TY - JOUR
T1 - Synchronous symmetrical support
T2 - A naturalistic study of live online peer-to-peer learning via software videoconferencing
AU - Scott, Peter
AU - Castañeda, Linda
AU - Quick, Kevin
AU - Linney, Jon
N1 - Funding Information:
This research is part of the ‘‘Prolearn Network of Excellence’’ project funded by the Information Society Technology programme of the European Commission, which is focused on technology enhanced professional learning, (see www.prolearn-project.org/). The Prolearn network brings together both academic and industrial partners with expertise in e-learning, and has deployed a number of cooperative learning and meeting/organisational tools to assist in its work. The video meeting tool we used in the study is a ‘‘lightweight’’ videoconferencing tool deployed in this Prolearn network, called FlashMeeting (www.flashmeeting.com). Henceforth, we will refer to the tool as FM and this community of Animation Students, as AS-FM.
PY - 2009
Y1 - 2009
N2 - This paper reports on a naturalistic study of peer-to-peer learning, in a live, online video meeting context. Over a six-month period a group of international students of animation attended 99 live, online "study group" events amounting to around 120 hours of live "broadcast meeting time". Some meetings were very large, with up to 34 participants, but the average participation was 10 students. These events were entirely self-organised, policed and managed by the student community. Some students emerged as natural mentors, and the group exhibited substantial supportive, mutually facilitative roles. This longitudinal study examines the impact of simple, live videoconferencing in an online peer learning context. The study also provides a formal measure of how learners can provide "symmetrical" support for each other in a live non-formal context, even without a formal scaffold of lectures and seminars.
AB - This paper reports on a naturalistic study of peer-to-peer learning, in a live, online video meeting context. Over a six-month period a group of international students of animation attended 99 live, online "study group" events amounting to around 120 hours of live "broadcast meeting time". Some meetings were very large, with up to 34 participants, but the average participation was 10 students. These events were entirely self-organised, policed and managed by the student community. Some students emerged as natural mentors, and the group exhibited substantial supportive, mutually facilitative roles. This longitudinal study examines the impact of simple, live videoconferencing in an online peer learning context. The study also provides a formal measure of how learners can provide "symmetrical" support for each other in a live non-formal context, even without a formal scaffold of lectures and seminars.
KW - Adult learning
KW - Computer-mediated communication
KW - Distance education and telelearning
KW - Lifelong learning
KW - Scaffolding
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=67650928204&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/10494820701794730
DO - 10.1080/10494820701794730
M3 - Journal Article
AN - SCOPUS:67650928204
SN - 1049-4820
VL - 17
SP - 119
EP - 134
JO - Interactive Learning Environments
JF - Interactive Learning Environments
IS - 2
ER -