Theories of Cognition in Web-based Collaborative Learning System

Cognitive Theories and Approaches to Web-based Collaborative Learning

Web-based collaborative learning can be used effectively to encourage individual participation in education and facilitate student learning performance, build in many opportunities for discussion and consensus and enhance the competence of creativity.

Web-based collaborative learning is applicable to all grade levels and class sizes.

Distance learning, informal learning, and lifelong learning are the three main areas of using a web-based collaborative learning approach.

Theories of cognition in the web-based collaborative learning system

Cognitive Theories and Approaches to Web-based Collaborative Learning

Web-Based Collaborative Learning 

Web-based collaborative learning is a modern method of education that deviates in its style from the traditional methods; it uses the method of engaging students on the web for the discussion. 

Students join a particular group in a friendly way and each student presents his ideas and views to everyone so that each one can benefit from the other in thinking and reaching solutions.

Web-based collaborative learning differs in the context of the structure, nature, and activities of the learning environment, due to which there has been a tendency towards learning about the principles of knowledge-building and organization like structural, cognitive and behavioral theory. 

We find that there is a lack of entrance and academic design in each of these areas, and therefore, in order to design programs based on the web, learning strategies in the light of educational principles should be learned.

Benefits of Web-Based Collaborative Learning 

 Web-based collaborative learning method relieves students from the fear of studying and fears the traditional teaching method. This method is unique to the teacher in thinking and students can easily:

• Exchange ideas among other students and learn all the perspectives that lead to discovering new and important solutions and results.
• Enhance the spirit of cooperation among individuals, and create a fun atmosphere that gives the student comfort.
• Give each student a chance to ask his friends and use them instead of the teacher when he needs them.

The method of collaborative learning is also used in many areas not only teaching, and it is also one of the most important methods in collective psychotherapy, generally, in offline mode. But now collaborative learning has also become very popular in online mode.  

Patients read articles and hear each other where web-user presents a solution to the problem of the other.

Conditions of Collaborative Learning

1. The group should consist of 100 or 500 members at most, but not more than that, so as not to affect the group's concentration and dispersion.

2. Not all students rely on each other. This method is based on collaboration and teamwork.

3. The teacher should be a reference for students all the time to ask him what they do not know.

4. Those students discuss each other and that everyone in the group takes the opinion of the other person without being neutral from the group, or that each individual considers himself independent of the other.

5. Discipline and non-exploitation of the time given to the group are very important, each student should follow the discussion criteria and not speak out in vain and never comment useless.

Theories of Cognition in Web-based Collaborative Learning System

The importance of adopting a particular educational principle increases with regard to the design of courses and lessons on the web or the Internet.

These principles include:

Cognitive Theory:

The process of learning includes the use of memory, motivation, and thinking. This plays an important role in the learning of the individual. Therefore, the learner tends to focus on his education and interest in active participation.

Learning is an internal process that takes place in memory and is based on understanding, and relationships within the overall holistic view of the elements of the situation.

Learning based on the ideas of this theory is determined by the size of the learner's processes and his construction of new processes, where the learner uses different types of memory during learning.

Learning here is closer to the practical hypotheses in which thinking and the realization of the mind appear.

Meaning, the learner's understanding of the meaning is one of the most important factors that guide the choice of hypothesis, as well as the individual differences of learning styles and their different methods

This principle should be implemented in the communications technology environment and web-based e-learning partners:

• The learner's strategies allow the learner to understand and manipulate information. The learner uses his sensory systems to load information in the form of sensations, so the design of the screen components (text size, color, pictures, drawings, etc.) must be considered.
• Learn the purpose of the lesson so that the learner can process information around the world.
• Encourage the learner to use the skills of knowledge to help him in learning, because of the positive results in remembering and learning.
• Organize information in conceptual maps to prevent overload during information processing.

The effect of overlap is intended to overlap previous learning with new learning

Constructivism Theory:

This theory is based on the fact that knowledge is a structure and a mental structure. These structures are internally organized and interconnected.

Cognitive development is an experiential knowledge structure based on the learner who constructs his learning and interpreting it in the light of his experience.

Knowledge is built on experience, and learning is a personal interpretation of the world. It is an active process in which meanings are built on experiences, cooperation, and sharing, for changes in internal cognitive representations through cooperative and participatory learning.

This theory believes in the need for educational activities that provide the learner with the possibilities to discover learning.

The learning includes three processes:

• The process of acquiring new information
• A knowledge conversion process so that knowledge is useful and meaningful to the learner.
• A process of evaluation in order to determine what new information has been transformed to suit the task of the learner.

The assumptions of this theory can be determined in the following points:

Knowledge-building is an experience: In the sense that education is a constructional process in which the learner himself constructs an internal representation of information using his previous experience.

The learner makes a personal interpretation: Each learner has its own interpretation, and in constructive learning, not more than one person shares in one interpretation in the same way as the reality that surrounds them.

Participatory Learning: In the sense that this type of learning discusses the meaning presented through more than one point of view and conceptual growth comes through the involvement of position or concept in response to views and ideas.

Learning takes place through real situations: learning should be done by putting the learner into real learning situations that are prepared and processed so that they are based on strong evidence that reflects the learners' sense of the real world.

Social Cognitive Theory:

Social cognitive theory emphasizes that the process of learning is a constructional process to create the new knowledge structure and new processes and that the learner builds his own knowledge of social interactions through direct interaction between learners while interacting with situational learning events, some of which are termed as situational learning, that is, social plans of origin.

Educational experiences should be presented in the form of realistic social attitudes through real-world contexts or transformed into hypothetical positions through web-based learning technology.

When applying this theory to a collaborative web-based communication technology environment, it must be done:

• Build knowledge rather than teach it to the learner
• Build a learning environment in a sequential and meaningful way
• Emphasis on cooperative and participatory action
• Ensure that activities are continuously modified
• Provide experiences in the form of real positions
• Exchange information and answer questions based on the method of knowledge in processing information
• Give the learner the opportunity to make decisions in learning goals.

Web-based collaborative learning Methods and strategies

Web-based collaborative learning can be used effectively to encourage individual participation in education and facilitate student learning performance, build in multiple opportunities for discussion and consensus and enhance the capacity for creativity.

Web-based collaborative learning is applicable to all grade levels and class sizes.

• The teacher shall specify the members of the group of up to 500 individuals.
• Give each member of the group a number known to him.
• Each group is called a given name or given a title to know it.
• Each group is given a topic to discuss and discuss all the members of the group to ask them some questions after they have deviated from the discussion and put ideas among them.
• The teacher identifies an individual in the group who represents and speaks on her behalf, but sometimes the teacher prefers to speak to all individuals and engage in conversation and discussion to ensure that all individuals understand the subject.
•  After completing the discussion with all members of the group, the teacher asks a code of the questions that were asked them with their answers.
• The teacher should determine how successful he is to achieve the desired goals of group formation to implement cooperative learning.

Conclusion

The method of Web-based collaborative learning is one of the most successful methods at all, especially in the materials that need a lot of discussion and communication between teacher and students, this method facilitated discussion among them without causing chaos and wasting time.