Click here to receive your FREE subscription to Campus Technology
Article
Research Collaboration in the Ephemera of Web 2.0
3/19/2008
Research collaboration over distance is better with the Internet, right? ... Right?Let's consider just one example. We started a research project in December with e-mail and, long after participants in this new endeavor begged to switch to a wiki and/or other Web 2.0 tools, we stayed with e-mail as our only community "location." Only now, 3 months later, have we started ramping up our interaction by using various Web 2.0 apps and services.
Were we just slow to adopt new collaborative (or social networking) sites and apps? Perhaps. Or were we wise to wait to incorporate new tools? Let's examine our progress in light of our project and what we need for the way we work:
- E-mail time. Researchers need time to formulate ideas. In our case, the idea behind the collaboration was new and mind-bending. It involves understanding how higher education thinking skills can be developed in Web 2.0 space. Not a one-to-one relationship, obviously, but more like a one-to-let's-go-back-to-the-original-concept-and-start-over relationship.
Examples of our inquiries: testing whether the concept of synthesis could be learned through a mashup. And if so, how? Is reflection learned in a group chat? And how can an instructor manage chat in order to do that? Is the concept of persona understood through developing an avatar in Second Life? And, in all cases, how does one assess such activities and then capture evidence of the process?
Because these are complex questions, we did not have ready ideas to contribute. So pauses -- days, or even a week or two -- were necessary to work through these complex questions. We did not need the quick interaction of a social networking site quite yet. If anything, we needed to slow down and pace our communications.
- Side conversation time. Researchers need time to create discreet elements of the overall initiative. Many of us talked privately, via the plain old telephone system, about the ideas in this project, and exchanged private or small group e-mails.
- Social networking time. Researchers need time to develop familiarity and trust. A number of us have not met each other in person. Yet, each of us can make significant contributions to the initiative. In e-mail, we established each other's bona fides. But, being human, we needed a few more social clues. So, we started a Ning ( http://www.ning.com/) site where we can post photos, do a thumbnail profile, blog, broadcast to the whole group, and collaborate in several other ways. The initiative then had a new home base with its own URL. We could set this site to "private only" and to "join by approval only" to retain the focus of the discussion.
- File sharing time. Researchers need to share files. Ning, as valuable as it is to humanize the discussion and build community, does not support file sharing. For this, we have been using Google Docs (docs.google.com/), and we may look at Pownce (
Recommended Reading
- California Community Colleges Partner with Waterfall Mobile on Statewide Emergency Notification Coverage
The Foundation for California Community Colleges (FCCC) has awarded a statewide emergency alert notification contract to Waterfall Mobile. The contract establishes Waterfall's AlertU as an approved technology through the official non-profit foundation for the California Community College (CCC) system office. Through this partnership, individual colleges may directly implement emergency communication services, eliminating lengthy technology evaluation and RFP processes.
- King's College and ASU Add e2Campus for Improved Emergency Notifications
King's College and Arizona State University have switched to Omnilert's e2Campus for emergency notification. Omnilert also has introduced a new program called the ENS Conversion Service that allows schools to bulk upload data from their previous emergency notification system into e2Campus at no charge.
- Saint Joseph Builds Out Wireless Network in Multi-year Upgrade
Saint Joseph's University has begun deploying a Meru Networks wireless local area network across its Philadelphia campus as part of a multi-year effort to bring wireless coverage to every building on campus.
- Vista Ramp Up Is Happening Now, Study Says
Organizations may have been slow to adopt Microsoft Windows Vista, but expect that to change by late 2008 to 2009, according to a Forrester Research report by Benjamin Gray et al., published last week.
- Talisma Launches New Version of CRM with Built-in Application Management
Talisma Corp. announced version 8.0 of its constituent relationship management (CRM) application for higher education. The new release includes application management, a revamped user interface, two-way text messaging, personalized Web portals, and an ADA-compliant Web client, among other enhancements.
- Bringing Composers into Classrooms Through Skype
Two Pennsylvania teaching colleagues with an interest in music and technology are bringing remote experts into classrooms at almost no cost, using Skype's free videoconferencing technology.
