Students in the UK are tracked in their performance in English, Maths and Science from KS2 (age 11) through to KS4 (age 16).
The socio-ecomomic circumstances of each and every student is known based on a number of data indicators that provide an effectve tool to make accurate predictions of outcomes at KS4. This data is used by schools to target pupils whose prior attainment data indicates that they should be performing above their actual performance in an effort to ensure that they achieve their potential.
The graph above shows the outomes at the end of KS4 based on a large population of 14 to 19 year olds where it was possible to map individual data from KS2 to KS4 who were able to interact and collaborate online but where the degree of teacher interaction was very low. The graph shows the data divided into four quartiles based on their predicted outcomes and mapped to their level of activity online. The plot shows the difference in performance in the four quartiles for students who were active online and those that were not.
The outcomes are interesting as they indicate that for each group the students who were active online out-perform those that were not active. Further analysis also shows that these outcomes is nothing to do with the active uses being the more able students. Other analysis shows that the outcomes are not dependent on the level of teacher activity.
What would appear to be the case here is that allowing students to collaborate and communicate freely (subject to ensurance of adherance to an acceptable use policy) may well provide a dynamic that is difficult to create in any other way. The potential of online communities harnessed for the benefits of learning would seem to be of significant importance based on these findings.
While such analysis cannot demonstrate a causal relationship between online collaboration and outcomes it does show a strong correlation and one worthy of further investigation.
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