Using integrated electronic environments for collaborative teaching/learning

Abstract

Comparative international reports and evaluation reports or audits on the quality of university studies reflect a concern about the quality of graduates in their plea for more skills-oriented education, more real-life orientation of study, more group work and interdisciplinary collaboration, less emphasis on declarative knowledge, et cetera. This transformation of education requires a new approach to the design, development, and implementation of both curricula and education; a reengineering of the instructional design process. The position of this contribution is that traditional didactic instruction and instructional design models — at least at the level of higher post-secondary education — must be relegated to the past. The future (and even the today) of learning is constructivist design and development of collaborative and cooperative learning situations in powerful integrated electronic environments.