Another interesting finding was that the students could articulate for themselves what they had gained from the collaborative learning setting. Those who has communicated by typing were very interested in the log of their chat box. We suggest one reason for this difference is that computer-supported collaborative learning forces the students to be more explicit with each other of their intentions, goals, plans and current understanding of the task in order to collaboratively progress with the task. After a familiarisation period, students can expect specific gains when working with collaborative tools. Users must also have time to experiment and train in order to develop fluency in the use of these tools.
Time can be a very scarce resource with some groups.
We are currently continuing with our detailed analyses to examine further how the structuring of the interface affects collaborative learning. Participatory Evaluation Through Redesign and Analysis , Cognitive Science Research Paper N 375, University of Sussex, Submited for Interacting with Computers. 69130 Ecully, France. PictureTel LIVE PCS 100 is a videoconferencing system for PC allowing the interconnection over an ISDN network with one or more videoconferencing system. ShrEdit is an experimental CSCW software allowing shared word- processing and drawing.