The Collaborative Turn

"Pulling back the curtain on the collaborative process, Walter Gershon’s stunning new collection highlights the complex, multi-dimensional nature of qualitative research today. The Collaborative Turn: Working Together in Qualitative Research powerfully deepens and richens ongoing discussions around collaborative inquiry so central today. Drawing together a wide range of senior and emergent scholars, as well as a span of traditional and experimental approaches, this cutting-edge text is ideal for both new and seasoned scholars alike." -- Greg Dimitriadis, Professor, University at Buffalo, SUNY

Technology has dramatically changed the way in which knowledge is shared within and outside of traditional classroom settings. The application of fuzzy logic to new forms of technology-centered education has presented new opportunities for analyzing and modeling learner behavior. Fuzzy Logic-Based Modeling in Collaborative and Blended Learning explores the application of the fuzzy set theory to educational settings in order to analyze the learning process, gauge student feedback, and enable quality learning outcomes. Focusing on educational data analysis and modeling in collaborative and blended learning environments, this publication is an essential reference source for educators, researchers, educational administrators and designers, and IT specialists. This premier reference monograph presents key research on educational data analysis and modeling through the integration of research on advanced modeling techniques, educational technologies, fuzzy concept maps, hybrid modeling, neuro-fuzzy learning management systems, and quality of interaction.

A proven approach to transformative professional learning that raises achievement for all students! Trusted educators Colton, Langer, and Goff are pioneers of an extraordinarily effective approach to professional learning: Collaborative Analysis of Student Learning (CASL). This evidence-based book is fully updated to address the Common Core State Standards. Learn how to: Design a sustainable CASL program based on two decades of nationwide implementation experience Inquire into student work and assessments to promote learning excellence Use the CASL Teacher as Collaborative Inquirer framework to promote culturally competent, rigorous teaching Develop and implement new instructional strategies that mesh with Common Core standards

Collaborative research embraces a multiplicity of practices in which social actors are invited to participate in the research process as co-producers of knowledge. But what is actually meant by “co-production” in collaborative research? Knowledge and Power in Collaborative Research presents a range of critical, reflexive strategies for understanding and tackling the challenges emanating from the tensions that arise in the meeting between different participants, knowledge forms and knowledge interests. The chapters anchor discussion of ethical, epistemological and methodological questions in sustained empirical analyses of cases of collaborative knowledge production. The book covers diverse theoretical approaches such as dialogic communication theory, actor network theory, poststructuralist writing as inquiry, institutional ethnography, dialogic action research, and pragmatic action research. The empirical cases span a broad spectrum of empirical fields of social practice: health services, organisational change, research, science communication, environmental communication in intermediary NGOs, participatory governance in relation to urban planning, and digital communication and virtual worlds.

In thirteen chapters, the contributors to this volume analyse the different dimensions of a new form of collaboration, termed collective co-production, in the Scandinavian countries. It is a characteristic of the Scandinavian countries – Sweden, Norway and Denmark - that they have both a large public and voluntary sector. For decades, the dominant type of collaboration between the two sectors has consisted of the public sector providing financial support to organisations in the voluntary sector, while the activities are undertaken by the organisation itself. In recent times, however, a new discourse has emerged, with a strong political focus on developing closer collaboration between the two sectors. The book analyses collective co-production between the voluntary and public sectors, and identifies what distinguishes this form of collaboration from others. It looks at the scope of collective co-production, how and why it differs between welfare areas, as well as the political vision for co-production and the extent to which it lives up to those expectations. This discourse promotes a type of collaboration wherein organisations, associations and volunteers can participate in the implementation of tasks for which public institutions are responsible. The book is a valuable resource for professionals in voluntary organizations and public welfare units working with co-production and for researchers and students in the fields of civil society, voluntary sector and welfare policy.

Originally published in 1994. Until this book was published, the application of computers to educational practice has received little input from psychological theory. Computers and the Collaborative Experience of Learning locates this topic within the contemporary movement of socio-cultural theory, drawing on the writing of Vygotsky and others. Charles Crook reviews psychological approaches to cognition and learning, in so far as they implicitly direct strategy in respect of computer-based learning. He also takes a novel stance in considering how new technology can enhance rather than undermine the social experience of learning and instruction, and can allow teachers to achieve more in the classroom. He argues that computers can provide the conditions for effective collaboration and enhance the social dimension of education. With its unique blend of theory and practice, from the primary school to university settings, Computers and the Collaborative Experience of Learning will be of interest to educational psychologists, as well as psychologists studying group processes, cognition and development.

In recent years research into creative labour and cultural work has usually addressed the politics of production in these fields, but the sociotechnical and aesthetic dimensions of collaborative creative work have been somewhat overlooked. This book aims to address this gap. Through case studies that range from TV showrunning to independent publishing, from the film industry to social media platforms such as Tumblr and Wattpad, this collection develops a critical understanding of the integral role collaboration plays in contemporary media and culture. It draws attention to diverse kinds of creative collaboration afforded via the intermediation of digital platforms and networked publics. It considers how these are incorporated into emergent market paradigms and investigates the complicated forms of subjectivity that develop as a consequence. But it also acknowledges historical continuities, not least in terms of the continued exploitation of ‘support personnel’ and of resulting artistic conflicts but also of alternative models that resist the precarious nature of contemporary cultural work. Finally, this volume attempts to situate creative collaboration in broader social and economic contexts, where the experience and outcomes of such work have proved more problematic than the rich potential of their promise would lead us to expect.

Although research in collaborative learning has a fairly long history, dating back at least to the early work of Piaget and Vygotsky, it is only recently that workers have begun to apply some of its findings to the design of computer based learning systems. The early generation of the!le systems focused on their potential for supporting individual learning: learning could be self paced; teaching could be adapted to individual learners' needs. This was certainly the promise of the later generation of intelligent tutoring systems. However, this promise has yet to be realised. Not only are there still some very difficult research problems to solve in providing adaptive learning systems, but there are also some very real practical constraints on the widespread take up of individualised computer based instruction. Reseachers soon began to realise that the organisational, cultural and social contexts of the classroom have to be taken into account in designing systems to promote effective learning. Much of the work that goes on in classrooms is collaborative, whether by design or not. Teachers also need to be able to adapt the technology to their varying needs. Developments in technology, such as networking, have also contributed to changes in the way in which computers may be envisaged to support learning. In September 1989, a group of researchers met in Maratea, Italy, for a NATO-sponsored workshop on "Computer supported collaborative . learning". A total of 20 researchers from Europe (Belgium.