A case study of online collaborative learning for union staff in developing countries.

Online collaborative learning (OCL) is used by many universities to provide education to geographically-dispersed groups of students who can participate at times and locations of their choosing. However, despite its potential for expanding the conduct of labour education and building new knowledge, OCL is not being used by the international labour movement. This dissertation investigates the use of online collaborative learning by the staff of unions in developing countries. The majority of union members in the world work in developing countries and their labour organizations are in need of capacity building. Previous investigations concluded that online learning for unions needs to be collaborative, promote community, be based on constructivist learning principles, provide links to learning in the workplace, and possibly grant a certificate recognized as valuable by the participants. Investigators who studied early online labour education projects emphasized the need to determine the process by which groups of unionists learn online. Additionally, there was a need to determine if staff members of unions in developing countries have the technological and financial capability to participate in online collaborative learning. A case study was conducted. An online course involving 33 union staff members based in 24 developing countries was studied using a mixed-mode research strategy involving both quantitative and qualitative methods. A theory and research methods related to online collaborative learning were used to analysis the process of learning in the course. A questionnaire on the development of community amongst the participants was applied. Transcript analysis of messages in the course?s computer conferences was conducted. Findings include: OCL can be successfully employed for the education of union staff in developing countries; the collaborative creation of a knowledge artefact, such as a document, which has a public life outside of the online course provides a crucial link to activities in the workplace; the task which is set for the group significantly affects the collaborative discourse process; online collaborative learning can build a strong sense of community amongst participants; and a credential is a significant motivator. The international labour movement could use online collaborative learning to provide educational opportunities globally.