This article discusses the relevance of large-scale mass collaboration for computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) research, adhering to a theoretical perspective that views collective knowledge both as substance and as participatory activity. In an empirical study using the German Wikipedia as a data source, we explored collective…

Empirical studies have proven the effectiveness of the knowledge and information awareness approach of Engelmann and colleagues for improving collaboration and collaborative problem-solving performance of spatially distributed group members. This approach informs group members about both their collaborators' knowledge structures and their…

Interactive tabletops can be used to provide new ways to support face-to-face collaborative learning. A little explored and somewhat hidden potential of these devices is that they can be used to enhance teachers' awareness of students' progress by exploiting captured traces of interaction. These data can make key aspects of collaboration…

In the discussion on what players learn from digital games, there are two major camps in clear opposition to each other. As one side picks up on negative elements found in games the other side focuses on positive aspects. While the agendas differ, the basic arguments still depart from a shared logic: that engagement in game-related activities…

Developing shared understanding is essential to productive collaboration where a product is jointly constructed. This is especially true when the different collaborators' contributions need to build coherently on one another, as, for example, when making a story together. This study investigated whether encouraging children to engage in discussion…

The purpose of this paper is to show how a large group of students can work collaboratively in a synchronous way within the classroom using the cheapest possible technological support. Making use of the features of Single Display Groupware and of Multiple Mice we propose a computer-supported collaborative learning approach for big groups within…

Social network sites such as Facebook are often conceived of as purely social spaces; however, as these sites have evolved, so have the ways in which students are using them. In this study, we examine how undergraduate students use the social network site Facebook to engage in classroom-related collaborative activities (e.g., arranging study…

For collaboration in learning situations, it is important to know what the collaborators know. However, developing such knowledge is difficult, especially for newly formed groups participating in a computer-supported collaboration. The solution for this problem described in this paper is to provide to group members access to the knowledge…

Collaboration scripts are usually implemented as parts of a particular collaborative-learning platform. Therefore, scripts of demonstrated effectiveness are hardly used with learning platforms at other sites, and replication studies are rare. The approach of a platform-independent description language for scripts that allows for easy…

This paper analyses preconditions for trust in virtual learning environments. The concept of trust is discussed with reference to cases reporting trust in cyberspace and through a philosophical clarification holding that trust in the form of self-surrender is a common characteristic of all human co-existence. In virtual learning environments,…

In an earlier study, we had tested if observing a collaboration model, or alternatively, following a collaboration script could improve students' subsequent collaboration in a computer-mediated setting and promote their knowledge of good collaboration. Both model and script showed positive effects. The current study was designed to further probe…

Although protocol analysis can be an important tool for researchers to investigate the process of collaboration and communication, the use of this method of analysis can be time consuming. Hence, an automatic coding procedure for coding dialogue acts was developed. This procedure helps to determine the communicative function of messages in online…

A common challenge in many situations of computer-supported collaborative learning is increasing the willingness of those involved to share their knowledge with other group members. As a prototypical situation of computer-supported information exchange, a shared-database setting was chosen for the current study. This information-exchange situation…

This paper presents a conceptual analysis of the technological dimensions related to the operationalization of CSCL macro-scripts. CSCL scripts are activity models that aim at enhancing the probability that knowledge generative interactions such as conflict resolution, explanation or mutual regulation occur during the collaboration process. We…

We present COLLECT-UML, a constraint-based intelligent tutoring system (ITS) that teaches object-oriented analysis and design using Unified Modelling Language (UML). UML is easily the most popular object-oriented modelling technology in current practice. While teaching how to design UML class diagrams, COLLECT-UML also provides feedback on…