Students’ Preferences of Communication Tools for Group Projects in a Computer-supported Collaborative Learning Environment: A Survey

AbstractThe role and importance of information technology and computers cannot be ignored due to their extensive usages in different application areas. Along with easier access to the Internet and computers, education has become one of the foremost areas benefiting from this progress. Minimizing geographical barriers and facilitating knowledge sharing between people are some of the outcomes of this progress. Because of the advances in information technology, needs for minimizing geographical barriers and facilitating knowledge sharing, computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) has emerged. In this study, types of communication tools used by students to share their knowledge during their group projects were analyzed (excluding the e-mail service) in terms of preference. A survey containing questions about demographic information and preferences of communication tools used by students during their group projects was conducted to a reasonable number of students and results are presented in this study