An Internet service to develop cooperative learning environments

In this paper we will describe a new Internet service aimed to support the development of cooperative learning environments and a system based on the service. We will analyze the motivations that brought us to define and create the new service, then we will summarize the main characteristics of the protocol and the system developed to allow students and teachers to cooperate in an effective way through the Net. We will also give an overview of some models used to limit typical problems due to an interaction wich is no longer face to face but mediated by the computer, making the most of potentialities of the new environment.