A Model for Effectual Collaborative Learning

The availability and popularity of advanced communication tools has led to widespread use of social media, web, and virtual communities among students. There is significant increase in expectations of students in entire process of learning driven by innovations in ICT. The changing face of ICT has brought about the fulfillment of knowledge communities and made an important impact on forms of Collaborative Learning. This paper presents a model for effective collaborative learning driven by innovative use of ICT and group collaboration. The model consists of major five steps: Formation of groups, Classroom activities for the group, Activities on social media, Weekly Activities, Group presentation. The study was conducted over a period of three months for Computer Networks class and the results show thorough preparation of subject and continuous monitoring of groups has resulted in better class participation, greater academic achievement and excellent student satisfaction. Successful groups were able to identify the skills they acquired -technical, behavioral and interpersonal skills which will help them to survive in a professional working environment. Not all groups derived benefits from the collaborative leaning environment. Issues related to individual motivation, openness to feedback and lack of generic skills led to their poor performance. The results of this study suggest that, the challenges in implementation of collaborative learning can be met by effective use of proposed guidelines in the model. This paper recommends further trials of model for different subjects and courses