Cette recherche relève de la didactique des langues et des TIC, de la formation à distance en langues et du FLE. Un cadre épistémologique socioconstructiviste et énonciativiste a été choisi puis situé par rapport à la perspective actionnelle. Cette réflexion théorique sert de fondement au scénario pédagogique Fictif, une formation à distance en FLE de neuf semaines, destinée aux étudiants vietnamiens de l’Institut de la Francophonie pour l’informatique à Hanoi. Le forum de discussion y occupe une place importante. Fictif peut être considéré comme une mise en œuvre de la perspective actionnelle, enrichie de concepts énonciatifs. Suite aux expérimentations de Fictif en 2008 et 2009, nous montrons dans un premier temps l’adéquation du scénario au cadre théorique. Dans un deuxième temps, nous montrons que les diverses collaborations et l’activité réflexive auquel le scénario pédagogique invite (réflexion interculturelle, réflexion sur le fonctionnement de la langue), permettent, d’une part, grâce à l’effet mobilisateur du scénario, de maintenir, voire de faire évoluer les compétences langagières des apprenants, de développer, entre autres, des connaissances relatives aux cultures et aux langues et, d’autre part, que certaines activités permettent d’améliorer les compétences à collaborer des petits groupes. C’est, en particulier, le cas de l’activité de résolution d’énigmes linguistiques de façon collaborative, par groupe de quatre et à distance, qui permet de marier pratique langagière, réflexion métalinguistique et développement de la compétence à collaborer. / This research deals with instructional science for language learning and ICT (Information and Communication Technologies), with e-learning in French as a foreign language in particular. Socioconstructivism and the linguistic theory of enunciation are the theoretical basis of this research, which is placed in relation to the action-oriented approach for languages. In accordance with this theoretical framework, a nine-week distance-training course in French (Fictif), in which the main form of communication is through forums, intended for the Vietnamese students of the French-speaking Computer Science Institute in Hanoi, has been imagined. Fictif is a distance-training course that could be considered as a practical implementation of the action-oriented approach enriched with linguistic concepts of enunciation.Following experimentations of Fictif in 2008 and 2009, the appropriateness of the pedagogical scenario with the theoretical framework is first examined. Then, thanks to the activities of the pedagogical scenario which rouses students to action by developing different types of collaboration, as well as introspective thinking (e.g. intercultural thinking, thinking about how the language functions), the students maintained and even improved their skills in French and developed their knowledge of French culture and language. Moreover, for some activities of the pedagogical scenario, an improvement of the students' collaborative learning skills in small groups was observed. It was especially the case for one activity in which the students had to solve linguistic riddles in groups of four as a way of developing their foreign language skills, metalinguistic thinking and collaborative learning skills.

Fundação de Apoio a Pesquisa e à Inovação Tecnológica do Estado de Sergipe - FAPITEC/SE / The interaction within the classroom is one of the key variables in the process of teaching and learning, but these interactions between students and teachers usually do not occur in the methodologies adopted by most physics teachers. In addition, physical education and their evaluation are anchored to mathematical techniques without any connection to the everyday student. Thus, the student only memorizes the "formulas", without seeking relationships with concepts already learned by them, causing learning meaningless. Thus, we believe that social interaction linked to the collaborative activity can give meaning to the process of teaching and learning, as students build their knowledge by interacting collectively. In this way, the main objective of this research is to know the perceptions of students about the Rich Issues in Context, which is a type of collaborative teaching methodology in higher education, as well as their behavior while collaborative group in a discipline of Physics B in Federal University of Sergipe. In total, 15 students participated, the data were collected through non-participant observation and semi-structured group interview, conducted