Role of Motivation in Online Collaboration - Assignment Example

Role of motivation in online collaboration Name Course Date Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 2 Learning theories for online education 3 Behaviorism 3 Cognitive 4 Constructivism 5 Roles of motivation in online collaboration 5 Increased efforts and energy 5 Enhancing cognitive processing 6 Directing the behaviors towards the desired goals 7 Leads to improved performance 7 Increase initiation and persistence 8 Creating Usefulness 9 Conclusion 10 References 11 Introduction Online collaboration is an important concept in the current educational, business and technological sector. The concepts of online collaboration enable individuals located in a different geographic location to share ideas online. This is significant in the educational sector where the learners are located in different geographical locations. Through the online collaboration the learning experience is enhance as learners from different continents share their experiences (Kim, 2006). Motivation on the other hand is the external and internal factors that guide the individuals or groups to achieve the desired results. Since online collaboration involves teamwork, motivation plays an important role in ensuring that the desired results are achieved. The individuals in the online collaboration require motivation so as to work successfully with the others. The external and internal factors therefore play an important role in terms of determining the success of the online collaboration (Dörnyei, 2009). The online educational theories are useful in the analysis of the online collaboration. It is through the study of the theories that the importance of motivation can be appreciated. The paper therefore discusses the role of motivation in online collaboration from an active learning perspective. Learning theories for online education Behaviorism This theory of learning is mainly about the conditioning of the learners for the purpose of achieving the desired goals and objectives. According to Ertmer (2008), influencing the behavior of the learners may lead to a positive result and hence the success of the process. The online collaboration depends on the behavior of the learners. This is because the instructions and discussions are carried out online where the supervision by the teachers or tutors is minimal. The behavior of the learners also determines the rate of understanding of the learners during the online collaboration. The control of behaviors of the learners during the online collaboration also determines the outcome of process. Motivation is also one of the important aspects that can influence the behavior of the individuals and members in the online collaboration. This has a positive outcome in the online collaboration process and hence enhancing the process. The motivation process also influences the behaviors of the individuals and hence determining the outcome of the online collaboration. This theory of learning is thus closely associated with the factors that influence the success of the online collaboration during learning. It also influences how the individuals and the members of the online collaboration relate to each other (Raitman, et al, 2005). Cognitive According to Aizawa (2010), this theory of learning deals with how the learning is generated through the information processing. The learning process according to this theory is based on the understanding of the relevant concepts and how the knowledge is utilized. The application of the knowledge determines the success of the learning process. The online collaboration is thus one of the learning methods that are gaining popularity. The generation of information when using the online collaboration is through the online means. This therefore means that the online collaboration members have to more active in the search for information. The online collaboration members also have to prove that they have understood the concepts through putting them into practice. It is at this point that motivation is necessary. The motivation processes may be useful in terms of encouraging the online collaboration members to generate more ideas in order to boost the learning process. The generation of ideas and its application is what is important according to this theory of learning. The online collaboration, cognitive and motivation thus have a lot in common when it comes to the learning process. The success of this concept can be influenced positively by the motivation process (Hathorn, 2002). Constructivism According to Giesen (2005), the constructivism is a learning theory that has a lot of emphasis on the experiences gained by the individuals during the learning process. The construction of knowledge is also important during the process and it requires the learners to use the acquired knowledge to solve practical problems. A realistic approach is useful to the learners according to this theory in order to prepare them to solve practical problems. The errors made by the learners are usually used for the purpose of correcting the problems. The theory is also relevant to the online collaboration as its concepts are practical. During the online collaboration, brainstorming is usually encouraged as it gives the learners opportunities to solve practical problems. However, it is important to note that the brainstorming process may be complex for the online collaboration. Some of the learners may be discouraged if they make wrong answers and hence impacting negatively on the process. Motivation is thus important in order for the learners to be keener when making decisions that have practical implication. This learning theory is thus an important aspect of online collaboration as it guides the learners towards utilizing a more practical approach when it comes to learning. The approach used by the online collaboration is also influenced by this theory as well as motivation which enhance the ability of the learners (Garrison, 2006). Roles of motivation in online collaboration Increased efforts and energy The online collaboration requires a lot of efforts and energy from an individual. This is due to the minimal supervision during the process. According to Kearsley (2011), personal commitment is thus important during the process. Some of the learners may end up loosing interest in the online collaboration due to the lack of energy and synergy during the process. The group work is also one of the most important aspects of online collaboration. Differences among the members may lead to loss of interest among the group members in the online collaboration. Motivation thus plays an important role in terms of increasing the efforts and the energy of the members. The motivation process ensures that the learners are appreciated and their efforts are also appreciated by the other members. The process also becomes interesting once the motivation process is in place. The learners also increase their efforts once the motivation process is in place as each of the online members will be interested in participating in the process. The motivation process is thus important for the online collaboration as it encourages the members to participate actively. This leads the learners to contribute new ideas and hence sustaining the online collaboration. Enhancing cognitive processing The processing of information in order to fully understand the learning concepts is relevant to the learners. This ensures that the learners are able to fully comprehend what they learn and put it into practical use. The online collaboration requires the learners to process the information easily so as to generate knowledge. This may require a lot of individual and teamwork efforts during the online collaboration. Motivation is thus required so as to ensure that the learners meet the desired goals and objectives. The motivation acts as an encouraging factor for the online collaboration learners in terms of encouraging them