Improving Online Collaborative Learning: Strategies to Mitigate Stress

Online collaboration allows learners to exchange ideas and views beyond time and space constraints. However, there is evidence that it can present psychological challenges for learners such as stress. It is generally agreed that persistent or excessive stress leads to negative beliefs and results in poor learning performance. This study examines four stress factors in English-based online collaboration in Japanese universities, namely low self-efficacy, poor instructional design, lack of technology skills and collaborative process itself. It also investigates effects of two selected facilitation strategies in reducing stress and improving engagement in online collaborative learning environments.