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Using technology to enhance collaborative learning

Teresa A. Wasonga (Department of Leadership, Educational Psychology, and Foundations, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois, USA)

International Journal of Educational Management

ISSN: 0951-354X

Article publication date: 25 September 2007

1645

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this research project is to explore the use of technology in enhancing and creating opportunities for collaborative learning by connecting prospective school leaders and practicing principals from multiple settings.

Design/methodology/approach

This was a research project in which an internet‐based network system was created in “LiveText” (software) for cross‐collaborative learning among intern prospective school leaders, practicing school administrators from different school settings and university faculty. Data were gathered through focus group discussions, surveys, reflections and the interns' portfolios.

Findings

Responses from participants indicated that the technology used in this project: created a forum for prospective school leaders to network and be involved in experiences spanning multiple settings and multiple mentors; enabled the participants to better understand issues of urban/inner‐city, suburban, rural, elementary, middle, and high schools; created opportunities for interns to assess their own knowledge, skills, and dispositions based on Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) standards; and enabled the development of web‐based electronic portfolios through “LiveText.”

Originality/value

The project demonstrated how technology can be used as a programmatic tool to enhance collaborative learning by: first, countering logistical and structural challenges of organizing multiple setting leadership experiences for aspiring school leaders; and second, dismantling barriers that separate prospective school leaders from diverse practicing school leaders and schools and, thereby, building both strong and weak ties.

Keywords

Citation

Wasonga, T.A. (2007), "Using technology to enhance collaborative learning", International Journal of Educational Management, Vol. 21 No. 7, pp. 585-592. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513540710822184

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2007, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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