title: Online collaborative learning in tertiary ICT education to enhance students' learning in Malaysia

authors: Mohamad Said, Mohd Nihra Haruzuan Bin

subjects: Online learning environments

abstract: This study investigated the nature of students’, and student group, interactions through the incorporation of an online collaborative learning (OCL) initiative, with its aim to enhance students’ learning in a Malaysian tertiary classroom. In order to contribute to knowledge and understanding about the nature and quality of OCL, the learning processes and outcomes were drawn predominantly from Harasim’s model, with inclusion of a socio-cultural framework aimed at enhancing learning outcomes for undergraduate science and ICT education students. Harasim’s model of OCL that was used in the intervention includes steps to setting up the stage and a system for Idea Generating (IG), modeling and guiding the OCL discussions for Idea Organizing (IO), and evaluating and reflecting the OCL discussions for Intellectual Convergence (IC). The interactions in OCL were analysed through four dimensions: participative, interactive, social, and cognitive in support of the students’ cognitive, social and emotional development.
The OCL intervention in this study was conducted through an ICT education course in a Malaysian university that required OCL discussions for 13 weeks: the first four weeks were intra-group work discussions (Task 1), followed by four/five weeks of inter-group work discussions (Task 2), and the remaining four weeks were for the final intra-group work discussions (Task 3). The OCL intervention was aimed at facilitating interdisciplinary collaboration and interaction between students from Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics majors through the university’s Learning Management System (Moodle), which provided the shared space for the OCL discourse and tools for collaboration. A total of nine groups of four to six students (N=46) were involved in this study. In order to evaluate the OCL intervention using a holistic view, an interpretive approach that included the collection of quantitative and qualitative data was adopted to frame the collection and analysis of the data. Quantitative data were obtained from online questionnaires, together with online data based on the frequency of students’ posts in participative, interactive, social, and cognitive dimensions. Qualitative data were gathered via interviews with students (group and post-course interviews) and lecturers, and online transcripts that included online postings and students’ online journal entries. These data were collected and analysed in order to triangulate the findings and to help the researcher assess the extent to which the intervention was successful in enhancing students’ learning.
The findings from the study revealed the nature of students’ interactions in OCL correspond with particular socio-cultural views that students’ interactions are characterised based on the participative, interactive, social and cognitive dimensions in support of the students’ cognitive, social and emotional development. From a socio-cultural perspective, the outcomes that arose from the study included:
•	The socio-cultural learning constructs have been useful as a framework for the analysis of the OCL intervention based on the participative, interactive, social and cognitive dimensions.
•	The affordances of the OCL group work helped the students’ in their group work.
•	The constraints of OCL influence the communication methods, and interaction styles used by students in achieving task goals through group work in the OCL intervention.
The findings also show students’ interactions and student group interactions were an important part of the learning process. The implementation of OCL intervention into the course can lead to the facilitation of the student group learning process as well as supporting their cognitive, social and emotional development, and potential constraints from the technology (e.g. Internet connection) or the lack of social and verbal cues (e.g. facial expression) can lead to different working methods of communication for achieving task goals and different styles of interactions. Overall, the findings of the study indicate the value of OCL in a tertiary classroom to enhance learning.

