EXE, WEBCT AND COOPERATIVE LEARNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION

It is an undeniable fact that education in virtual environments is here to stay, especially when we are referring to university studies. I have been developing this line of work since 2004/2005 at the University of Almeria, being responsible for various subjects which were mainly virtual.
For Vygotsky (1978) education and development are directly related to motivation, and during the 2010/2011 academic year we have started one of the most motivating elements: the game, being focused from a cooperative perspective.
One of the innovative features offered by virtually teaching is the big capacity of cooperation which both teachers and pupils are working in, as well as communication tools, synchronous and asynchronous. On the other hand, it helps students everytime they need it.
Cooperative work, apart from improving achivements, facilitates groupal self-evaluation. A close relationship is established between students themselves and the teacher and his/her students, being the whole project guided though online tools, resulting the birth of effective working relationships and the proposed goals.
It will be the cooperation capacity in virtual settings what I will try to explain in the next paragraphs taking into account how the environment is created as well as the tasks, groups and goals. I will attach some statistics and quotes from the groups I have been working with.
I will Introduce how they virtually worked through the WebCT platform and exe in didactic courses, the area of Music Education, and the Faculty of Education