in two groups, and a survey applied to all students in the discipline. The results regarding the roles of each member of the group revealed that at times the students failed to perform their roles effectively, but then we noticed that they cooperated in the development of activities. In addition, students reported that in collaborative learning they learn from their classmates and with respect to Rich Problems in Contexts, we found that students understand the benefits of this activity and do not see this task as a way to decrease the amount of activity of each student. / A interação dentro da sala de aula é uma das principais variáveis no processo de ensino e aprendizagem, mas essas interações entre alunos e professores geralmente não ocorrem nas metodologias adotadas pela maioria dos docentes de física. Além disso, o ensino de física e a sua avaliação encontram-se ancorados a técnicas matemáticas sem qualquer ligação com o cotidiano do aluno. Dessa forma, o aluno apenas memoriza as “fórmulas”, sem buscar relações com conceitos já aprendidos pelos mesmos, provocando uma aprendizagem sem significado. Assim, acreditamos que a interação social atrelada com a atividade colaborativa possa dar significado ao processo de ensino e aprendizagem, uma vez que os alunos constroem seus conhecimentos interagindo coletivamente. De tal modo, o objetivo principal dessa pesquisa é saber quais as percepções dos alunos acerca dos Problemas Ricos em Contexto, que é um tipo de metodologia de ensino colaborativo no Ensino Superior, bem como seus comportamentos enquanto grupo colaborativo em uma disciplina de Física B na Universidade Federal de Sergipe. No total participaram 15 estudantes e os dados foram recolhidos através de observação não participante e entrevista semiestruturada em grupo, realizadas em dois grupos, além de um inquérito por questionário aplicado a todos os alunos da disciplina. Os resultados com relação aos papéis desempenhados por cada membro dos grupos revelaram que em alguns momentos os alunos não conseguiram exercer seus papéis com eficácia, mas por outro lado observamos que eles colaboraram no desenvolvimento das atividades. Além disso, os alunos relataram que na Aprendizagem Colaborativa eles aprenderam com os próprios colegas de classe e com relação aos Problemas Ricos em Contextos, verificamos que os alunos compreenderam os benefícios dessa atividade e não viram essa tarefa como uma forma de diminuir a quantidade de atividade de cada aluno.

Das Projekt „Ein Fall für zwei Hochschulen“ wurde vom Sächsischen Staatsministerium für Wissenschaft, Kultur und Tourismus (SMWK), im Rahmen der Initiative „Bildungsportal Sachsen“, in der Laufzeit von Mai 2019 bis Dezember 2020 gefördert. Projektbeteiligte waren Prof. Anne-Katrin Haubold - Professur für Human Resources Management und Prof. Ronny Baierl - Professur für Schlüsselqualifikationen der HTW Dresden, sowie Prof. Dr. Eric Schoop - Professur für Wirtschaftsinformatik, insbes. Informationsmanagement (WIIM) der TU Dresden. Ziel des Projektes war es, ein bereits erprobtes didaktisch-methodisches Framework weiterzuentwickeln und in einem Manual aufzuarbeiten. Dieses Manual soll Lehrende unterschiedlicher Hochschultypen und Fachdisziplinen unterstützen, Lehrmaterialien und Inhalte, sowie die organisatorische Struktur für eine fallstudienbasierte, hochschultypübergreifende und virtuelle Lehrveranstaltung zu erarbeiten und gewinnbringend einzusetzen. Das Manual beschreibt die an der Professur WIIM entwickelte virtuelle Fallstudiendidaktik des Virtual Collaborative Learning (VCL) in einer hochschultypübergreifenden Variante. VCL ist ein Best-Practice-Framework für innovative online Lern/Lehrformate, die sich gut in übergeordnete Blended Learning Arrangements integrieren lassen. Es basiert auf jahrelanger intensiver wissenschaftlicher Forschung im Rahmen mehrerer Dissertationen und Projekte. Blended Learning bezeichnet die didaktisch sinnvolle Kombination von traditionellem Präsenzlernen und Online-Lernen auf der Basis neuer Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien. VCL wird seit 2001 kontinuierlich in der formalen Lehre eingesetzt. Ziel ist es, das Lernen in studentischen Kleingruppen in den virtuellen Raum zu übertragen. Die Studierenden arbeiten über einen festgelegten Zeitraum an authentischen Business Cases mit klarem Praxisbezug. Sie werden in ihrer Zusammenarbeit von qualifizierten E-Tutoren unterstützt. Das VCL-Framework ist inhaltsunabhängig und bietet vielseitige Möglichkeiten für universitätsübergreifende Zusammenarbeit.

