This paper describes the design and implementation of a real time on-line collaboration tool, EDUCO. The main focus is to demonstrate how the tool is applied to a real life on-line distance education course, discuss the preliminary research findings of the qualitative empirical study, propose directions for future work and discuss implications.…

This paper describes a communication system accessible by a World Wide Web browser. The main advantage of this system is to encourage a collaborative way of learning using asynchronous communication channels. The conversation is strongly structured by the system itself which helps the users to coordinate their actions, playing their respective…

Describes the design, implementation, and preliminary evaluation of three synchronous distributed learning prototype systems: Co-Working System, Working Along System, and Hybrid System. Each supports a particular style of interaction, referred to a socio-activity learning model, between members of student dyads (pairs). All systems were…

This paper reports on the results and future research work within the paradigm of Configurable Collaborative Distance Learning, called Espacios Virtuales de Apredizaje (EVA). The paper focuses on: (1) description of the main concepts, including virtual learning spaces for knowledge, collaboration, consulting, and experimentation, a…

The SAGRES system is an educational environment built on the World Wide Web that facilitates the presentation of the information bases of a museum in a way that is adapted to the individual characteristics of each visitor. The interaction with the system may occur individually or in groups of students. The system also offers resources to support…

In this paper, a Web-based learning environment developed within the project called Virtual Learning Spaces (EVA, in Spanish) is presented. The environment is composed of knowledge, collaboration, consulting, experimentation, and personal spaces as a collection of agents and conventional software components working over the knowledge domains. All…

In January 1999, an interdisciplinary seminar of doctoral students from cognitive, educational and computational sciences was organized to study theoretical texts that might provide insight into how to support collaborative learning with perspectives-based software. The seminar uses a Web-based tool called WEBGUIDE to mediate and structure…

The World Wide Web has developed as the de facto standard for computer based learning. However, as a server-centered approach, it confines readers and learners to passive nonsequential reading. Authoring and Web-publishing systems aim at supporting the authors' design process. Consequently, learners' activities are confined to selecting and…

This paper discusses the use at the University of Windsor (Ontario) of a small World Wide Web-based tool for course delivery and administration called HAL (HTML-based Administrative Lackey), written in the Scheme programming language. This tool was developed by the author to provide Web-based services for a large first-year undergraduate course in…

During the early 1990s, Art Hutchinson, in his role as Park Ranger and Coordinator of Education/School Services at Mesa Verde (Colorado), was exploring possible applications of the early digital information and multimedia technologies. The goal was to provide new experiences for Park visitors on-site as well as for students across the Four Corners…

In order to provide teachers and students with electronic learning environments that support mentoring and collaboration through electronic means, the authors developed software that supports same time/different place educational collaborative activities over the Internet. These activities focus on teaching students how to organize and systematize…

This paper presents an information agent and latent semantic-based indexing architecture to retrieve documents on the Internet. The system optimizes the search for documents in the Internet by automatically retrieving relevant links. The information used for the search can be obtained, for instance, from Internet browser caches and from grades of…

This paper describes an ongoing experiment at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne regarding the use of World Wide Web-based document annotations for educational purposes. An annotation tool called Medium was built, merging database and Web technologies, to be used as a companion for classical university courses and collaborative…

The rapid development of modern information and communications technologies has opened new possibilities for establishing and delivering distance learning. In addition, the new learning paradigm based on cognitive learning theories can emphasize the quality of the learning process. The open learning environment that utilizes modern communications…

This paper outlines CLEW (collaborative learning environment for the Web). The project combines MUD (Multi-User Dimension), workflow, VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) and educational concepts like constructivism in a learning environment where students actively participate in the learning process. The MUD shapes the environment structure.…