Collaborative Learning Through Computer Conferencing ― The Najaden Papers

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.