Openness, Multiculturalism, Attitudes and Experience in Online Collaborative Learning

Abstract

Since 2010 a national ICT program has been operating in Israel known as Adapting the education system to the 21st century, that encompasses hundreds of elementary and junior high schools. Its main goals are (a) assimilating pedagogic innovation; and (b) imparting 21st century skills to all students. The program focuses on applying the output in schools from both the organizational and pedagogical aspects, one of which is communications and cooperation (Ministry of Education, 2015), which affords one of the changes in 21st century learning (Resta & Carroll, 2010). The teachers are expected to teach in a constructivist collaborative manner in an ICT environment in which the students are active and involved in the learning process. According to this approach, the new knowledge is constructed by the student through shared discussion amongst peers in the learning, social, and cultural context.