Collaborative research

What is it?

Students use, gather and present information about a topic collaboratively by either bringing together individual findings on different aspects, or from different types of information sources. It is ideal for tasks that involve all students working on a single project, for example, a case study. The use of a central location or website means that everyone is sharing the same space and can view each other’s contributions.

Wikis, blogs or shared-online documents are useful for storing research notes and web links. A wiki will allow truly collaborative research. Most wiki software also allows communication between the members, often via a discussion forum, so that comments can be made about findings and suggestions for further directions of research.

Social bookmarking is another useful way for students to share websites and with tagging URLs can be organised by topics or themes etc. RSS feeds can be used to keep track of web links being stored in a social bookmarking service. For example a link roll can be inserted into a blog or wiki to centrally track various-students’ sites.

Students in breakout rooms in a virtual conference can meet to complete joint research projects.

Pros and cons

Allows a wide body of research to be undertaken in a short timeframe, because of the multitasking of several class members. Each member can look at different sources.
Some students need encouragement to do research. By seeing others’ contributions they can be inspired to contribute.
Some students may feel uncomfortable with the fact that their ideas may be changed by someone else.
It will be necessary to establish some rules or protocols, to maintain order within the space, although these are often self-correcting.
There may be issues for students with literacy difficulties if they are expected to share their written work with others in the group, although the collaborative nature of this work could also boost a student’s confidence.

Fit for purpose?

Great for aggregating resources and links, and brainstorming with content and ideas.
Ideally used where a body of research needs to be generated by a group of people, or in a relatively short space of time.
Can also work in a face-to-face situation if computers available thereby extending the session beyond the classroom after class.
Serves as a ‘hub’ for content drawn from all members of the class.
Teacher needs to ‘moderate’ space.
Students need to be made aware of behaviour expectations, for example, to be aware that everyone’s opinion is valid, and to be respectful of these.
Tasks to be achieved and the purpose of the research needs to be clearly defined.

Find out more

For more ideas of how this strategy can work in practice, go to the following case studies:

Social bookmarking – Resource sharing with social bookmarking, Robin Petterd
Social bookmarking – Sharing and making resources with social bookmarking, Peter Shanks
Social bookmarking – Empowering learners with social bookmarking, Anne Bartlett-Bragg
Virtual conferencing – Group work with virtual conferencing, Anne Vreugdenburg
Wikis – Sharing and co-authoring with wikis, David Bartolo