A Quantitative Study with Online Collaborative Learning in a Computer Literacy Course

Collaboration, along with critical thinking, communication and creativity, is one of the four C\u27s identified in the Partnership for 21st Century Skills Framework. The word collaboration is becoming a common part of many conversations. This study explored which type of learning instruction, collaborative learning in an online environment or individual learning in an online environment, is the most effective in a beginning online computer literacy course. The problem underlying this study was that despite the popularity of collaboration in education, many educators are not properly implementing an environment that encourages and supports effective collaboration. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if proper implementation of an ideal online collaboration environment will increase learning outcomes in a beginning computer literacy course. Two of the nine null hypotheses were rejected. First, H10 was rejected, indicating there is a statistically significant positive difference in gain scores between students learning collaboratively in an online environment and students learning individually in an online environment. Second, H50 was rejected, indicating there is a statistically significant difference in gain scores between students with Sensing and Intuition preferences and mean gain scores on the IC3 Fast Track Assessment, dependent on the type of learning instruction. For theory, the researcher recommended that future studies should consider male or female differences. Also for theory, the researcher recommends that future studies should include measures of Millennial differences, which would include within-group variation such as family income level, previous access to computer technology, and current access to computer technology outside the classroom. For practice, the researcher recommended that the university consider increasing the content for the course and increasing the number of credits for the course. Also, the researcher recommended that as a part of the university\u27s orientation, all freshman should complete the MBTI (Form M) personality inventory. Moreover, the researcher recommended that the Business and Technology Department at the university should incorporate additional collaborative learning in its online courses. Finally, the researcher recommended that all freshman take a class to understand the challenges of online collaboration, team dynamics, and team performance