eLearning Roadmap

Across a wide range of disciplines, faculty are developing courses and activities which require groups of students to work collaboratively. Features such as wikis and other collaborative writing tools, virtual learning environments, and video annotation technologies are being explored and implemented by growing numbers of faculty across campus.

Driven by necessity, distance learning programs in Duke’s professional schools have been among those leading the exploration of emerging tools for online collaboration. However, use of these tools is also becoming more common in campus-based courses to promote active and collaborative learning both within and beyond the classroom.

One area of great interest to faculty has been the use of tools to promote collaborative writing. Faculty have described increasing use of wikis, both within and outside of Blackboard, to support group projects and other collaborative efforts.

Online video-enhanced collaboration tools for communication with individuals and groups at remote sites has also been an area where faculty are either actively engaged in using these tools or indicate that they plan to become more actively engaged in the near future. Limitations of low bandwidth connections have been one barrier to exploration.