1) Background and Goals

Many CSCL researchers in Asian countries have focused on school-based design research. While Asian countries tend to have more centralized educational school systems than countries from the West, the closer alignment of educational policy with education research and educational reforms have provided exciting opportunities for CSCL research to have an impact on practice. Researchers in regions and countries like Hong Kong and Singapore have embarked on various CSCL research initiatives (such as Knowledge Building) by working closely with teachers. In this interactive event, we invite teachers, practitioners and researchers to share their perspectives –examining innovative CSCL practices in schools and other educational settings for advancing our collective understanding.

2) Questions and Discussion Topics

Why consider CSCL practices in schools? How would school practices contribute to design and theory of CSCL?

How does CSCL work in Asian schools with so much focus on individual academic performance as well as competition? What are the relations among culture, technology and collaboration in CSCL?

How does design-based research contribute to designing and analysing CSCL practices in schools?

What are issues relating to implementing CSCL innovations in schools, and sustaining and scaling up CSCL practices?

What are the possibilities and future directions for examining CSCL practices in schools?

3) Format

The interactive event will be conducted using an interactive poster symposium format to enable maximal sharing and close interactions.

1. The interactive event will start with a general discussion of the broad challenges of educational research impacting school practice in the Asian context, followed by a discussion of research impacting CSCL practices from a learning sciences design and theoretical perspective (by interactive event co-chairs Carol Chan & Chee-Kit Looi ).
2. The main event of the interactive event is the Interactive Poster presentations. Each team of presenters will set up a station showing their Powerpoints, classroom videos, CSCL data ( e.g., discourses of KF postings), etc. Each team/presenter will first present their work in 3 minutes during the firehose session, followed by the audience visiting the stations for maximum interaction with presenters.
3. After the poster session, there will be an open forum when presenters will summarize the key questions and major themes emerging from interaction with audience. Their responses will form the basis for further inquiry and discourse.
4. The interactive event will conclude with a panel of invited guests who will provide a commentary of CSCL research impacting practices in their countries and/or from international perspectives. Panel members will provide a sense of future directions for CSCL research and practice in Asian countries. The panel will include researchers as well as practitioners/teachers experienced in CSCL practice to provide diverse perspectives.

4) Presenters and Participants

Presenters will include possibly teachers from Hong Kong and Singapore sharing their experiences of experimenting or adopting CSCL practices in their classes; educational administrators/policy-makers presenting their perspectives of educational policies concerning CSCL; researchers discussing design research and presenting their analyses of CSCL data collected in schools using CSCL tools.

We expect this interactive event will be of interest to CSCL researchers concerned with how CSCL can make educational impact and particularly for those working with or in schools. This event will also attract teachers and educators involved in CSCL practice. Graduate students will also find this interactive event to be of value to help them understand the scholarly and educational contribution of CSCL to real practices.

Further queries on this interactive event can be directed to: Carol Chan at ckkchan@hku.hk or Chee-Kit Looi at cheekit.looi@nie.edu.sg.