PeerTalk - Enabling Agent-Enhanced Real-Time Collaboration in MOOCs.

This study introduces PeerTalk, a prototype web tool that enables the easy incorporation of collaboration features into MOOCs. More specifically, the system facilitates the creation of synchronous collaborative MOOC activities during which the user interface of the educational platform is synced in real-time among the learners of the same group. Furthermore, learners are able to discuss via a chat panel, which can also be used to interact with a conversational agent providing support. Following the architecture of the PeerTalk system, this paper presents an expert-based evaluation, which assesses the usability of the system. The study findings are encouraging in terms of the system effectiveness and user satisfaction, setting the path for a series of future studies in the domain of computer-supported collaborative learning.