text: Online collaborative learning in tertiary ICT education to enhance students' learning in Malaysia This study investigated the nature of students’, and student group, interactions through the incorporation of an online collaborative learning (OCL) initiative, with its aim to enhance students’ learning in a Malaysian tertiary classroom. In order to contribute to knowledge and understanding about the nature and quality of OCL, the learning processes and outcomes were drawn predominantly from Harasim’s model, with inclusion of a socio-cultural framework aimed at enhancing learning outcomes for undergraduate science and ICT education students. Harasim’s model of OCL that was used in the intervention includes steps to setting up the stage and a system for Idea Generating (IG), modeling and guiding the OCL discussions for Idea Organizing (IO), and evaluating and reflecting the OCL discussions for Intellectual Convergence (IC). The interactions in OCL were analysed through four dimensions: participative, interactive, social, and cognitive in support of the students’ cognitive, social and emotional development.
The OCL intervention in this study was conducted through an ICT education course in a Malaysian university that required OCL discussions for 13 weeks: the first four weeks were intra-group work discussions (Task 1), followed by four/five weeks of inter-group work discussions (Task 2), and the remaining four weeks were for the final intra-group work discussions (Task 3). The OCL intervention was aimed at facilitating interdisciplinary collaboration and interaction between students from Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics majors through the university’s Learning Management System (Moodle), which provided the shared space for the OCL discourse and tools for collaboration. A total of nine groups of four to six students (N=46) were involved in this study. In order to evaluate the OCL intervention using a holistic view, an interpretive approach that included the collection of quantitative and qualitative data was adopted to frame the collection and analysis of the data. Quantitative data were obtained from online questionnaires, together with online data based on the frequency of students’ posts in participative, interactive, social, and cognitive dimensions. Qualitative data were gathered via interviews with students (group and post-course interviews) and lecturers, and online transcripts that included online postings and students’ online journal entries. These data were collected and analysed in order to triangulate the findings and to help the researcher assess the extent to which the intervention was successful in enhancing students’ learning.
The findings from the study revealed the nature of students’ interactions in OCL correspond with particular socio-cultural views that students’ interactions are characterised based on the participative, interactive, social and cognitive dimensions in support of the students’ cognitive, social and emotional development. From a socio-cultural perspective, the outcomes that arose from the study included:
•	The socio-cultural learning constructs have been useful as a framework for the analysis of the OCL intervention based on the participative, interactive, social and cognitive dimensions.
•	The affordances of the OCL group work helped the students’ in their group work.
•	The constraints of OCL influence the communication methods, and interaction styles used by students in achieving task goals through group work in the OCL intervention.
The findings also show students’ interactions and student group interactions were an important part of the learning process. The implementation of OCL intervention into the course can lead to the facilitation of the student group learning process as well as supporting their cognitive, social and emotional development, and potential constraints from the technology (e.g. Internet connection) or the lack of social and verbal cues (e.g. facial expression) can lead to different working methods of communication for achieving task goals and different styles of interactions. Overall, the findings of the study indicate the value of OCL in a tertiary classroom to enhance learning.

year: 2013

title: My private wolf and other stories

authors: Buchanan,  Connie

abstract: My Private Wolf and other stories is a collection of 18 short stories, each touching on unexpected moments of kindness or compassion. Beginning with two young girls as they imagine the likely crimes of prisoners passing by their trampoline, the collection moves in unsentimental prose through towns and cities in Aotearoa, observing people as they step outside their own concerns and pay attention to one another. 

A small-minded tradesman accommodates a neighbour’s request. A school boy apologises for causing accidental humiliation. An artist protects his family history from becoming easy anecdote. What prompts these considered responses? A cat manslaughter, a misheard song lyric, a painting that starts off as Jesus but turns into a hamburger. 

In lives marked by striving, difficulty and failure, we see parents doing their best, strangers trying to help, children recognising vulnerability in others, spouses capable of forgiveness, and colleagues willing to intervene. 

The stories are not morality tales; an act of compassion doesn’t necessarily transform, a moment of assistance doesn’t ward off disaster. In Horses, one child’s care for another creates a resting place as larger events unfold. In Traffic, a housecleaner’s actions provide a brief breather within a spiral of despair. In other stories, it is an act of cruelty or the desire for revenge which precipitates connection and understanding. 

Along the way, questions arise. What happens when an attempt to be nice is rejected? When does kindness mask interference? To what extent do we deceive ourselves about our motivations? Is it only human beings who can give and receive empathy? 

