Access Type

Open Access Dissertation

Date of Award

January 2016

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Department

Instructional Technology

First Advisor

MONICA M. TRACEY

Abstract

ABSTRACT

A DESIGN-BASED RESEARCH STUDY EXAMINING THE IMPACT OF COLLABORATION TECHNOLOGY TOOLS IN MEDIATING COLLABORATION

by

KECIA J. WADDELL

December 2015

Advisor: Dr. Monica W. Tracey

Major: Instructional Technology

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

Interactive collaboration technologies have expanded users' capabilities to collaborate and have driven pedagogical paradigm shifts toward more learner-centered and interactive teaching and learning. Online learners may be not sufficiently prepared for the level of collaboration fluency expected by a globally competitive digital distributed knowledge economy. This is largely due in part by how collaboration technologies is used towards impacting learning goals and outcomes in practice by online learners themselves or by deliberate instructional design of the online environment. The purpose of this design-based research study was three-fold: (1) examine collaboration by exploring the perceptions of adult online learners regarding collaboration technology use and of a series instructional intervention videos that supported tool use; (2) track the iterative design, development, implementation, and evaluation of instructional screencasts designed to demonstrate and support the use of dynamic text editor functions and multimedia features for authentic collaboration learning tasks and learner-driven discussion board communication in two online discussion forum platforms: Blackboard Learn (BB) and Google Groups (GG); and (3) determine the impact of the instructional intervention on our educational problem identified as a behavior: organic learner-driven online discussion board collaboration. Participants were purposive sample of online learners enrolled in five graduate-level instructional technology online courses. Quantitative survey and qualitative reflective journal data was gathered in a three phased feedback loop. Findings indicated that collaboration is first a mindset supported not only by collaboration technology tools or learner technological self-efficacy, but by deliberate instructional design mediated by the cultural environment and the social context of the activity system.

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