Organisation, Collaboration and Learning - Shaping Education and Learning in Virtual Environments

摘要

This paper looks at the connection between organisation, collaboration and learning in virtual learning environments (VLEs). Our main points of focus is investigating the extent to which course developers and course instructors need to consider organisational measures and design to trigger (self-guided) learning and collaboration of participants within online learning environments and how deeply individual learning processes are stimulated by intercultural collaboration in multinational groups. The design of these virtual learning environments or learning networks involves an intricate balance between the organisation of the content; how the instructional activities are sequenced; how the interactions between students, tasks, and materials are structured; and how the learning process is evaluated. Mentorship must be present throughout this process. Aspects of mentorship can manifest themselves in a variety of ways including: asking an expert, true mentoring, tutoring, and peer to peer support.