Telecollaboration - what is it?
A telecollaboration project is an international online project which students and academic teachers from universities around the world can participate in.
Project stages:
1. Finding a cooperation partner at a foreign university. (It is possible to establish this type of cooperation through the website http://uni-collaboration.eu or by using your own contacts established during conferences, seminars etc.)
2. Establishing and deepening your contact - learning about the nature of a foreign university and the classes conducted there.
3. Students participating in the project are assigned by teachers to cooperation teams.
4. At the beginning of the project, students must contact each other (via Facebook, Messenger, emails, social networks, etc.), get to know each other and create international teams that then start working according to the teachers' instructions.
5. The teachers on both sides of telecollaboration create for their students project tasks related to a specific field of study, so that all participants must contribute to their implementation. Each task has a deadline set by the teachers which the students must strictly meet. They are evaluated by their teachers depending on the specificity of a given task.
6. A common platform is recommended in which everyone can see instructions and deadlines, and the teachers can track students’ progress. Such a platform can be created by a common email address for all the participants, e.g. at Gmail, and using Google Drive / Google Disc to send there all the materials developed by the teams, which will be visible to the rest of the students and subject to assessment by teachers.
7. Information collected and discussed on both sides of the project is then processed and presented in teams or individually during classes.
8. The telecollaboration project usually lasts 5 - 7 weeks and ends with the presentation of products, materials or projects developed by students.
9. In the semester in which the telecollaboration project is conducted, the textbook material intended for the particular semester is still implemented, but students are assessed only on the basis of the tasks of the telecollaboration project and do not have to write additional tests related to the textbook.
The telecollaboration method develops different types of skills for both students and teachers, such as interpersonal communication, good organizational skills, as well as creativity and adaptability to various tasks resulting from different schedules. It is a great opportunity for monocultural groups to gain experience in international cooperation thanks to the latest online tools.
Instead of the traditional way of learning, students have the opportunity to try and use their own knowledge and put forward new solutions. Working with the telecollaboration project method offers students greater freedom to produce and apply their own ideas. At the same time, it also strengthens responsibility and motivation, which are essential on today's global job market.
