In most cases, co-operation between students in the Virtual Classroom will take the form of open discussion, which is available to the entire student group, Course Director, and other relevant staff. This kind of discussion is almost always legitimate and valuable, and if it is not, the Instructor will intervene to say so. However, any other kind of collaboration or use of another person's work, especially that which is not visible in the Virtual Classroom, runs the risk of being regarded as unacceptable collusion or plagiarism.
To avoid this, you must:
Seek advice from the Course Director before embarking on any collaboration that takes place outside the Virtual Classroom, or in any other case when you are in doubt.
Include, in any work you submit that involved any such collaboration, a statement explaining the nature and extent of the help you received. For example, "Student X and I worked together on this topic" or "Y helped me with part (b)". In some cases, the Course Director may think it is appropriate to take into account the help you have received in determining the grade to be awarded for the work.
Appropriately cite all work you have previously done. Failure to do so constitutes self-plagiarism.