Online Collaborative Learning: Use and Efficiency Evaluation

Abstract

Collaborative learning, especially online, occupies the increasingly important place in the contemporary higher education. The article undertakes an analysis of key both theoretical and practical dimensions of collaborative learning. Approaches to the definition of collaborative learning are indicated, its key elements and principles of organization and implementation are highlighted. The authors consider collaborative learning not just as a set of new teaching and learning methods but primarily as a formation of life skills in the complex interconnected society. Collaborative thinking is inextricably linked with the creative and critical thinking process within the framework of community of inquiry. It is this framework that ensures theoretical coherence of understanding and use of collaborative thinking and learning in a socially situated and technologically interconnected learning environment. The authors describe collaborative learning as the special didactic system and consider some aspects of its implementation into any form of the university educational process – high-residence, low-residence, blended, or distance learning. As a conclusion, some criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of collaborative learning are formulated.