The Impact of the Internet and the World Wide Web On Distance and Collaborative Learning

The advent of the Internet and the World Wide Web has changed the face of technology especially in the way we communicate and interact. The increasing use of this technology especially in teaching and learning has attracted enormous research efforts particularly in the development of distance and collaborative learning. Even though much gain have been recorded in this direction, there still remains a gap as to how well these highly proliferating web technologies have impacted on the collaboration between students and teachers, students and students, and its overall contribution to distance learning. This paper considered how these web-based technologies contribute to collaborative learning by enabling people to interact with each other from different locations. It identified the factors necessary to optimise the impact of webbased technologies in distance and collaborative learning and concludes by proposing a best-practice guideline that will enhance the impact of the Internet and the World Wide Web for effective distance and collaborative learning. Keywords-Internet; World Wide Web; distance learning; elearning; collaborative learning.