Collaborative Learning in the Online Environment

Abstract

The chapter is based on the qualitative research conducted in a Canadian post-secondary institution. The researcher applied an exploratory case study methodology and a semi-structured interview approach. The participants were students who studied in fully online classes, instructors who delivered online courses, and instructional designers of the online courses. They answered sets of questions about the relevance of interpersonal relationships among online classmates to learning. The respondents also discussed how those relationships could be initiated, developed, and cultivated in an online course by means of instructional design and the implementation of facilitation strategies and techniques. This chapter examines how instructional designers and instructors can design and foster a collaborative learning environment. The research topic is beneficial to adult education instructors, instructional designers, faculty, higher education administrators, educational technologists, students, and scholars who are interested in researching course design for collaborative online learning.