Demystifying the asynchronous network supported collaborative learning systems
Petros Georgiakakis, Symeon Retalis · International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology · 2006
In this paper, we focus on the design of Asynchronous Network-Supported Collaborative Learning (ANSCL) systems. ANSCL systems offer a variety of features. Developers need guidance for building them to be usable. Design patterns are a promising means for assisting ANSCL developers in this task. In this paper, we give an overview of the ANSCL systems functionality after having performed an expert usability evaluation study of a large set of well-known ANSCL systems. On the basis of our results, we propose a set of relevant patterns for designing usable ANSCL systems.