This report presents the research process that the TACEV group followed throughout the 2000-2001 academic year surrounding their subject area: Team Working and Learning in a Virtual Environment, based on two central objectives: knowing how to organise the learning and co-operative work process in a virtual environment and evaluating which tools provide adequate functionalities to respond to our methodological proposal for co-operative working and learning.

In this sense, we propose that the process a working team follows in a virtual environment to carry out academic activity can be structured into 4 stages that allow correct development and organisation both of the academic activity and of the team. These stages are: Creation, Consolidation, Development and Closure. It was evidenced that at each stage there are certain academic elements that have a relevant incidence when putting a process of learning and team work into practice within a virtual environment. These elements are: organisation and planning, communication and interaction, information management and exchange and transversally those attitudes favouring team work in a virtual environment.

The characteristics and specificities of each stage marking organisation of the activity process and description of the educational elements involved in this process are described within this document.

Concurrently, in this study we also made an analysis of the tools that empowered team work in a virtual environment according to their principal functionalities. The study was based both on the tools used in these subjects for the team work, and on those external tools in existence on today's market.

The main valuations obtained, which we outline in this document, allow us to continue working, as well as deepening our awareness of the subject of co-operative work and learning in the virtual environment, opening new objectives and new research actions this year, 2002.

group work, team learning, methodological process of co-operation in the virtual environment