Introduction of Synchronous Peer Collaboration Activities in a Distance Learning Course

This paper presents the main findings, and lessons learned, from introducing a synchronous peer collaboration activity in a distance learning computer science course. Synergo, a software that supports such an approach, was used in this activity. The organizational, technical, and academic challenges...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE transactions on education 2009-08, Vol.52 (3), p.305-311
Main Authors: Xenos, M., Avouris, N., Stavrinoudis, D., Margaritis, M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Collaboration
Collaborative work
Computer Mediated Communication
Computer programs
Computer Science
Computer Science Education
Computer Software
Cooperation
Course Descriptions
Data mining
Distance Education
Distance learning
Education
educational technology
Foreign Countries
Forges
Greece
Open Universities
Peer Teaching
Peer to peer computing
Probability density function
Science Curriculum
Servers
Software
Student Attitudes
Students
Synchronous
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Description
Summary:This paper presents the main findings, and lessons learned, from introducing a synchronous peer collaboration activity in a distance learning computer science course. Synergo, a software that supports such an approach, was used in this activity. The organizational, technical, and academic challenges of introducing this activity in the course are discussed. After analyzing the students' interaction and their opinions, and evaluating the final results, it was found that this activity was received positively by the group of students concerned, who engaged in peer tutoring and used this as an opportunity to break the isolation of the distance learning setting and to forge links with each other.
ISSN:0018-9359
1557-9638
DOI:10.1109/TE.2008.928212