An overview of web-based school collaboration: a history of success or failure?

Abstract

The notion of school collaboration has become widely recognised as an effective means of fostering cultural links and supporting communication between geographically separated schools. As shall be acknowledged in this paper, school collaboration follows on from a long history of collaborative initiatives across the past 50 years. However, the introduction of digital technologies and the internet in the 1990s has raised new challenges and created new opportunities for ‘telecollaboration’ whilst the growth of social media over the past five years is seen to have transformed the ways in which online collaboration is experienced by most end users. Based on a review of the existing body of literature, this paper offers a critical overview of current models of web-based collaborative programmes – attempting to map out the complex nature of school collaboration and consider the actors and factors that can shape successful implementation into educational practices.

Keywords:

• school collaboration
• telecollaboration
• digital technologies

Notes

1. The weblinks to the projects mentioned in this paper are in order of appearance: http://elanguages.org/, http://www.globalschoolnet.org/, http://www.xplora.org/, http://www.saferinternet.org/, http://www.etwinning.net/, http://www.ukgermanconnection.org/, http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldclass/, http://facetofaithonline.org/, http://www.japanuklive.org/, http://www.arcticvoice.org/, http://www.atlanticrising.org/, http://www.africanrevival.org/, http://www.superclubsplus.com/, http://www.epals.com/.The weblinks to the projects mentioned in this paper are in order of appearance: http://elanguages.org/, http://www.globalschoolnet.org/, http://www.xplora.org/, http://www.saferinternet.org/, http://www.etwinning.net/, http://www.ukgermanconnection.org/, http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldclass/, http://facetofaithonline.org/, http://www.japanuklive.org/, http://www.arcticvoice.org/, http://www.atlanticrising.org/, http://www.africanrevival.org/, http://www.superclubsplus.com/, http://www.epals.com/