Perceptions towards Computer Supported Collaborative Learning: A case study of sudanese undergraduate students

Abstract

Learning Management Systems (LMSs) have become very popular among educators to enhance teaching and learning. They incorporate tools such as discussion forums, wikis and other collaborative tools that make them especially useful for building richly collaborative environments. This study aims to investigate the Sudanese students' use and perceptions toward the collaborative learning tools, in particular forum and wiki, in Moodle Learning Management system. The participants for this study were 92 undergraduate students from University of Khartoum in Sudan, where face to face collaboration is a common indigenous way of learning. The students took part in a Software Engineering blended learning course during the first semester of 2010-2011 academic year. A questionnaire was developed to assess the students' views on their collaboration from their perspective. The findings from the study revealed that students appreciated the opportunity to use Moodle collaborative tools and they generally responded very positively to the overall collaborative learning experience. Implications of examining students' views and perception of online collaboration are also discussed.