Enhancing collaborative learning in Web 2.0-based e-learning systems: A design framework for building collaborative e-learning contents

Abstract

Today, the implication of Web 2.0 technologies in e-learning allows envisaging new teaching and learning forms, advocating an important place to the collaboration and social interaction. However, in e-learning systems, learn in a collaborative way is not always so easy because one of the difficulties when arranging e-learning courses can be that these courses are not adapted to this type of learning based on collaboration. In most of time, these courses are constructed individually, a way that does not stimulate collaborative and social learning. This work is at the heart of this issue. It seeks to find conceptual solutions for computer design and development of pedagogical knowledge, which should be in adequacy with current e-learning practices based on Web 2.0 features: collaborative e-learning. Thus, this paper presents a process of online and collaborative design-development of e-learning contents as concept maps, process which takes place in an online environment. The novel aspect of this approach is that the content generated following the proposed process is becoming less the product of a single author, but this is the result of a team work, and is adapted to collaborative e-learning practices. The paper describes the proposed process, presents the architecture of the implemented environment and exposes the adopted technical choices. The paper presents also the results of the experimentation of the framework in a realistic situation, which is based on the analysis of collected traces of a group of teachers (n = 30). The results found validate the interest of teachers involved toward the proposed approach.