Technology Use in CSCL: A Content Meta-Analysis

This study examined technology use in Computer Support for Collaborative Learning (CSCL). A content meta-analysis of empirical CSCL research was carried out to address three research questions: (1) What kinds of technologies are being used in CSCL research, (2) What kinds of collaboration are supported, and (3) What are the contexts of technology supports (e.g., learning domains, educational levels, and pedagogical approaches)? Empirical CSCL studies were selected from seven leading journals of the field. Analyses of a random sample of these studies showed that CSCL applications typically embedded more than one technology in their environments with the most common technology being communication technology. Perhaps not surprisingly then, distributed collaboration was more frequently supported than face-to-face collaboration in CSCL applications. Analyses also showed that CSCL was carried out across a range of disciplines in a variety of pedagogical contexts. Based on the analyses, five different types of technological supports for collaborative learning are proposed.