Designing collaborative activities in virtual environments for learning

This paper demonstrates the connection between organisation, collaboration and learning in virtual learning environments (VLEs). Our main focus is the investigation of the extent to which course developers and course instructors need to consider organisational measures and design in order to trigger (self-guided) learning and collaboration of participants within online learning environments. The design of these virtual learning environments involves an intricate balance between the following elements: the organisation of the content; how the instructional activities are sequenced; how the interactions between students, tasks, and materials are structured; and how the learning process is evaluated. Mentorship must be present throughout this process. Aspects of mentorship can manifest themselves in a variety of ways including: asking an expert, true mentoring, tutoring, and peer to peer support.