Collaborative e-Learning in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA): Towards a peer-assisted construction of knowledge

Abstract

In this essay, I consider the use of virtual forums as didactic tools that foster peer-interaction and collaborative learning, and which contribute to a non-hierarchical construction of knowledge in the classroom. Online forums enhance students’ interactive, rhetorical and problem-solving skills –abilities that will be crucial to them in their subsequent professional careers. I also propose several methods to activate and monitor such forums in a positive, time-efficient manner for the lecturer, and which strengthens many of the learning skills put forth by the EHEA (European Higher Education Area).