The field of surgery is continually evolving as there is always room for improvement in the post-operative health of the patient as well as the comfort of the Operating Room (OR) team. While the success of surgery is contingent upon the skills of the surgeon and the OR team, the use of specialized robots has shown to improve surgery-related outcomes in some cases. These outcomes are currently measured using a wide variety of metrics that include patient pain and recovery, surgeon’s comfort, duration of the operation and the cost of the procedure. There is a need for additional research to better understand the optimal criteria for benchmarking surgical performance. Presently, surgeons are trained to perform robot-assisted surgeries using interactive simulators. However, in the absence of well-defined performance standards, these simulators focus primarily on the simulation of the operative scene and not the complexities associated with multiple inputs to a real-world surgical procedure. Because interactive simulators are typically designed for specific robots that perform a small number of tasks controlled by a single user, they are inflexible in terms of their portability to different robots and the inclusion of multiple operators (e.g., nurses, medical assistants). Additionally, while most simulators provide high-quality visuals, simplification techniques are often employed to avoid stability issues for physics computation, contact dynamics and multi-manual interaction. This study addresses the limitations of existing simulators by outlining various specifications required to develop techniques that mimic real-world interactions and collaboration. Moreover, this study focuses on the inclusion of distributed control, shared task allocation and assistive feedback -- through machine learning, secondary and tertiary operators -- alongside the primary human operator.

Los juegos serios colaborativos tienen un impacto positivo en el comportamiento y el aprendizaje, pero siguen desarrollándose para plataformas tecnológicas tradicionales como videoconsolas y ordenadores de sobremesa o portátiles, los cuales han sido identificados como sub-óptimos para niños en diversos estudios. En su lugar, el uso de dispositivos móviles como tabletas y teléfonos inteligentes presenta diversas ventajas: son económicamente asequibles, están ampliamente distribuidos, y pueden ser transportados, lo cual permite la actividad física y poder iniciar un juego sin necesitar que los usuarios se trasladen a una localización fija, especialmente dedicada para tal fin. Además, combinar varios de estos dispositivos y coordinar la interacción entre ellos en lo que se denomina Entorno Multi-Pantalla (EMP) proporciona beneficios adicionales para la colaboración tales como una mayor escalabilidad, conciencia del espacio de trabajo, paralelismo y fluidez de las interacciones. La interacción en estos entornos multi-tableta es por tanto un aspecto crítico. Los dispositivos móviles están diseñados para ser interactuados mediante el toque de los dedos principalmente, lo cual es muy sencillo y directo, pero está normalmente limitado a la pequeña dimensión de las pantallas, lo que puede conllevar la oclusión de la pantalla y la infrautilización del espacio periférico. Por esta razón, esta tesis se centra en la exploración de otro mecanismo de interacción que puede complementar al táctil: interacciones tangibles alrededor del dispositivo. Las interacciones tangibles están basadas en la manipulación de objetos físicos, lo que presenta un valor adicional en la educación de los niños puesto que resuena con los manipulativos educativos tradicionales y permite la exploración del mundo físico. Por otra parte, la explotación del espacio que envuelve a las pantallas tiene diversos beneficios adicionales para actividades educativas colaborativas: reducida oclusión de la pantalla (lo cual puede incrementar la conciencia del espacio de trabajo), el uso de objetos tangibles como contenedores de información digital que puede ser transportada de forma continua entre dispositivos, y la identificación de un determinado estudiante a través de la codificación de su ID en un operador tangible (lo cual facilita el seguimiento de sus acciones y progreso durante el juego). Esta tesis describe dos enfoques distintos para construir juegos educativos colaborativos en EMPs utilizando interacciones tangibles alrededor de los dispositivos. Una, denominada MarkAirs, es una solución óptica aérea que no necesita ningún hardware adicional aparte de las tabletas excepto diversas tarjetas de cartón impresas. La otra, Tangibot, introduce un robot tangiblemente controlado y otro atrezo físico en el entorno, y se basa en tecnología RFID. Ambas interacciones son respectivamente evaluadas, y se observa que MarkAirs es usable y poco exigente tanto para adultos como para niños, y que se pueden realizar con éxito gestos de grano