Design of a Synchronous Collaborative Learning Environment

In complex fields of knowledge, working in unmoderated small groups is a common approach for creating knowledge out of given information. Taking a look at the portfolio of learning environments, only a few systems provide the necessary functionality for synchronous collaboration. In most of them, synchronicity is reduced to communication. The aim of this work is the design of a synchronous collaboration environment which fulfills the requirements to enable members of a small group working together efficiently via computer networks. Based on the three elements communication, cooperation and coordination, a concept for an appropriate groupware is created and a flexible model defined. A sample environment called ”SLE” is developed to demonstrate the applicability.