1. Meeting the Challenges of Online Collaboration Collaboration Motivation

2. What are the Issues? Identify the issues that are of concern. Target the issues that are of greatest importance. Is there a lack of motivation? Is the issue a matter of instinct, or a pattern of predetermined events (Borich, 2006). Lack of collaboration. Are there barriers to learners coming together. Online networks provide the context for virtual collaboration (Moss & Nyiri, 1999).

3. Common Problems Course workload A concern by both the learner and instructor. Is the load manageable? Motivation Closely related to workload. Level of experience. Insufficient collaboration among learners. Lack of experience. Unfamiliar learning style.

4. Potential Solutions Seek and provide thoughtful input (Hu, Caron, Deters, Moret, & Swaggerty, 2011). Extend the learning process in the role of instructor. Provide the driving force for learner motivation and success (Borich, 2006). The success of learners is in part due to the facilitator of the course. Encourage collaboration between learners. Make the learning experience meaningful. Model learner expectations.

5. Advice Be a more reflective instructor. Through the process of teaching, each instructor must still be a learner at heart. Focus on engaging ways to meet course objectives. The goal of every course should be to prepare learners within the context of the course. Become an active communicator. Communication is critical to success. Develop a sense of community (Hu et al, 2011). This is the vehicle in which learning occurs.

6. References Borich, G., (2006). Motivation and classroom learning. Retrieved from http://www.edb.utexas.edu/borich/pdfdocs/chapter7.pdf. Hu, R., Caron, T., Deters, F., Moret, L. & Swaggerty, E. (2011). Teacher educators teaching and learning together: A collaborative self-study of support within an online literacy learning community. Retrieved from Merlot JOLT, 7 (1). Moss, C. & Nyiri, R. (1999). Beyond collaboration: Forming a school-university partnership that honors the teacher as a professional learner. Retrieved from http://www.duq.edu/castl/_pdf/beyondcollab.pdf. Savery, J. (2010). Be vocal: Characteristics of successful online learners. Retrieved from http://www.ncolr.org/jiol/issues/pdf/9.3.2.pdf.