Technology-enhanced Collaboration

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, Gera number of. "Our goal is to create an online environment that allows people to learn through collaboration no matter where they are."

The tools to underpin lifelong learning.

That is necessary if collaborative learning is to be paired with lifelong learning, which allows people to learn throughout their careers, constantly picking up new skills and expertise. Lifelong learning is viewed as essential if the European Union is to meet its goal of becoming a dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy.

For that to happen, however, the tools that make lifelong learning feasible must be readily accessible to all. TENCompetence aims to make that happen by establishing the technological infrastructure for European-wide learning networks.

"Whilst there have been significant amounts of research conducted into lifelong learning and learning technology respectively, little work has been done on the link between the two. Moreover, the specific requirements that come from the field of lifelong learning are not adequately represented in today's leading learning technologies," explains Chris Kew, TENCompetence's dissemination officer at the University of Bolton in the UK.


Posted by: Kevin    Source