SOCIAL DIMENSION OF VIRTUAL COLLABORATIVE LEARNING

Abstract

The objective of this article is to analyse the social dimension of virtual collaborative groups. Even though, very often, these aspects of informal and affective character are underestimated or separated of those related to learning, there are many studies in educative environments that show how the social dimension is articulated as the key and necessary issue for the group success. It has to be born in mind that the social dimension is closely related to the atmosphere created, to the perceived community feeling and to the learning achieved. From an ethnographic process carried out in 4 teams belonging to one subject in the Open University of Catalonia, the study focuses on the definition of some social dimension analysis categories of online collaborative groups. They are, on one hand, focused to formal aspects, in outline/with broad strokes, and on the other to the relationship construction. The article also analyses the use and the evolution of the categories obtained in the different stages of a team creation. In general, it is being verified that the personal or informal resources are the most frequent in the initial and final stages of a team life; whereas the social elements are more linked, to a greater extent, to the tasks carried out in the development stages.