-analysis and explaining the thinking which underlie their messages.

McConnell's book is not a comprehensive account of communications technology support for learning. The text is 213 pages and the index is only one page, but there are useful chapter summaries. Some of the material in the book will be familiar to those who have read McConnell's earlier papers, but the book is not just a collection of earlier works. It presents a coherent view of the present and possible educational uses of computer conferencing. In doing so it challenges many assumptions of traditional teaching and training and suggests ways in which collaborative learning can be made to 'work' in an institutional setting with current computer conferencing technology. It will be on my shelf and I expect to re-read it when contemplating or designing the use of computer conferencing in my own courses. For teachers and trainers not using computer conferencing, this book is worth reading to consider some possibilities of improving the learning experience of their students.

For some years I have read exhortations for education to make widespread use of telecommunications in education and training. A revolution in information access (notably via the World Wide Web) is certainly happening. The educational use of computer mediated human communication through individual e-mail is also gaining momentum quietly. These technologies allow us to do the same thing faster - we can retain a traditional model of teaching and learning and make efficiency gains with the technology. But computer conferencing for groups is growing more slowly and not, I suspect, because the software is somewhat more complex to use. Rather, the collaborative educational model it would support is not in place. Open collaborative learning, in McConnell's sense, is rare in our education systems where the individualistic or even competitive motivation for learning is usually encouraged. But the research evidence points to the effectiveness of cooperation for learning, and business tells us it wants team working skills in our students. Shifting the practice of learning in our courses towards collaboration would be a real revolution in education. McConnell's book demonstrates that it is possible and contains much useful reflection on using current conferencing technology to support it.

In search of the virtual class is a different book in many ways. It is deliberately international and global in perspective (the authors work in New Zealand). It attempts a long historical perspective, is visionary and futuristic. It emphasises synchronous rather than asynchronous telecommunications media. The 'class' in the title is the classroom in traditional education, so the book is concerned with exploring the potential for computer mediated communications in education replacing and improving on the classroom as an educational technology.

An introductory chapter explains the notion of a virtual class as the virtual reality answer to the need for a different sort of education: 'a new educational paradigm'. It is deliberately provocative: 'if this book does not make a lot of educationalists angry, it is not advocating a genuinely new paradigm' (p.11). These are creditable aspirations, prompted by a real crisis, illustrated by the awkward juxtaposition of communications technology and current educational practices and apparent in the 1990's in terms like edutainment and in the snowballing impact of student Internet access on their learning and hence on their teachers and institutions.

Chapter 2 is an analysis of the educational problem. This emphasises the ideas of Lev Vygotsky, which are enjoying a justified reformation, especially his 'zone of proximal development', an obscure way of saying that education is about helping learners to develop and acknowledging that knowledge is socially embedded. The analysis recognises education as a communication system and one with different scale levels; person, group, institution and globe.

Chapter 3 discusses the classroom as it functions today: 'a processing node in the network of an educational institution'. The various functions of a classroom explain its ubiquity and longevity as an educational technology. Chapter 4, however, analyses its imminent downfall: 'School does not work as it used to'. No-one could disagree that around the world governments place increasing emphasis on education, for success in the future information society. Yet problems of space, storage and time in traditional educational systems mean that they cannot adapt fast enough to changing needs. This concludes the first half of the book which sets out the problem. The second half develops the televirtual solution.

Chapter 5 describes early ventures in educational cyberspace. Correspondence courses use postal services to overcome distance. Educational television was seen as a medium for mass education in South America or, more correctly, mass instruction as it fundamentally one-way communication. Computer assisted instruction can supply the missing interaction. Chapter 6 describes the situation of the 1990's: satellites and optic fibres providing the bandwidth for 'telelearning'. Current technologies are described: audioconferencing, videographic conferencing (sound plus shared whiteboard) and videoconferencing. Virtual learning environments at the individual, group and institutional scales can all be supported by these technologies. Strangely, little emphasis is placed on asynchronous media - e-mail and text computer conferencing (which is the sole concern of McConnell's book). Chapter 7 describes the history of virtual reality, from text and TV through interactive Computer Generated Virtual Reality with helmets and datagloves providing telemeetings in shared virtual realities.

Chapters 8 and 9 describe the notion of the Virtual Class systematically, at the level of the learner, learner and teacher, small group, institution and the globe. The final chapter is a discussion of how virtual reality will affect our lives and learning. While virtual reality (including books, TV, computers) takes up more of our time, physical reality remains inescapable. Virtual classrooms will take on many educational functions, leaving physical classrooms as meeting places for functions grounded in the same time and space: shared interests due to locality, skills in interpersonal communication, sports, arts and crafts - a community centre. The authors raise some of the problems that will accompany the advantages of teleworking and telelearning and, generally, tele-life and global consciousness.

The book is an analysis of current global education and how telecommunications and virtual reality may transform it. In its descriptions of present problems there is little with which one can disagree. Its forecasts are plausible in the distant future, but they leave me not so much angry as uncomfortable. In its optimistic, technophilic tone the book fails to take sufficient account of economic and human issues which will make global access to televirtual learning inaccessible or abhorrent to many. The book is not, and does not claim to be, a practical guide but its lack of practicality undermines the credibility of its vision of future education taking place in an all-capable virtual classroom in cyberspace. Nonetheless, I will order the book for our library. It has some interesting examples of current practice. Its broad analysis of education and cyberspace will be useful to quote in a course on learning and working online, as prompts for student discussion (perhaps online discussion in an asynchronous, text computer conference).

Stephen Bostock, 11 Dec 1995
My home page