Distributed Collaborative Learning in a Telematic Context: Telematic Learning Support and its Potential for Collaborative Learning with New Paradigms and Conceptual Mapping Tools

CSCL (Computer Supported Co‐operative Learning), better called TSCL, Telematic (and IT) Supported Co‐operative Learning, seems to be driven by both social dynamics (like the tendency to reduce the formal training component in industrial settings, and have it replaced by training on the job, handling EPSS, etc) and technological facilities like Internet‐based communication tools. This paper reports a recent research plan that anticipates the situation where individual learners, all having their individual learning agendas, look for partners in their learning process. TSCL, then, can assist those learners to announce them to the learning community, and also find appropriate partners to co‐operate with. As far as educational institutes are concerned, we expect them to increase the level of autonomy for the learner. Teaching in this case becomes ‘facilitating the information access to the learner’ and ‘facilitating the communication between actors in the learning process’.