35. 11 The Future of Technology Assisted Cooperative Learning

Technology-assisted cooperative learning has yet to realize its great promise. It currently rests on the strengths of cooperative learning. Cooperative learning has a wellformulated theory validated by hundreds of research studies, translated into a set of practical procedures that teachers and administrators may use, and actually implemented in tens-of-thousands of classrooms throughout the world. Despite the success of cooperative learning, there are three great shortcomings of technology-assisted cooperative learning.

First, there is a lack of theorizing. Conceptual models of how technology and teamwork may be productively integrated are practically nonexistent. The variables unique to the combination of technology and cooperation have not been identified and defined. Second, relatively little research has been done. Overall, the quality of the existing research is quite high. Only a few of the potential outcomes, however, have been studied. The unique strengths of technology-assisted cooperative learning have not been assessed and documented. Rather, investigators have examined more general variables such as the composition of cooperative groups and the gender of members. Third, the lack of conceptual models and the scarcity of research has created a corresponding lack of guidelines for practice. Teachers can be trained to implement cooperative leamin , but training is underdeveloped in the specific procedures for implementing technology-assisted cooperative learning. Operational procedures are needed for designing and implementing instructional procedures that optimize the impact of technology-assisted cooperative learning on student achievement and other important outcomes. Equivalent procedures need to be designed for work environments where technology and teamwork are used together.

What is needed is theory to stimulate research, which, in turn, will validate and modify the theory. The results need to be used to design specific procedures for operationalizing technology-assisted cooperative learning in every grade level and subject area. Without systematic research, proponents of technology-assisted cooperative learning cannot present a persuasive case for the adoption of an effective training program for teachers. On the positive side, there has been so little research on technology-assisted cooperative learning that the future is wide open to interested social scientists.

There are, however, several areas for researchers to focus on. First, there is a need to look at outcomes other than achievement. The impact of technology-assisted cooperative learning on relationships among students and aspects of psychological health need to be examined. Second, there is a need for long-term studies that track the use of technology across at least one school year and ideally for several years. Short-term studies of initial use are not enough. The real question is whether the use of the technology will be maintained over several years. Third, the implementation process by which technology-assisted cooperative learning is institutionalized within schools needs to be documented and studied. While advocates of technology see a revolution coming in instruction, historians point to the virtual absence of lasting or profound changes in classroom practice over the past 100 years. Despite brief periods of popularity, new instructional technologies such as education television, language labs, and programmed learning were tried and dropped. Life in classrooms remains largely unchanged. Lepper and Gurtner (1989) argue that the last "technology" to have had a major impact on the way schools are run is the blackboard. Most often new technologies are used in ways that do not disrupt regular classroom practices, which means that they can be dropped with no disruption to ongoing classroom life. Similarly, software selection is often conducted with the intention of supporting existing classroom practices rather than transforming them. Considerably more research is needed on the implementation process by which the combination of cooperative learning and learning technologies become integrated and institutionalized in classroom and schools.

Fourth, studies need to focus on the role of teachers and administrators in the implementation process. No matter how good technology is, unless teachers decide to use it and gain some expertise in how to implement it, the technology will not be adopted by schools. Fifth, there need to be studies examining the support services required for technology to be used in the classroom. Who repairs the technology and how often are repairs needed are important questions. Teachers, for example, cannot be expected to be computer technicians.

Sixth, cognitive growth and the development of problemsolving skills depend on epistemic conflict, that is, the collision of adverse opinion (Bearison, 1982; Johnson & Johnson, 1992; Piaget, 1950). Students need the opportunity to experience and resolve academic controversies. Computers and multimedia presentations rarely engage students in intellectual conflict the same way other stud6nts can. The role of technology in promoting and facilitating intellectual conflicts among students has not been investigated.

Seventh, there is a question whether technology-assisted instruction will increase inequality in educational outcomes (Becker & Sterling, 1987). Students who have access to the new technologies in their homes will be more skilled and sophisticated in their uses than will students who have no access. Equality in the classroom may require heterogeneous grouping where students who are skilled in the use of instructional technologies work with students who are not. Cooperative learning is an essential aspect of such equalization. New studies need to be conducted on group composition focusing on the ability of students to use instructional technologies.

Schools eventually may have to make greater use of appropriate technologies and cooperative learning. Multiple ongoing revolutions in technology and classroom organization require schools to prepare students to make wise choices in situations where there is an overabundance of information and they are part of a team. It may be technology-assisted cooperative learning that best prepares students to live in the modem world.