Online, Not Distance Education: The Merits of Collaborative Learning in Online Education

Abstract As a result of the rapid technological innovation and its disruptive power also on the educational sector, teaching and learning practices changed fundamentally and new forms of education, as well as totally new degree programmes emerged. Today, higher education institutions (HEIs) make use of different online resources and new collaborative tools by integrating digital technologies and the internet fully within the curricula. However, although online education offers numerous advantages and has the power to overcome traditional barriers in education as time and space, many higher education institutions are still struggling with issues such as fostering student collaboration on one hand and reducing feelings of social isolation on the other. In the present case study, we analyse a blended Bachelor degree programme in Management at a European business school with the aim to provide practical suggestions and inspiration for implementing e-learning and online education in higher education. The introduced case demonstrates how collaborative learning aspects, organisational and pedagogical structures, philosophical assumptions and educational settings can be combined to decrease one of the main challenges in online education, namely distance.