Supporting online collaboration: an empirical study from the e-tutors’ perspective

In the last two decades, the epistemic-engagement view has become the dominant frame of reference in the field of e-learning. In this view, learning is assumed to emerge from social interaction, namely from learners-tutor-content exchanges (Larreamendy-Joerns & Leinhardt, 2006). The problem is that learning does not happen just because technological tools and pedagogical devices make it possible. Literature indicates a number of potential interventions in order to make interaction possible and more effective for learning. But little is known about the e-tutors' beliefs and practices, e.g. how they intervene on the design and management of CSCL courses in order to foster learners' social interaction and knowledge construction. In the present study, 78 e-tutors involved in e-learning experiences from 17 European countries were asked to complete a web-based questionnaire, in which they described their interventions on the input (characteristics of participants, technical aspects, didactical organization), process (cognitive and social aspects of group work and feedback provision), and output features (evaluation of products and processes) of their courses. Results show that e-tutors acknowledge the importance of creating favourable conditions for social interaction in CSCL, and that they mainly act for this purpose on the technical and didactical design of their courses. Moreover they also report systematic support to the learners' epistemic activities, but report infrequent interventions either to avoid pitfalls in social interaction (e.g. free-riding), or to foster more effective socio-cognitive dynamics (e.g. perspective-taking in argumentation, social influence). Future research and interventions on e-tutoring should drive more attention on these neglected features of CSCL.