VII. COLLABORATING WITH OTHERS ONLINE
There has been an explosion in recent years in collaborating online, an educational innovation which can take many forms: distance learning, tele-computing, community projects, extending on-site class activities, and collaboration between students and schools in different countries.
This section begins with articles that outline important features in electronic collaboration, offering definitions and identifying key characteristics.
There are then guidelines and strategies for organizing online collaboration, with authors drawing on their own experiences to discuss the role both of the teacher and students in creating successful and effective projects. Other aspects discussed include relevant pedagogies, useful tools, tutoring and participation.
The third sub-section includes many actual collaboration projects, both current short-term programmes as well as sites linking schools around the world in ongoing collaborative learning activities.
The next group of articles describes best practices and successful projects, and includes a number of papers describing the role and mechanics of FORUM in collaborative learning, an application which creates a common, hypertext workspace for group work.
And finally, there are some essays discussing important ethical topics in distance learning, exploring themes like intellectual property rights for new media and cultural implications of the emerging border-less educational environment.
Online Collaboration: What Is It?
Guidelines and Procedures for Organizing Online Collaboration
Online Collaboration Projects/Activities
Successful Strategies and Best Practices on Online Collaboration