A Principle for CSCL Design: Emergent Division of Labor
Abstract: This paper deals with an aspect of human activities that is referred to as emergent division of labor (EDL). This refers to the nature of collaboration wherein people interactively and contingently organize, maintain, and reorganize division of labor. The authors argue that this field of EDL is crucial for collaborative learning to serve as a rich repertory of learning opportunities. The practice of EDL is demonstrated with an ethnomethodological analysis of a collaborative learning scene in a face-to-face situation, and the conditions necessary to accomplish EDL are discussed based on the case. Furthermore, from the viewpoint of EDL, design principles of computer support for collaborative learning (CSCL) are proposed.
Presider: Dominique Bourgeois, Research Laboratory Center on Media, Information and Knowledge