Communicating & Collaborating Online - Groupware
Required Resources:
Outline:
What is Groupware?
Groupware is the term commonly used to designate software systems that allow people to communicate and work together over a network. It is also closely associated with the terms "collaborative software" and "social software." The study of the use and design of these systems frequently goes by the name CSCW ("Computer Supported Collaborative Work"). Groupware can also include software for supporting communication in a group or lecture context where all of the parties are physically present (e.g. PowerPoint presentation software, audience polling systems).
Part of the globalizing influence of the Internet and the Web has been the fact that collaborations over distances have become increasingly common. For example, work on all kinds of collaborative projects occurs via email, teleconferences, and increasingly, by video and audio conferences occuring over the Internet. One very common form of "groupware" that doesn't receive direct attention in the assigned readings (probably because of its commonness and invisibility as software) is represented by email lists. These are used to exchange email messages within groups. Any message sent to the special email address designated for the list is received by everyone subscribing to the list. Email lists (also known as LISTSERVS) can be very useful in building and sustaining communities of practice.
This course (FIS 1311) relies heavily on groupware, and provides everyone with experience in using at least two of the most common groupware applications: Conferencing or discussion forums, and blogs. According to the widely-used categorization of this software (discussed in Usability First: Groupware), these forums and blogs are "asynchonous" and "distance" groupware technologies.
In academic contexts, systems that provide "groupware" functionalities are often called "Learning Management Systems" or "Course Management Systems." Examples of these types of systems include "WebCT," "Blackboard" and "SAKAI." These systems are designed to enable the type of interaction that has occured in classrooms: giving and completing assigments, instructor-led discussion, small group acitivites. In many cases, these educational systems include features such as content organization and grade management that are not typical of other groupware systems.
Activity - Starting a Blog:
Create an account at www.blogger.com to set up your own blog. The purpose of this blog will be for posting the project profile and review assignments in this course, and having others comment on this work.
You can also use this blog to share information or experiences (e.g. about hobbies, studies, technologies) with others in the class, or with the world at large. Just make sure that these postings are of the kind that you don't mind your classmates and instructor(s) seeing. Setting up your blog at Blogger.com involves a number of steps:
- Click on the "create your blog now" link at the www.blogger.com home page.
- User names: The blog settings page asks for your user name. There are lots of people on blogger.com (just like any popular service, like Hotmail), so you may have to be flexible with the user name you choose. Often a combination of letters and numbers is most likely to be available (e.g. norm1311).
- Choose any password that you'll be sure to remember; for the display name, you can use your own name, a nickname, or a pseudonym.
- Be sure to select "I accept the terms of service."
- Name your blog: Choose a blog title that reflects something about yourself and/or your interests. If you can't come up with a name, feel free to use something like Norm@FIS or Norm1311.
- To give your blog an address, choose a short combination of characters that is unlikely to have been used by someone else before. In fact, you can use your user name (or your blog name) if it is short and otherwise appropriate.
- Word verification: This is done to prevent abuse of the blogger.com serivce by Internet bots (see Wikipedia entry on Internet Bots).
- Don't choose advanced options unless you're confident that you can host your blog on a server of your choosing.
- Choose a template: pick any one you like.
- Create your first post, welcoming others (your classmates, at least) to your blog. You can explain the purpose or scope of your blog (You'll be using it for FIS 1311 assignments, but you're encouraged to use it for other purposes, too.)
- Be sure to "Allow New Comments on this Post" --and on the other posts you make as a part of FIS 1311.
- Tell someone else in the class about your blog, and find out about someone else's blog.
- Send the Web address of your blog to: scott.paquette@utoronto.ca (A list of addresses for the blogs created in this course will be posted in a password-protected location online.)
- Post a comment at one other person's blog.