About this Research Topic

Background

*Please note that all spontaneous submissions are required to submit an abstract and await feedback before submitting the full manuscript, any spontaneous submissions which only submit a full manuscript will be rejected*

Collaborative learning takes place with the expectation that people will achieve more together than alone. Crucial to this is the appropriate composition of groups and the participation of each group member through communication (written, verbal, or non-verbal) by sharing ideas, experiences, and knowledge in a diverse and elaborate way. However, collaboration is extended and substantially changed by the Internet and other technologies. The always-on connection to the Internet enables people to be in contact with peers anytime and anywhere and can help to overcome social isolation which is particularly common in digital learning contexts, not least because it can positively influence learner satisfaction. The ability to record speech and writing in a digital context encourages reflection on (one's own) contributions before they are made available to the group. Moreover, digital applications and methods can support the externalization of one's own thinking and learning processes to the group members. AI helps to investigate how collaborative learning works (e.g., through data-driven methods of learning analytics).

At the same time, often inadequate technical equipment and insufficiently trained competencies required by this new form of collaboration lead to the above-mentioned potentials of digital collaborative learning not being realized. Reference is made to technological or digital competencies, which are associated with the operation and understanding of various (communication) tools. This in turn makes it necessary for users to know in advance which tool is better suited for which form of communication and vice versa (e.g., brief consultations via e-mail or chat; detailed feedback, and discussions via virtual face-to-face meetings). Further findings are available with regard to trust-building in the group, which requires more time in exclusively virtual groups. So far, however, there have only been isolated findings on the potentials and challenges. Accordingly, a corresponding competence model for digital collaborative learning is not yet available.

This call for papers aims to bring together research on collaborative learning and virtual groups to provide a forum for discussion of new ideas, recent developments, and underexplored challenges considering interdisciplinary perspectives and drawing from novel methodological approaches. We encourage research from various disciplines and domains (such as Educational Technology, Business Education, Educational Psychology, and Learning Sciences) and the use of a variety of methodological approaches including qualitative designs (e.g., case studies), quantitative designs (e.g., field and lab experiments, observational studies), and multi-method approaches (e.g., combinations of field data and simulations). The proposed research topic encourages submissions on but not exclusively limited to the following themes:
● competencies necessary to collaborate digitally
● interventions regarding digital collaborative learning
● external and internal (framework) conditions for the success/failure of virtual group work
● domain-specific/cross-industry/cross-cultural differences in the effectiveness of digital collaborative learning
● comparison of factors/outcomes/framework conditions of digital and non-digital collaborative learning
● influence of machine learning and artificial intelligence in facilitating/hindering digital learning
● best practices of digital collaborative learning in times of the Covid-19 pandemic

We are mainly looking for (but not limiting submissions to): Original Research; Systematic Review; Hypothesis and Theory; Methods, and Conceptual Analysis.

Keywords: Cooperative learning, Digital learning, Team work, Digital cooperative working, Educational psychology

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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