While new technologies have made information more accessible, they have yet to live up to their full potential when it comes to knowledge sharing. Two European projects in the field of collaborative learning are looking to change that.
The IST-funded COOPER and TENCompetence initiatives, which began in December 2005 and will run for two and four years respectively, are creating new tools and techniques for technology-enhanced collaborative learning. Part of the Professional Learning Cluster of IST research projects, the two initiatives are complementary in the way they are applying technology to the realm of collaborative learning, in which groups of teachers and pupils cooperate to share expertise and solve complex problems.
“Collaborative learning is already being used with important educational benefits in companies and universities, instead of the more traditional top-down approach of teachers instructing students what to do,” explains Xuan Zhou, the COOPER project manager at the L3S Research Center in Hannover, Germany. “Our goal is to create an online environment that allows people to learn through collaboration no matter where they are.”
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Posted by Lorene Lavora
