Review by: Steinbeck, Reinhold (2004-09-19)

As more and more university teachers are integrating a distributed collaborative learning module into their courses, new methods and tools are needed to better support distributed collaborative learning teams. While group work has great potential for increased learning, communicating and working together with peers can be the source of complex problems. This is a challenge for face-to-face learning environments, but it is an even bigger challenge in globally distributed CSCL learning environments.

In this article, the authors, all faculty members or researchers at the Open University of the Netherlands, make a strong case for taking a closer look at the social and social psychological aspects of collaborative learning. They argue that the key to unleashing the full potential of collaborative learning is social interaction, and that future research should, therefore, focus on the design of sociable CSCL environments. Going beyond the development of the technical CSCL system, and putting more effort into developing the ‘social’ CSCL system.

The authors identify two key factors as the main pitfalls that contribute to the negative effectiveness of collaborative learning. They argue that a majority of educators take social interaction for granted just because it is ‘easy’ in face-to-face environments and because the technical system, i. e. the CSCL environment, allows it. As second pitfall, they identify the restriction of social interaction to the cognitive aspects of learning, instead of extending it to the equally important building of a well-balanced learning community by providing non-learning tasks contexts that encourage social, casual communication.

The article then discusses a number of educational techniques for avoiding these two pitfalls, including building more measures that support positive interdependence, individual accountability, and collaborative skills; increasing opportunities for the socio-emotional and affective exchanges between learners; adjusting the instructor’s and the learners’ role for CSCL environments; and increasing social presence, i. e. reducing the perceived distance between learners.

This article is a must read for anyone interested in strengthening the ‘social/human system’ in CSCL environments.