Evaluating Distributed Cooperative Learning

Abstract

Evaluating outcomes associated with computer-supported cooperative learning (CSCL) is difficult for a variety of reasons. One must consider user-interface usability issues, coordinated multi-user computer issues, learning efficacy in general, cooperative aspects of group learning specifically, and the larger context of the classroom(s) in which the previous issues are situated. Geographically displaced learning communities coordinating activities through computer networking technologies with individuals and subgroups, often working and learning different things at different times and places, present even greater challenges for researchers assessing outcomes on students, teachers, and educational organizations. Specifically, problems result because measurement is dispersed in time and across place, and as a result, the subsequent evaluation stages are more complicated because these activities occur across individuals and groups.