A case study: Internet based collaborative and cooperative learning

Abstract

The Internet has improved the quality and quantity of communication all over the world by providing opportunity to electronically deliver and share knowledge instantly all over the world. As for the impact of this on education the ones relevant for this study are the need to integrate educational technology and collaborative learning into curriculum. This is the third phase of a longitudinal study. It was carried out at an English Language Teacher Training Certificate Program, "Methodology" course at a Higher Education institution. The same course was being given by one instructor to two different groups of learners who had not met each other. Each week a different method was focused on by different groups of learners. Each group presented the principles of the method using the method itself and then discussions were carried out. The presentations were video-taped and discussions were carried out based on key points presented via power-point. The learners in the two courses focusing on the same methodology were asked to interact by means of the internet and their output was evaluated. Based on the results of data gathered it could be said that virtual teams learner outputs were effective and in some cases were more effective than the face to face teams.