Background to the study
The complexity of the process of designing online collaborative activities that will
actually result in collaborative learning is an issue that educational researchers
need to continue to work on. Many educational researchers accept that the basic
principles of the socio-cultural approach are important for the design of learning
environments, but "the adoption of these principles have been hampered by a
complex chain of elaborations before the principles can be used for developing
specific tools" (Ludvigsen and Morch, 2010, p.93). As suggested by Dillenbourg,
Jarvela and Fischer (2009) finding a route through to effective use of methods
and tools has proved resistant to solution, particularly in technology enhanced
learning environments.