Author: Teresa Romeu Fontanillas
Programme: Doctoral Programme on the Information and Knowledge Society
Language: Spanish
Supervisor: Dr Montse Guitert Catasús
Faculty / Institute: Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3)
Subjects: Higher Education, Universities
Key words: Teamwork, Collaborative learning, Online teaching, Teaching strategies, Virtual learning environments
Area of knowledge: Teaching Methodology and School Organization
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Summary
This thesis contributes knowledge to research into teaching online and networked collaboration processes. It provides continuity to previous research on network cooperation in the context of learning and collaborative work in virtual environments, focusing the analysis from the perspective of teachers working collaboratively through the network while developing their online teaching.
Previous literature addresses the collaborative network as a key feature of network learning and online activities at all academic levels, and interpersonal competence as a requirement of the current knowledge society. However, despite that the apparent consensus in education regarding collaboration and the fact that it is a relevant feature for teaching practices, the criteria that designate this term are very different depending on who collaborates, how they do it, and what purposes and values guide their actions.
Its ultimate goal is to improve online teaching, and specifically to improve collaboration processes that take place in a virtual environment between teachers, and thus will not only be useful for teaching staff at the university but also be transferable to other university and non-university education.
The study explores how a team of teachers communicates and interacts in a virtual collaborative space and carries out collaborative activity using an in-depth case study in the context of an institution of higher education, and particularly in an area that has an interdisciplinary team of consultants with experience in dynamic virtual collaboration and training activities that facilitate the use and application of ICT. It focuses on collaboration on the Internet, and analyses how teachers communicate and interact in a virtual collaborative space, and how they develop collaboratively in a team activity.
The research results show us the possibilities of ICT in virtual environments for group learning, transforming the way we approach university teaching, and how teachers can collaborate. Contributions to research from online teaching take the form of proposals regarding the role of teachers online, on digital competences of online teaching, and initial teacher training online. In addition contributions to research from network collaboration between teachers are shown to improve teaching, updating, and professional development.