Collaboration in Software Engineering classroom

The rapid computer and communication technologies development have dramatically influenced the educational process in recent decades. Thus, the learning itself, considering a learner and the influence of learning environment, has to be re-conceptualized. Relying on modern teaching and learning activities, the collaboration, involving the interaction with others, critical approach to other people work, and acceptance of criticism and alternative viewpoints, has become especially important aspect of any engineering education. Computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) appears as one of the basic learning strategies in education processes nowadays that increases the overall knowledge of the participating learners. In this paper, using the CSCL principles, we have described the importance of: interaction; cognition and context; and collaboration within the networked computer-mediated environment, in the engineering education process. Besides that, two open source software products have been extended in order to provide the interactive CSCL environment that stimulates students' interaction and aids the creativity and critical thinking development.