to be more proactive during the process. Enhancing the cognitive processing is also advantageous to the learners as it makes the process of understanding the complex issues easier. All these can only be achieved in the presence of motivation in order to boost the morale of the learners in the online collaboration. The online collaboration process therefore requires motivation for the purpose of encouraging the learners to generate knowledge easily. Different types of motivation tools can be used so as to motivate the online collaboration learners to be more active and creative during the learning process (Suthers, et al, 2003). Directing the behaviors towards the desired goals Behaviorism is one of the learning theories that determine the outcome of the learning process. The behavior of the learners during the online collaboration is important in order to ensure the desired goals and objectives are achieved. The use of motivation has the ability of influencing the behavior of the individual to achieve certain goals and objectives during the online collaboration. According to the behaviorism theory, when the learners are motivated, they work more hard in order to achieve the desired goals and objectives. Since the desired goals and objectives are usually demanding during the online collaboration, it is important to ensure that the learners are motivated. The behavior of the learners can also be conditioned during the process of online collaboration so as to ensure that they continue to participate in the learning process. Motivation of the learners therefore acts as an important tool during the online collaboration process in terms of influencing the behavior of the learners. This is an important aspect of creating a positive environment for learning during the online collaboration. Once the behavior of the learners is controlled, it becomes easier to achieve the desired goals and objectives. Motivation is thus useful to the learners in terms of ensuring that the learners are influenced positively (Fichter, 2005). Leads to improved performance The improvement of performance is one of the most important aspects of constructivism. It is through the correction of the errors that the online collaboration learners are able to tackle the practical problems. The motivation encourages the learners to improve their performance and hence improving their learning skills. The improvement of performance during the online collaboration is also useful in terms of encouraging the learners to appreciate the importance of the process. The online collaboration may also be difficult due to the absence of physical contact with the teachers. This may prove to be difficult to the learners who are slow in terms of understanding. Some of the subjects may also be difficult and hence discouraging the online collaboration learners from making contributions. However, with the presence of motivation, the online learners feel appreciated and hence improving their performance. The self esteem is also increased due to the motivation. The individuals are thus able to eliminate the negative attitudes that may impact negatively on their performance. The performance of the learners is also an important factor during the online collaboration as it determines their ability to make contributions as well as generate knowledge (West, 2008). Increase initiation and persistence The learning experience requires a lot of initiation and persistence in order to generate knowledge and solve problems. The online collaboration also requires a lot of persistence from the learners so as to fully understand the concepts being discussed. The problem solving process also requires persistence. However, it is important to mote that some of the learners are not persistent during the online collaboration. These impacts negatively on the learning process using the online collaboration. The motivation process is thus required for the purpose of ensuring that the learners are persistent enough during the process. The persistence of the learners during the process is also important in terms of generating knowledge and new ideas. The initiation of the learners is also dependant on the motivation. The learners will be able to engage in the discussions and make meaningful discussions if they are motivated. This is especially usually during the online collaboration as the learners can be easily discouraged and thus affecting their rate of making contributions. The persistence of the learners during the online collaboration also ensures that the learners are able to learn new ideas and hence increasing their efficiency in terms of problem solving. The online collaboration is thus dependant on the motivation process for the purpose of encouraging persistence and initiation (Resta, et al, 2002). Creating Usefulness The online collaboration process is usually complex to some learners. In other instances, the learners may fail to appreciate some of the topics or subjects as they feel that the subjects may not be useful in their careers. This results in loss of interest and poor performance in the specific topics or subjects. However, it is evident that al the topics and subjects may be applied by the learners in other areas even if it is not in line with their careers. Motivation is thus required for the purpose of enabling the learners to appreciate the importance o the subjects or the topics. The motivation will enable the learners to participate actively during the online collaboration process. Motivation therefore plays an important role in terms of eliminating negativity and encouraging the learners during the online collaboration. The learners are able to know the usefulness of some of the subjects and topics when they are motivated. The creation of usefulness is thus important as encourages the participation of the learning during discussions in online collaboration (Artino, 2009). Conclusion In conclusion, motivation plays an essential role in terms of enhancing the learning process during the online collaboration process. The learning theories are also useful when analysis the importance of motivation in online collaboration. The cognitive, behaviorism and constructivism are the main important theories that are linked to the online educational systems and learning. These theories are relevant in the explanation of the role that motivation plays in online collaboration. Increased efforts by the learners are one of the important aspects of motivation. The desired results can also be achieved when the learners are motivated. Creating the usefulness of a certain topic and subject is linked to improved performance and can be achieved through motivation. The cognitive process which encourages knowledge creation is also enhanced through motivation. It is thus evident that motivation plays an important role in enhancing the online collaboration. References Aizawa, K. (2010). The value of cognitivism in thinking about extended cognition. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, 9(4), 579-603. Artino, R. (2009). Academic motivation and self-regulation: A comparative analysis of undergraduate and graduate students learning online. The Internet and Higher Education, 12(3), 146-151. Dörnyei, Z. (2009). Motivation, language identity and the L2 self (Vol. 36). Multilingual Matters Limited. Fichter, D. (2005). The many forms of e-collaboration: Blogs, wikis, portals, groupware, discussion boards, and instant messaging. Online, 29(4), 48-50. Ertmer, P. (2008). Behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism: Comparing critical features from an instructional design perspective. Performance improvement quarterly, 6(4), 50- 72. Garrison, D. (2006). Online collaboration principles. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 10(1), 25-34. Giesen, J. (2005). Constructivism: A Holistic Approach to Teaching and Learning. Northern Illinois University, USA. 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