A Framework to Facilitate Building of Collaborative Learning Applications

Design and development of computer supported collaborative learning systems is a complicated technological endeavour, since it involves tackling difficult distributed software design issues and adaptation to the continuously shifting technological background. In this paper a framework for the development of Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) applications is proposed. The pedagogical value of the proposed framework is based on the fact that it allows the initiation of collaborative sessions with diverse settings, regarding the group size, the floor control and the level of peer awareness, thus facilitating teachers to design a variety of collaborative learning activities. Various evaluation studies have been performed using applications built according to the proposed framework and the obtained results are described.