CC-LO: Embedding Interactivity, Challenge and Empowerment into Collaborative Learning Sessions

Despite their demonstrated potential through a range of early studies, on-line collaborative learning systems do not yet have the impact that many believe is possible. in particular, collaborative learning approaches cannot be readily applied to every e-learning experience, since they require a degree of presence and/or collaboration which may be difficult to achieve. in addition, collaborative learning systems often lack the challenging resources and tools required to fully support collaborations, making the experience unattractive to end-users and discouraging progression. whilst the learner might expect to control the collaborative experience, often it is the collaborative experience that controls and limits the learner. as a result, collaborative learning resources can lack authentic interactivity, user empowerment and balanced levels of challenge, thus having a negative effect in learner motivation and engagement. to overcome these deficiencies, we propose a new paradigm named collaborative complex learning objects (cc-lo): a special type of learning object which aims to leverage the knowledge elicited during live sessions of collaborative learning, augmented with author-generated information, to produce interactive and attractive resources to be experienced and played by learners. during cc-lo execution, learners can observe how avatars discuss and collaborate, how discussion threads grow, and how knowledge is constructed, refined and consolidated. furthermore, learners can interact with the cc-lo in order to modify some parameters observing the consequences and assessing their understanding. the research reported in this paper was undertaken within the european framework 7 project alice (adaptive learning via intuitive/interactive, collaborative and emotional systems).