EURO-CAT-CSCL

Collaboration awareness tool for CSCL users (Euro-CAT-CSCL)

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Awareness collaboration tool for CSCL users (Euro-ACT-CSCL) is a joint research project aiming to advance research knowledge in Computer Supported Collaborative Work and Learning (CSCL) and create interoperable computer tools to add to groupware systems and main Learning Management Systems (LMS) in order to enhance the effectiveness and quality of persons in computer distance work/learning context. CSCL systems offers the opportunity to work or learn collaboratively within different times and spaces, but at the same time, this capacity makes necessary to increase self regulation, group regulation and group awareness in order to achieve academic or work goals in this context (Houssman, 1991; Monereo, 2005). We focus in a new CSCL specific need, group’s time awareness and regulation, an individual competency in collaborative context that increases work planning and task regulation efficience, communication (Grudin, 1994), anticipation (Gutwin & Greenberg, 2002) and group coordination (Ellis & al, 1991). Time management on CSCL systems is a new research field, who needs to overpass the traditional dichotomic approach between (1) heuristic quick-fix approaches in professional/industrial time management and (2) experimental decontextualized approaches of chronometric time capacities made by psychological researchers. Trans-disciplinarian (psychology, computer engineering, human computer interaction, management sciences) and intersectoral collaboration (Industry-academia) is needed to increase knowledge on CSCL group’s time awareness and regulation, and elaborate new knowledge (scientific publications) and a concrete tool (Awareness Collaboration Tool) to help CSCL users being more efficient in this new work or learning context. Carring out this research project on a European multisector consortium will help make the results more transferable, and will makes easier the Awareness Collaboration Tool (ACT) distribution.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Online courses have opened up educational opportunities on a massive scale and the scope for further innovation is enormous. Thanks to the work done by an EU-funded project, students can now collaborate with their fellow learners and access relevant information while outside the classroom.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Student collaborations and the exchange of ideas are paramount for optimising educational achievement. Communication and collaboration support the learner's development to acquire skills for learning without assistance. The 'Collaboration awareness tool for CSCL users' (EURO-CAT-CSCL) project aimed to fill the social benefits gap that occurs when learning outside the classroom.

The joint research project has worked to create the computer awareness tool (CAT) to support computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL). Adding groupware and main learning management systems (LMSs), the objective was to enhance the effectiveness and teaching quality during distance learning.

To achieve this, the CAT retrieves situational context information from learning team partners for the online student. End users are secondary, higher and adult learners or private workers using collaborative computer-supported tools. These include groupwares, LMSs and peer-to-peer educational systems.

EURO-CAT-CSCL work focused on collaboration awareness. Factors taken into consideration included group time awareness and regulation, presence and co-presence, individual competency in collaborative context that increases work planning and task regulation. Also important are efficiency, communication, anticipation and group coordination.

The first part of the project research was dedicated to preparatory team building. Each member of the interdisciplinary consortium worked in their specific area and the results were shared during an online meeting. As a result, the knowledge platform has been created to achieve project objectives.

Based on an end-user development methodology, the CAT prototype has become a reality. The so-called EuroCAT tool has now been tested by more than 900 students in 6 European countries and in Latin American centres also.