Supporting collaborative arts based learning using Google+ Communities (348)

Steph Comley, Amy Sampson
Falmouth University, GB

Increasingly we are enabling student led learning, collaboration and peer review using digital technologies. Providing the technical and pedagogical support to facilitate these collaborative learning experiences is key to successful active social learning. The introduction of Google+ Communities in 2012 offers an opportunity for students from different institutions to interact, share content, peer review and collaborate. Students are able to take ownership of the space with the possibility of assigning student moderators, shaping the page to their needs, defining the community and setting out best use guidelines.

Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) has been found to be ‘capable of facilitating creative discourse’ (Ma, 2008) however we have found the adoption of using technology in the creative arts to facilitate collaborative learning to be hesitant, which is unfortunate given the benefits CSCL can provide. With regards to the specific use of social media Dabbagh & Kitsantas (2012) found that many universities ‘do not capitalize on the pedagogical affordances of social media for example allowing learners to manage and maintain a learning space that facilitates their own learning activities and connections to peers'.

Whilst potentially useful for all subject areas, the focus of this presentation is to demonstrate how using Google+ Communities can enhance collaborative learning within the Creative Arts. Through hangouts, multi-media uploads, SoundCloud integration, online events and a well used moderated community, students are able to peer review and co-produce performances, work in progress and created artifacts.

This session will be of interest to anyone wanting to facilitate student led collaboration and peer review using social media platforms. The presentation provides examples of how Google+ Communities can enable this between students within one institution to those internationally, highlighting the importance of ensuring learning outcomes and sound pedagogic design drive the digital technologies selected. We suggest justification for these choices should be clear and outlined from the start, providing students with transparency and an understanding of why they are being asked to use a particular tool or social media platform. Issues regarding privacy and intellectual property are addressed, with suggestions for managing these concerns. We will also explore potential pitfalls that may occur when using social collaborative communities and the impact these may have on students, with suggestions for prevention and management.

By encouraging students to form communities and connections with peers, whether temporary, over a short project or present throughout a learner’s course and beyond, we are contributing towards a new culture of learning that is developing as a result of our networked society.

Ma, W. W. A. (2008). Computer supported collaborative learning and social creativity: A case study of fashion design. Journal of Information, Information Technology, and Organizations. 3, pp.17-40. Retrieved 23 May 2012, from HKIEd Research Repository

Dabbagh, N. & Kitsantas, A. (2012). Personal Learning Environments, social media, and self-regulated learning: A natural formula for connecting formal and informal learning. The internet and higher education. 15(1), pp. 3-8. Retrieved 18 February 2012 from ScienceDirect database.

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