A Web Based Collaborative Learning System Using Concept Maps: Architecture and Evaluation
The growth of communication technologies in the last two decades has led to development of web based learning systems for a variety of applications. The efficiency of such learning systems has often been enhanced by the use of collaboration tools and techniques. This study proposes a method of collaboration for construction of Concept Map of learning among a set of 'n' learners divided into 'k' groups using Short Message Services (SMS) This concept map is used as a sequence for construction of learning system. The functional modules of the architecture of this system are derived from the 'Extended' theory of Meaningful learning proposed by David Ausubel. Two approaches have been used for evaluating this collaborative learning system. Firstly, paired t test was conducted on student marks before and after collaboration to find the degree of significance between these. Secondly, efficiency of the collaboration process is computed using a set of Collaborative Efficiency Indexes (CEI) derived from a set of proposed metrics.