Cloud Services in Collaborative Learning: Applications and Implications

Abstract

Cloud services have been construed as powerful learning tools for students. Different from previous technologies, cloud services serve the function of synchronous collaboration, which is considered fairly helpful for students’ collaborative learning. Based on this fact, this chapter is primarily dedicated to explaining the relations between cloud services and collaborative learning. Specifically speaking, this chapter firstly points out the merits of collaborative learning and reveals the difficulties in implementing this approach, and then explains why cloud services can be used to overcome these difficulties and thereby facilitate collaborative learning. This chapter also contains several case studies on cloud service-based collaborative learning. Analyzing the findings of these case studies, we found that facilitating conditions, social influence, and social presence are significant factors behind students’ intention to use cloud services in collaborative learning. In sum, this chapter not only gives researchers and practitioners a deeper understanding of the relations between cloud services and collaborative learning, but also promotes the development and application of cloud service in the field of education.