fino encima de las tabletas con ella. Además, al aplicarse en juegos colaborativos, puede ayudar a reducir la oclusión de las pantallas y la interferencia entre las distintas acciones de los usuarios, lo cual es un problema que puede surgir en este tipo de escenarios cuando solamente se dispone de interacciones táctiles. Se evalúa un juego educativo colaborativo con MarkAirs con niños de educación primaria, y se concluye que este mecanismo es capaz de crear experiencias de aprendizaje colaborativo y de presentar un valor añadido en términos de experiencia de usuario, aunque no en eficiencia. Con respecto a Tangibot, se muestra que controlar colaborativamente un robot móvil mediante unas palas tangibles con cierta precisión es factible para niños a partir de los tres años de edad, e incluso para personas mayores con un deterioro cognitivo leve. Además, proporciona una experiencia divertida / Collaborative serious games have a positive impact on behavior and learning, but the majority are still being developed for traditional technological platforms, e.g., video consoles and desktop/laptop computers, which have been deemed suboptimal for children by several studies. Instead, the use of handheld devices such as tablets and smartphones presents several advantages: they are affordable, very widespread, and mobile---which enables physical activity and being able to engage in a game without requiring users to gather around a fixed, dedicated, location. Plus, combining several of these devices and coordinating interactions across them in what is called a Multi-Display Environment (MDE) brings on additional benefits to collaboration like higher scalability, awareness, parallelism, and fluidity of the interaction. How to interact with these multi-tablet environments is therefore a critical issue. Mobile devices are designed to be interacted mainly via touch, which is very straightforward but usually limited to the small area of the displays, which can lead to the occlusion of the screen and the underuse of the peripheral space. For this reason, this thesis focuses on the exploration of another interaction mechanism that can complement touch: tangible around-device interactions. Tangible interactions are based on the manipulation of physical objects, which have an added value in childhood education as they resonate with traditional learning manipulatives and enable the exploration of the physical world. On the other hand, the exploitation of the space surrounding the displays has several potential benefits for collaborative-learning activities: reduced on-screen occlusion (which may increase workspace awareness), the use of tangible objects as containers of digital information that can be seamlessly moved across devices, and the identification of a given student through the encoding of their ID in a tangible manipulator (which facilitates the tracking of their actions and progress throughout the game). This thesis describes two different approaches to build collaborative-learning games for MDEs using tangible around-device interactions. One, called MarkAirs, is a mid-air optical solution relying on no additional hardware besides the tablets except for several cardboard printed cards. The other, Tangibot, introduces a tangible-mediated robot and other physical props in the environment and is based on RFID technology. Both interactions are respectively evaluated, and it is observed that MarkAirs is usable and undemanding both for adults and for children, and that fine-grained gestures above the tablets can be successfully conducted with it. Also, when applied to collaborative games, it can help reduce screen occlusion and interference among the different users' actions, which is a problem that may arise in such settings when only touch interactions are available. A collaborative learning game with MarkAirs is evaluated with primary school children, revealing this mechanism as capable of creating collaborative learning experiences and presenting an added value in user experience, although not in performance. With respect to Tangibot, we show how collaboratively controlling a mobile robot with tangible paddles and achieving certain precision with it is feasible for children from 3 years of age, and even for elderly people with mild cognitive impairment. Furthermore, it provides a fun experience for children and maintains them in a constant state of flow. / Els jocs seriosos col·laboratius tenen un impacte positiu en el comportament i l'aprenentatge, però continuen sent desenvolupats per a plataformes tecnològiques tradicionals com videoconsoles i ordinadors de sobretaula o portàtils, els quals han sigut identificats com sub-òptims per a xiquets en diversos estudis. D'altra banda, l'ús de dispositius mòbils com ara tabletes i telèfons intel·ligents presenta diversos avantatges: són econòmicament assequibles, estan àmpliament distribuïts i poden ser transportats, la