One does not simply validate a model; one takes its pulse. In the case of the OCPBL, that pulse beats within a transversal course where nearly a thousand students test the promise of online collaborative projects: not merely working together, but learning to coordinate asynchronous rhythms, negotiate criteria, and sustain collective work when interaction takes place behind screens and across misaligned schedules.
The study confirms the solidity of the model and its academic and professional transferability, yet it also sketches—through data and student voices—the contours of what is required for its full unfolding: a finer sequencing of asynchronous communication, a contextual adaptation of roles and activities, and a teaching presence that does not replace autonomy but frames and harmonizes it.
The pedagogical value of the OCPBL emerges on three interwoven levels.
- On the operational level, the management of digital information and organizational routines receive high ratings, showing that when the technical scaffolding is clear and stable, the quality of collective work increases.
- On the formative level, the model catalyzes competencies that are difficult to foster in individual settings: empathy, co-responsibility, and reasoned deliberation.
- And on the professional level, its logic is acknowledged as transferable: planning together, negotiating standards, peer evaluation, and managing disagreements are everyday practices in distributed organizations.
Still, the research highlights a persistent blind spot in any team effort: how to deal with those who do not fulfill agreed commitments. This challenge calls for explicit protocols, continuous evaluation, and restorative mechanisms.
For educators and institutions, the lesson is pragmatic: the success of OCPBL does not rest on a sum of tools, but on a design that aligns phases, roles, and assessment with the real conditions of each program and each cohort. The proposed improvements—sequencing asynchronicity, contextualizing tasks to the professional field, and refining the architecture of roles—do not alter the model’s essence; they make it more inhabitable. In this sense, validation is not an endpoint but a threshold: it establishes OCPBL as a robust yet adaptable framework for cultivating online collaboration with principles of quality, equity, and sustainability, precisely where learning already unfolds across times, devices, and diverse communities.
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How to Cite: Romero Carbonell, M., Romeu Fontanillas, T., Guitert Catasús, M., & Baztán Quemada, P. (2024). Validation of the OCPBL model for online collaborative project-based learning. RIED-Revista Iberoamericana de Educación a Distancia, 27(2), 159–181. https://doi.org/10.5944/ried.27.2.39120
