Distance learning technology has repeatedly been cited as a way to reduce the cost of advanced education and to bring training to the masses. Drawbacks aside, this technology will be used in many educational settings and it is therefore important for educators to understand its advantages and limitations. Researchers in the field of computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) have been building research systems for years that support distance learning. To expose students to the difficult issues in this area and to learn more myself, I taught a course on CSCW in the Fall 1997 semester in which we used CSCW tools. In this talk I describe the course structure, the technology we used, and the outcomes of the course.

The course website is at: http://bmrc.berkeley.edu/courseware/cscw/fall97/index.html.