Telecollaboration allows for students to develop foreign/second language competences linguistically, culturally, and interculturally. The use of platforms, such as WhatsApp and Zoom, is now more frequently exploited in foreign language education to ensure that a wider cross section of students, including Jamaicans, can develop global competences.…

This study reports on intercultural learning during telecollaboration from the perspective of student participants in a five-country online teacher education partnership. The student perspectives reported here were drawn from one intact class in the partnership, five students who completed this partnership as part of a sociolinguistics course in a…

The study investigated the learning and attitudes of individuals in an individualized computer-assisted instruction (CAI) setting using a specially designed group CAI program to permit the entry and evaluation of responses from each group member. Results suggest that individuals in groups learn as well as individuals working alone with…

This paper reports on a two-year exploratory study to determine the viability of voice-based threaded discussions forums as a means of stimulating discussion and understanding of weekly readings as part of a large undergraduate communications course. From March to June 2001, 600 students participating in a large introduction to communication…

Online computer conferences used to assist distance learning courses often fail because the moderator-usually the instructor responsible for the conference-is not properly trained in techniques that build a community of learners. It has often been assumed that the skills required to create a vibrant classroom discussion translate easily to an…

A survey investigated the use of Electronic Networks for Interaction (ENFI) in composition programs, an approach using group real-time conferencing on computer networks. Real-time conferencing means that a group (from 2 to 20 participants) meets via computer synchronously and communicates in writing as a group (in one large group or in smaller…

This paper describes two studies involving men and women who participated in online discussions in a Web-based graduate course. The purpose of both studies was to examine the frequency and types of response these students made during the course chats and threaded discussions. The first study took place at the end of the course in a two-week…

The "Vicarious Learner" project at Glasgow Caledonian University and the University of Edinburgh is looking broadly at issues concerning the role of dialogue in learning. This paper looks at the more general question of how the value of dialogue in learning depends on the structure of the environment in which it takes place. In…

It is important to build a community of learners so that cooperative learning takes place. This is more difficult to accomplish online, where the lecturer has to overcome the natural reticence of students to post in shared class spaces. This paper suggests contructive methods of ensuring the success of an online course. These include: (1)…

Collaborative learning is receiving increased attention within educational environments. With increasing use of technology to support collaborative techniques it is critical that existing research in this area is expanded. This study was initiated to examine and explore the perceptions of students relative to experiences within two types of…

Research that identifies factors that facilitate information processing and enhance performance without reducing group confidence and decision satisfaction may influence future development of groupwork systems. This paper contains a review of the literature on cognitive and motivational issues in both group decision-making and learning contexts…

Carrying out argumentative discussion online has become rather common in higher education. This task is traditionally supported by asynchronous collaboration tools, but this paper suggests that also synchronous supports could be useful. This paper focuses on scaffolding the knowledge construction: the work of two student moderators jointly…

This study examined the relationship between the quality of intra-group online collaboration among groups of undergraduate learners on the quality of products produced. The quality of online collaboration was assessed by the instructor and Teaching Assistant with the computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) process assessment tool. The…

Describes a pilot project using electronic mail and conferencing in college courses including blind and deaf students. The effectiveness of group interaction is compared to the standard classroom. The use of communication technologies in the design of educational systems to simultaneously transcend physical distance and physical disabilities is…

This paper summarizes the experiences of an instructor and teaching assistant who introduced online communication strategies in a graduate seminar. This paper drew on the findings of a previous paper (Schwier & Balbar, 2002), and examined how to construct structured discussions of content using synchronous and asynchronous communication in…