qual cosa permet l'activitat física i poder iniciar un joc sense necessitat de què els usuaris es traslladen a una localització fixa i especialment dedicada per a eixa finalitat. A més, combinar diversos d'estos dispositius i coordinar la interacció entre ells en el que es denomina Entorn Multi-Pantalla (EMP) proporciona beneficis addicionals per a la col·laboració tals com una major escalabilitat, consciència de l'espai de treball, paral·lelisme i fluïdesa de les interaccions. La interacció amb estos entorns multi-tableta és per tant crítica. Els dispositius mòbils estan dissenyats per a ser interactuats mitjançant tocs de dit principalment, mecanisme molt senzill i directe, però està normalment limitat a la reduïda dimensió de les pantalles, cosa que pot ocasionar l'oclusió de la pantalla i la infrautilització de l'espai perifèric. Per aquesta raó, la present tesi se centra en l'exploració d'un altre mecanisme d'interacció que pot complementar al tàctil: interaccions tangible al voltant dels dispositius. Les interaccions tangibles estan basades en la manipulació d'objectes físics, cosa que presenta un valor addicional en l'educació dels xiquets ja que ressona amb els manipulatius tradicionals i permet l'exploració del món físic. D'altra banda, l'explotació de l'espai que envolta a les pantalles té diversos beneficis addicionals per a activitats educatives col·laboratives: reduïda oclusió de la pantalla (la qual cosa pot incrementar la consciència de l'espai de treball), l'ús d'objectes tangibles com a contenidors d'informació digital que pot ser transportada de forma continua entre dispositius, i la identificació d'un estudiant determinat a través de la codificació de la seua identitat en un operador tangible (cosa que facilita el seguiment de les seues accions i progrés durant el joc). Aquesta tesi descriu dos enfocaments distints per a construir jocs educatius col·laboratius en EMPs utilitzant interaccions tangibles al voltant dels dispositius. Una, denominada MarkAirs, és una solució òptica aèria que no precisa de cap maquinari addicional a banda de les tabletes, exceptuant diverses targetes de cartró impreses. L'altra, Tangibot, introdueix un robot controlat tangiblement i attrezzo físic addicional en l'entorn, i es basa en tecnologia RFID. Ambdues interaccions són avaluades respectivament, i s'observa que MarkAirs és usable i poc exigent tant per a adults com per a xiquets, i que es poden realitzar gestos de granularitat fina dalt de les tabletes amb ella. A més a més, en aplicar-se a jocs col·laboratius, pot ajudar a reduir l'oclusió de les pantalles i la interferència entre les distintes accions dels usuaris, problema que pot aparèixer en este tipus d'escenaris quan solament es disposa d'interaccions tàctils. S'avalua un joc educatiu col·laboratiu amb MarkAirs amb xiquets d'educació primària, i es conclou que aquest mecanisme és capaç de crear experiències d'aprenentatge col·laboratiu i de presentar un valor afegit en termes d'experiència d'usuari, tot i que no en eficiència. Respecte a Tangibot, es mostra que controlar conjuntament un robot mòbil mitjançant unes pales tangibles amb certa precisió és factible per a xiquets a partir de tres anys i inclús per a persones majors amb un lleu deteriorament cognitiu. A més, proporciona una experiència divertida per als xiquets i els manté en un estat constant de flow. / García Sanjuan, F. (2018). CREAME: CReation of Educative Affordable Multi-surface Environments [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/101942 / TESIS

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Gibbons (2015) writes that speaking is considered as the most important skill in language learning. However, Lundahl (2014) states that there are some pupils, in year 4-6, in Sweden who do not speak during the English lessons. Thus, the aim of this study is to find out what the reasons behind EFL pupils' unwillingness to speak English are. Furthermore, teaching strategies to overcome pupils' speaking anxiety are investigated. There are many studies that investigate the underlying reasons. The data collection, for this thesis, consists of interviews with some student-teachers at Malmö University. The results showed that traditional teaching methods along with fear of making linguistic errors are two of the main reasons. In addition, negative evaluation from peers and fear of producing grammatically incorrect sentences are also factors that contribute to some pupils’ anxiety over speaking English. According to our interviewees, the implementation of a safe, supportive and communicative environment in the classroom is crucial for encouraging and motivating pupils in language learning. Providing different authentic communicative tasks, songs, stories, and games that are related to pupils' lives and interests, as well as their needs and knowledge levels, are some of the strategies employed by some teachers.

