ABSTRACT
The Association of American Colleges & Universities has identified the use of collaborative assignments and projects as a high-impact educational practice because these activities combine “learning to work and solve problems in the company of others, and sharpening one’s own understanding by listening seriously to the insights of others, especially those with different backgrounds and life experiences”. Asynchronous online courses allow students and the instructor to participate per their own schedules, usually according to weekly deadlines. Scheduling collaborative work can be challenging regardless of the course modality. All collaboration relies heavily on clear communication; however, the asynchronous online medium exacerbates the possibility of communication gaps and misunderstanding. Although many challenges are inherent in creating collaborative learning experiences in online asynchronous courses, there are compelling reasons to make the effort. Online educators can apply a number of strategies and approaches to overcome these challenges to implement collaborative learning successfully.