Through the lives of a range of men, women and children, I hope to create a subtle exploration of our efforts to look out for one another.

text: My private wolf and other stories My Private Wolf and other stories is a collection of 18 short stories, each touching on unexpected moments of kindness or compassion. Beginning with two young girls as they imagine the likely crimes of prisoners passing by their trampoline, the collection moves in unsentimental prose through towns and cities in Aotearoa, observing people as they step outside their own concerns and pay attention to one another. 

A small-minded tradesman accommodates a neighbour’s request. A school boy apologises for causing accidental humiliation. An artist protects his family history from becoming easy anecdote. What prompts these considered responses? A cat manslaughter, a misheard song lyric, a painting that starts off as Jesus but turns into a hamburger. 

In lives marked by striving, difficulty and failure, we see parents doing their best, strangers trying to help, children recognising vulnerability in others, spouses capable of forgiveness, and colleagues willing to intervene. 

The stories are not morality tales; an act of compassion doesn’t necessarily transform, a moment of assistance doesn’t ward off disaster. In Horses, one child’s care for another creates a resting place as larger events unfold. In Traffic, a housecleaner’s actions provide a brief breather within a spiral of despair. In other stories, it is an act of cruelty or the desire for revenge which precipitates connection and understanding. 

Along the way, questions arise. What happens when an attempt to be nice is rejected? When does kindness mask interference? To what extent do we deceive ourselves about our motivations? Is it only human beings who can give and receive empathy? 

Through the lives of a range of men, women and children, I hope to create a subtle exploration of our efforts to look out for one another.

year: 2024

title: Mā ngā huruhuru ka rere te manu: Understanding leadership for critical educational reform in Aotearoa New Zealand

authors: Anderson, Zac Kylie Elizabeth

subjects: educational leadership

abstract: The research project presented in this thesis explores the leadership journeys of four first-time principals engaging in Kia Eke Panuku, a professional development initiative in English-medium secondary schools in Aotearoa New Zealand.  It seeks to understand the role these first-time principals play in insitutionalising to depth, educational reform to enable Māori students to pursue their potential as Māori under the Ka Hikitia imperative.  This thesis investigates the type of leadership required to achieve educational reform for Māori learners in Aotearoa, embedded in the inherent promise of the Treaty of Waitangi.
  
This thesis contends these principals contribute to educational reform by bringing criticality to their leadership and embracing an ongoing and iterative process of conscientisation and resistance, leading to transformative praxis.  These principals recognised their role as educators leading pedagogical change in their schools, as well as leading others within their sphere of influence to ultimately change the fabric of society in Aotearoa.  They both learned and led alongside each other, displaying an openness to embracing multiple worldviews with a deeply held moral imperative to eradicate oppression of Māori students.  Such a stance actively creates bicultural spaces within schools, where both Treaty partners can benefit from the principles of the Treaty promises.

text: Mā ngā huruhuru ka rere te manu: Understanding leadership for critical educational reform in Aotearoa New Zealand The research project presented in this thesis explores the leadership journeys of four first-time principals engaging in Kia Eke Panuku, a professional development initiative in English-medium secondary schools in Aotearoa New Zealand.  It seeks to understand the role these first-time principals play in insitutionalising to depth, educational reform to enable Māori students to pursue their potential as Māori under the Ka Hikitia imperative.  This thesis investigates the type of leadership required to achieve educational reform for Māori learners in Aotearoa, embedded in the inherent promise of the Treaty of Waitangi.
  
This thesis contends these principals contribute to educational reform by bringing criticality to their leadership and embracing an ongoing and iterative process of conscientisation and resistance, leading to transformative praxis.  These principals recognised their role as educators leading pedagogical change in their schools, as well as leading others within their sphere of influence to ultimately change the fabric of society in Aotearoa.  They both learned and led alongside each other, displaying an openness to embracing multiple worldviews with a deeply held moral imperative to eradicate oppression of Māori students.  Such a stance actively creates bicultural spaces within schools, where both Treaty partners can benefit from the principles of the Treaty promises.

year: 2018