La enseñanza remota de la interpretación es un campo de investigación interdisciplinario que se aborda desde enfoques teóricos y prácticos diversos en las últimas dos décadas. Los estudios exploran desde las experiencias de los docentes y estudiantes de interpretación que participan en comunidades de aprendizaje a distancia, hasta la evaluación de la efectividad de los entornos de aprendizaje virtual (VLE) diseñados para el desarrollo de las competencias del intérprete. Las investigaciones revelan que los modelos pedagógicos socioconstructivistas, como el aula centrada en el estudiante y el aprendizaje colaborativo, no caen en desuso en las aulas virtuales: e incluso pueden potenciarse con las nuevas tecnologías. Algunas regiones del mundo experimentaron este salto a la educación virtual por primera vez en 2020, con la pandemia por COVID-19 y la restricción prolongada de la educación en modalidad presencial. En el caso del programa de pregrado en Traducción e Interpretación Profesional (TIP) de la Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC), el proceso de transición a la virtualidad en la línea de interpretación implicó la rápida adaptación de un VLE que permitiera a los estudiantes alcanzar los objetivos formativos de los cursos, a la par de replicar los modelos pedagógicos de la institución. Este estudio de corte cualitativo explora, por medio de entrevistas personales, las experiencias de siete docentes de interpretación, en torno al proceso de adaptación de un VLE que busca replicar, entre otros aspectos, el modelo de aprendizaje colaborativo en los cuatro talleres de interpretación del programa en TIP de la UPC durante 2020. El estudio también recoge, por medio de dos grupos focales, las percepciones de quince estudiantes de interpretación en relación con el VLE y el aprendizaje colaborativo durante los cuatro talleres dictados en modalidad completamente remota. / Due to its interdisciplinary nature, remote interpreting training has been studied from different theoretical and applied approaches in the past two decades. Research topics range from analyzing instructors’ and learners’ perspectives as members of a long-distance learning community to evaluating the effectiveness of tailored virtual learning environments (VLEs) in the development of interpreter’s skills. Findings reveal that socio-constructivist educational models such as student-centered environments and collaborative learning are not losing ground in virtual classes—in some cases they are even boosted by new technologies. Some regions in the world made the big technological leap into e-learning for the first time in 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and extended sanitary restrictions for on-site education. In this particular study’s case, the undergraduate program for Professional Translation and Interpreting (TIP) at Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC), the transition to fully-remote interpreting training demanded a fast adaptation of the previously non-core VLE to one capable of enabling students to accomplish their courses’ learning objectives and teachers to replicate UPC teaching approaches. Through several personal interviews, this qualitative study looks into seven teachers’ experiences on the process of adapting one VLE to replicate, among other things, collaborative learning in each of the four interpreting courses in the TIP program during 2020. Through two separate focus groups, this paper also explores the perspective of fifteen students regarding the VLE and collaborative learning during the fully-remote education period. / Trabajo de investigación

For many years universities communicated generic graduate attributes (e.g. global citizenship) their students have acquired after studying. Graduate attributes are skills and competencies that are relevant for both employability and other aspects of life (Barrie, 2004). Over the past years and due to the Bologna Process, the focus on competencies has also found its way into universities' curricula. As a consequence, curricula were adapted in order to convey students both in-depth knowledge of a particular area as well as generic competences (Bologna Working Group on Qualifications Framework, 2005, Appendix 8). For example, students with a Master's degree should be able to “communicate their conclusions, and the knowledge and rationale underpinning these, to specialist and non-specialist audiences clearly and unambiguously” (p. 196). This shift has been supported by the demand of the