Trust: the basis of the collaborative interaction

This contribution focuses on the role of trust in developing collaborative learning. Both in face-to-face and online environments, four types of learning interactions are required: interaction with resources, with teachers, with peers and with an interface. Collaborative interaction, and therefore collaborative learning, requires people to trust one another. Several factors, such as shared social norms, repeated interactions and shared experiences, have been suggested to facilitate the development of interpersonal trust; as far as temporary teams are concerned, the concept of "swift trust" has been proposed. It is suggested that collaborative online interactions - compared to face-to-face ones - require people to draw on a greater amount of trust. Specific communication behaviours and member actions facilitating trust in online learning groups are identified, and a model of trust development in virtual teams is presented and discussed in order to draw guidelines for the online course design.