Network Collaborative Learning means to work and learn with/from other people. It is a massive opportunity to amplify our perspectives of a goal, through different points of view (each person), and in this way, achieving better solutions/results.
To have a successful networked learning two actions are necessary: collaboration and cooperation.
I must confess that I used to think they were synonymous. And if you, my dearest reader, also think like me, know that we are both wrong.
According to Cambridge dictionary, cooperation is work together with other people. Collaboration is work together with other people for a special purpose. I know, they seem similar, but they are not the same. What make them unlike is the “special purpose”; in other words, everybody is working together with the same goal and willing to work together. Collaboration means discuss, change thoughts, understand, agree, disagree, compromise and in the end, achieve an aim in cooperation. John Spencer published a very clear short video about collaboration and cooperation definitions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gr5mAboH1Kk
Another interesting approach about collaboration x cooperation is from a Huffpost site, where collaboration is defined as synchronous share of activity, and cooperation is a division of tasks among individuals.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/collaboration-vs-cooperat_b_10324418
Based in these late definitions, let’s dig into Topic 3. During this topic, my PBL group took very seriously the network collaborative aspect of the task. We decided to do an infographic about the subject using Canva as our tool. We were able to have nice discussion about the theme and developed the whole document during our meetings, together. The outcome was very interesting. Also, the feeling of mission accomplished successfully, since we are talking about group efforts.
At the same time, during my classes, my students received an assignment to work collaboratively. They were split in 4 groups and had to discuss about the same theme, but in different areas of knowledge. So, the first thing they should have done was talk to each other and decide how to develop the subject, and then, each group would be able to do their part. They struggled to initiate the work, because they had difficulty to talk to each other.
At this point, aware of the collaborative and cooperative definitions, I compared what my PBL group and my students have done and visualize the concept of collaboration in the first one, and cooperation in the last one. Thinking about that, I guess we have been taught that work in groups is split the task in as many parts as necessary according to the number of people, then everyone execute their part, and in the end, put the “Frankenstein” together.
This led me to trace a parallel with the article Are Online Learners Frustrated with Collaborative Learning Experiences? From Capdeferro and Romero (2012)*. Here, the authors highlighted the frustration of online learners in collaborative methods, despite its pedagogical advances. So, I wonder if, although in a face to face mode, the asymmetric collaboration, level of commitment and perceived lack of the same goals (even though theoretically, once they have the same aim) are main obstacles to cooperate instead of collaborating. And most important, how to overcome these. But, for this, I have to reflect deeper in the matter…
Summarizing, I think we need to learn how to find the marshmallow in our day by day challenges. No dear reader, I am not delusional. The marshmallow challenge consists in build the tallest structure made of spaghetti, tape and line with a marshmallow on the top (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BExiT0JFGg). The main goal is not put the marshmallow on top, but see how a group can work together. In this challenge, a group of kindergartens had better marks than a group of CEOs. This is because kids do things and do it together. Becomes clear how collaboration and action contribute to accomplish a common objective.
So, let’s talk, let’s change experiences, let’s find our common marshmallow and then, let’s collaborate!
See you in the next post!
* Capdeferro, N. & Romero, M. (2012). Are online learners frustrated with collaborative learning experiences?. The International review of research in open and distance learning, 13(2), 26-44.
Learning to Learn with Technology 
Thank you for an interesting post! I agree that getting students to collaborate (and not just to cooperate) is challenging. As it seems that much of the frustration is perhaps caused by different expectations (for example over-achievers vs. those who just want to pass), I wonder what would happen if we divided students into groups based on their expectations? Would there be less frustration and would some of the groups collaborate and others cooperate?
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Hi Susan! Thanks for reading! Probably we should have less frustration, but I am not sure if we could separate them based on their expectations… at least in obligatory subjects, once they don’t have option about attend or not the classes. Or, if an approach like that could be misinterpreted. Maybe the best approach still is, in someway that I don’t know, convince the students about the gains of collaboration.
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Hi Suzana,
You describe Network Collaborative Learning as a very powerful tool, and say that both collaboration and cooperation has to be in place and very clearly describe the difference between the two. You also describe the group work, in your group, as effective collaboration. You also have experimented with cooperation with your students, and reflect on what could affect the differences. You also describe that children could be better at collaborating than CEO’s. But what implications does this have? What do we learn in school and life and what do we need to learn? And what are the benefits?… 😉
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Hi Lotta! I think we don’t learn how to be collaborative in school and in life. Actually, most of times is quite the opposite! kkk If we have learned the real concept and how to do it, probably we could done better in many tasks, and getting better results.
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