Collaboration use in E-learning: An interview study on how learners use collaboration software in higher education

Abstract: The research in this paper aims to describe how learners in higher education use collaboration software when working on completing group work in an E- learning setting. Prior academic literature regarding concepts of E-Learning, collaboration software and collaboration activities are presented to be able to collect and analyse relevant data from learners about their use of collaboration software. The collection of empirical material consists of five semi-structured interviews, with representatives studying different academic programmes located at two Swedish Universities. From our interviews, we have identified similarities and attitudes from learners about usage of collaboration software, both regarding which collaboration software they use and how they use it. These findings are presented and discussed, along with the software and activities categorised according to the literature.