ABSTRACT
Peer and Cooperative Learning in Online Courses Benefits There are many benefits for both learners and instructors when engagement in team projects is a requirement of the course. The opportunity to work with other classmates closely on an assignment provides the chance to learn a great deal from others. It is important to always actively engage online learners in the course content. Team projects inherently bring a social aspect to the forefront. There will be opportunities for team meetings, sharing, and time to contribute to the overall project which will make learners feel more connected to others in the online course. For online instructors, having to grade five team projects versus twenty individual projects also has its advantages. The instructor can spend the same amount of time that they would to grade individual assignments; however, more detailed feedback can be given since the instructor would have more time and energy. Another benefit of team projects in online courses is that larger projects become manageable since the workload is shared. This is particularly true for online courses that are accelerated, running in less weeks than traditional semester bricks and mortar courses.
