The collaborative learning approach as a universal teaching strategy is widely used in online learning. It is proven that the group leader has an important impact on group collaborative knowledge construction in online collaborative learning (OCL). However, limited research is available on how leadership styles influence a group. Universal…

Due to its haptic and interactive nature, virtual anatomy provides an opportunity for small-group learning, enabling students to develop their group work skills before they graduate. However, there is currently little practical guidance supported by pedagogic principles detailing how to incorporate it into curricula. Anatomy educators at the…

Group awareness tools (GATs) are used to enhance awareness among students in online collaborative settings. GATs display awareness information of group processes, so students have a shared understanding of the collaboration. They also encourage students to share their opinions regarding their group processes, which externalizes unspoken awareness…

The purpose of this small-scale qualitative research study was to examine the use and perceived value of integrating collaborative learning techniques at teleconferences at the Hellenic Open University (HOU). Qualitative semi-structure interviews with tutors from the School of Humanities at the HOU were conducted in order for the research plan to…

Given the growing trend of delivering classes through online and virtual environments, it is vital to gain a nuanced understanding of students' online research learning experiences, the factors that contributed to their choice of learning modality, the challenges they encountered, and the effective online research teaching practices and strategies…

Students aspiring to become teachers in public schools often find it necessary to complete their college degrees online. They will, of course, need to have the required skills that those graduates from face-to-face institutions possess. One of those skills is to be able to collaborate with colleagues in small group settings. This paper…

In this article, the authors propose a set of examination strategies for distributing tasks of collaborative activities. The first purpose behind this proposal is to assess fairly the learners who are involved in group or team work at the e-learning platform. Indeed, in the literature, few methods are used to assess the learners' individual…

The relationship between the different mediational means for supporting students' learning with digital tools in science group work in a Norwegian lower-secondary school is examined. Analyses of teacher-student and student-student interactions are located in cultural-historical theory and draw on Galperin's conceptualisation of learning processes.…

Group projects have long been used in face-to-face instruction to improve cognitive learning among its students. Group projects not only provide practical experience and allow students to practice the concepts they have learned, but also teach the students creative construction and group dynamics. As important as group projects have proven in…

Facilitating meaningful interaction among students is a significant challenge of teaching in the online environment. This paper presents a semester-long approach that enables quality interaction among group members within undergraduate online group communication courses while experiencing the challenges of working with geographically dispersed…

Online group work can be complicated because of its asynchronous characteristics and lack of physical presence, and its requirements for skills in handling technology, human relationships, and content-related tasks. This study focuses on the administrative, logistical and relationship-related challenges in online group work. Challenges in areas…

Structured argumentation support environments have been built and used in scientific discourse in the literature. However, to the best our knowledge, there is no research work in the literature examining whether student's knowledge has grown during learning activities with asynchronous argumentation. In this work, an intelligent computer-supported…

Today, in association with rapid social and economic changes, there is an increasing level of demand for distance and online learning programs. This study will focus on identifying the main motivational factors for choosing a web-based distance-learning program. Moreover, it will investigate how these factors relate to age, gender, marital status…

This paper reflects on a 2013-2014 Australia-China Council project in which school students in Australia and China produced and shared digital stories about their everyday lives and local cultures, with students being invited to give feedback on the language and content of the stories produced by their overseas peers. The main lessons learned…

This paper presents the design and application of a major individual assessment task created in part to develop students' capacity for lifelong assessment, a key element of lifelong learning. Additionally the task contributes to fostering a sense of community in asynchronous online learning environments. The task is a supra disciplinary report,…