labour market for students that have achieved social and personal competencies, in addition to in-depth knowledge (Heidenreich, 2011). On course level, this placed emphasis on collaborative learning, which had led to “greater autonomy for the learner, but also to greater emphasis on active learning, with creation, communication and participation” (Downes, 2005). The shift to collaborative learning has been supported by existing learning theories and models (Brown et al., 1989; Lave and Wenger, 1991; Vygotsky, 1978), which could explain the educational advantages. For example, collaborative learning has proved to promote critical thinking and communications skills (Johnson and Johnson, 1994; Laal and Ghodsi, 2012). As Haythornthwaite (2006) advocates: “collaborative learning holds the promise of active construction of knowledge, enhanced problem articulation, and benefits exploring and sharing information and knowledge gained from peer-to-peer communication” (p. 10). The term collaboration defies clear definition (Dillenbourg, 1999). In this article, cooperation is seen as the division of labour in tasks, which allows group members to work independently, whereas collaboration needs continuous synchronisation and coordination of labour (Dillenbourg et al., 1996; Haythornthwaite, 2006). Therefore, cooperation allows students to subdivide task assignments, work relatively independent, and to piece the results together to one final product. In contrast, collaboration is seen as a synchronous and coordinated effort of all students to accomplish their task assignment resulting in a final product where “no single hand is visible” (Haythornthwaite, 2006, p. 12). Due to the debate about digital natives (Prensky, 2001) and “students' heavy use of technology” in private life (Luo, 2010, p. 32), teachers have started to explore possible applications of modern technology in teaching and learning. Especially wikis have become popular and gained reasonable attention in higher education. Wikis have been used to support collaborative learning (e.g. Cress and Kimmerle, 2008), collaborative writing (e.g. Naismith et al., 2011), and student engagement (e.g. Neumann and Hood, 2009). A wiki is a “freely expandable collection of interlinked Web ‘pages’, a hypertext system for storing and modifying information - a database, where each page is easily editable by any user” (Leuf and Cunningham, 2001, p. 14; italics in original). Thereby, wikis enable the collaborative construction of knowledge (Alexander, 2006). With the intention to take advantage of the benefits connected with collaborative learning, this doctoral thesis focuses on the facilitation of collaboration in wikis to leverage collaborative learning. The doctoral thesis was founded on a constructivist understanding of reality. The research is associated with three different research areas: adoption of IT, computer-supported collaborative learning, and learning analytics. After reviewing existing literature, three focal points were identified that correspond to the research gaps in these research areas: factors influencing students' use of wikis, assessment of collaborative learning, and monitoring of collaboration. The aims of this doctoral thesis were (1) to investigate students' intentions to adopt and barriers to use wikis in higher education, (2) to develop and evaluate a method for assessing computer-supported collaborative learning, and (3) to map educational objectives onto learning-related data in order to establish indicators for collaboration. Based on the research aims, four studies were carried out. Each study raised unique research questions that has been addressed by different methods. Thereby, this doctoral thesis presents findings covering the complete process of the use of wikis to support collaboration and thus provides a holistic view on the use of wikis in higher education.:Introduction Theoretical foundation Research areas and focal points Research aims and questions Methods Findings Conclusions References Essay 1: Factors influencing wiki collaboration in higher education Essay 2: Students' intentions to use wikis in higher education Essay 3: Facilitating collaboration in wikis Essay 4: Using fsQCA to identify indicators for wiki collaboration

Im Rahmen des Bologna-Prozesses wird verstärkt auf Gruppenlernen und Virtualisierung gesetzt. Ziel dieses Beitrags ist eine Aussage über die Effektivität von Gruppenlernen im Virtual Classroom (VC) aus sozialwissenschaftlich-theoretischer Perspektive zu treffen.