The idea for the Workshop on which this book is based arose from discussions which we had when we both attended an earlier - and more broadly based - NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Computer Supported Collaborative Learning, directed by Claire O'Malley in Maratea, Italy, in 1989. We both felt that it would be interesting to organise a second Workshop in this area, but specifically concerned with the use of computers and networking (telematics) as communication tools for collaborative learning outside the formal school setting. We were particularly interested in examining the ways in which computer conferencing can be used for collaboration and group learning in the contexts of distance education, adult learning, professional training, and organisational networking. And we wanted to ensure that we included, in the scope of the Workshop, situations in which learning is a primary, explicit goal (e.g. an online training programme) as well as situations where learning occurs as a secondary, even incidental, outcome of a collaborative activity whose explicit purpose might be different (e.g. the activities of networked product teams or task groups). Another goal was to try to bring together for a few days people with three different perspectives on the use of computer conferencing: users, researchers, and software designers. We hoped that, if we could assemble a group of people from these three different constituencies, we might, collectively, be able to make a small contribution to real progress in the field.

Klappentext

This book analyzes some of the main educational, social, andtechnological issues in the use of computer-mediatedcommunication and computer networkingfor onlinecollaborative learning, both in distance education and incorporate and organizational environments. Collaborativelearning is defined as "individual learning as a result ofgroup interactions and processes".The papers in the book arose from a NATO Advanced ResearchWorkshop held on the sailing ship Najaden. They focus on theuse of computer conferencing as a medium which freesparticipants from the constraints of time and place, andwhich provides a "collective memory" of all groupinteractions and exchanges.The book contains contributions from users and implementorsof computer conferencing systems in major universities andcompanies, from researchers and evaluators analyzing theprocesses and outcomes of online group learning, andfrom software designers working on new systems for enhancingnetworked collaboration in groups. Collectively, thecontributions mark out the boundaries and directions for the"third generation" of distance education and open learningsystems, based on the use of national, international, andglobal telematic networks for interpersonal communicationand group interactions.

Inhalt
1 Learning Together Apart.- I Computer Conferencing in Practice.- 2 Telematic Support for In-Service Teacher Training.- 3 Waiting for Electropolis.- 4 Computer Mediated Communication for Management Learning.- 5 Collaboration in International Online Teams.- 6 Collaborative Learning in a Large Scale Computer Conferencing System.- II Ways of Understanding Online Collaboration.- 7 Evaluation Methodologies for Computer Conferencing Applications.- 8 Computer Conferencing and Content Analysis.- 9 A Case Study Approach to Evaluation of Computer Conferencing.- 10 Talking, Teaching, and Learning in Network Groups: Lessons from Research.- 11 Understanding Collaborative Learning in Networked Organizations.- III Issues in Software Design.- 12 The Challenge of Conferencing System Development.- 13 Metaphors and the Design of the Human Interface.- 14 Designing Human Interfaces for Collaborative Learning.- 15. Toward a Hypermedium for Collaborative Learning?.- 16 Computer Conferencing Functions and Standards.- 17 Hardware and Software Architecture in Computer Conferencing Systems.