Organisational computer supported collaborative learning: the affect of context

The purpose of this introduction is to provide a brief overview of the arti cles in this special issue and also a framework for understanding, designin g and evaluating strategies for cooperative learning in the workplace and i n educational environments. The special edition is divided into two parts-I ssue 1: Computer Supported Collaborative Learning in Formal Education, and Issue 2: Computer Supported Team and Organisational Learning in Workplaces. In general, Issue 1 focuses on collaborative learning in primary and secon dary schools and in the University setting. Issue 2 is meant to focus on le arning in complex and often highly stressful work situations which mostly r equire intensive communication in groups or teams and in each case allow fo r learning in the wider organisation. This introduction outlines a set of t hemes that can be found in the following papers and traces briefly how each paper fits within each discussion. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd, All rights reserved.