Negotiation-tools in CSCL-scenarios: do they have a valid use?

Within discursive knowledge construction, students are expected to negotiate within their collaboration as soon as they face opinions, concepts, or meanings differing from their own. Therefore, negotiation has become a central issue of CSCL research. In an experimental field study with 16 groups of 3 individuals each, we examined whether the demand to use technically supported communication (e-negotiation) within an asynchronous and spatially distributed setting has a positive influence on group discussions and knowledge integration. Our results indicate that the implementation of e-negotiation is in fact advantageous, but does not automatically lead to a successful result. Employed intensively, e-negotiation allows group members to emphasize incompatible ideas and therefore offers advantages especially in creative problem-solving processes.