A Critical Inquiry into Web-Mediated Collaborative Learning

Abstract

This chapter presents a critical approach to collaborative learning viewed as a social interaction process. Based on Habermas’ theory of communicative action, the chapter proposes a communicative model of collaborative learning with the aim to enhance understanding of communicative practices in Web-mediated collaborative learning situations and to provide a methodological instrument for the analysis of concrete learning processes. Drawing on the empirical data from a field study the chapter illustrates how the communicative model of collaborative learning can be applied to analyse not only what linguistic interactions among students mean but also what they produce in a particular learning situation. The chapter concludes by summarising possible implications of this critical perspective and the communicative model of collaborative learning on both practical pedagogy and empirical research in Web-mediated environments.