ONLINE GROUP EXPERIENCE

E-Learning: Developing Communication, Cooperation and Collaboration Online

E-Learning: Developing Communication, Cooperation and Collaboration Online

Online group work or learning, sometimes also referred to as computer-supported collaborative learning, has in the current times attracted a lot of attention while cooperative and collaborative structures of group learning in general have long been a part of discussion (McConnell, 1994). The manner in which these structures can be used in an online environment has also started to gain attention. In this regard, there may be some issues that an experience of online group can face in relation to cooperating or collaborating such as:

Issues of Online Group Experience in relation to cooperation and collaboration

Issues in relation to cooperation and collaboration in an online group experience would arise mainly due to the attitude of the students and their views of the experience (Stephenson, 2001). This means that issues many arise because many students like to work alone and have an antipathy towards group work and hence find it difficult to adjust with this kind of environment that requires from them cooperate. On the other hand, issues may also arise on selection of groups and in arranging suitable times when all the members of the group are available for an online meeting and in terms of communication issues (Steeples & Jones, 2001).

Furthermore, students who are not much exposed to group work may also find it difficult to work together and cooperate with each other and this lack of an understanding may also result in conflicts among students. Conflicts may also arise because of the existence of free riders in a group that prevent group members to cooperate and result in damaging the morale of the other team members (Roberts & McInnerney, 2007, p. 261). Furthermore some students feel that their ideas in written form may ...