Collaborative environments for sharing resources

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Contributions to this page

This page owes much of its existence to many generous (past and future) contributions.

Anyone can contribute to this page and reuse its content under the default knowledgeGarden Copyright license. Please read the knowledgeGarden copyright page for more information. Please share your thoughts and ideas about this topic (URinvited2). Please leave your name underneath the section/comment you have written. Please also add your name to the list of contributors below. Thank you for contributing, your comments are much appreciated.

Some of your comments will be directly integrated into the write up for each section. Once again all of your comments are very welcome and extremely appreciated.


knowledgeGarden members:

Justyna Nathalie? Paula Butler Kate Asra Yasmeen Penelope Thompson Nicole Long? Cherry Stewart? Janet Bradley? Jane?


Comments outside of knowledgeGarden:
Luz Romero, professor, Spanish department, University of Ulsan, Korea
John Scott, professor, English department, Jeong-ju University, Korea
Victoria Kim, professor, English department, University of Ulsan, Korea


A copy of this page is also available for public access under the name a copy of Justyna's facilitated page - Please do not leave comments there, use this original page instead. Thanks.

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Introduction

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Page description

This page explores different ways teachers/educators can share resources and the reasons behind using collaborative environments for such purposes. However, the issues discussed on this page can also be easily applied to other groups and organizations, such as student and company collaborations. The page takes a look at collaborations from two points of view, social and technical. The social aspect of collaborations is discussed first.

The tools for collaboration are discussed in the "Knowledge sharing and communicative tools" section, and their technical aspects in greater detail on a separate page: Knowledge sharing and communicative tools. The possible technologies discussed include: wiki pages, HTML web pages, blogs, social networking sites, conferencing systems, and so on. Please feel free to contribute to the content and leave links to relevant knowledgeGarden pages and external resources.

As this is a very vast topic, certain areas are still in great need of input and "expert" contributions. Please don't hesitate to share your opinions on the give topics and technologies. I intend to keep this page open for contributions for future references.

Related knowledgeGarden pages
Using Wikis to build learning communities amongst academic staff
Building a community of sharing teachers
TOC: Technologies, tools and applications

External links
http://web.mala.bc.ca/lizhk/IDesign/collaborate.htm - a list of collaborative tools and ideas

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Defining collaboration

External links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaborate#_note-2 - Wikipedia's article on "collaboration"
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/collaborate - Dictionary.com's definition of "collaborate"
http://www.city.londonmet.ac.uk/deliberations/collab.learning/panitz2.html - Ted Panitz's article on collaborative vs. cooperative learning

Communities of practice

"The concept of a community of practice (often abbreviated as CoP) refers to the process of social learning that occurs when people who have a common interest in some subject or problem collaborate over an extended period to share ideas, find solutions, and build innovations. It refers as well to the stable group that is formed from such regular interactions." (Wikipedia, 2008)

Related knowledgeGarden pages
Communities of practice

Avatar	Userpage	Comment
	Cherry Stewart?	I think we need to define collaborate. I think it has quite a different connotation from cooperate. I think that what we are doing on these pages of kG is cooperating to share our knowledge. I believe that collaboration goes one step further and requires the collaborators to exchange and change that information. We are adding comments. I don't notice that anyone really gets in and changes the content to create a new meaning. Our social conventions seem to keep us from moving to the collaboration mode. Perhaps because it really does take deep knowledge of the individuals involved in collaboration to be able to trust enough to actually participate in the give and take that is indicative of real effective collaboration. Lyndsay Grant (2006) Using Wikis in Schools identified a lack of 'community of practice' in the wiki users of his research.
	Justyna	I agree with Cherry that what we're doing isn't exactly a full collaboration - but I would not go as far as to simply call it a cooperation. If anything, I think that I'd call it "collaborative cooperation". The scope of our own assignments keep us from collaborating closely with others. I guess that there are different levels of collaboration - one can definitely be described as supportive collaboration - this is what I see happening a lot on our pages. I've found comments very helpful to the overall content of my page. I've also rearranged parts of my page based on comments and contributions from others.
	yourname?

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Why set up a collaborative environment?

• An online collaborative environment is possibly the most efficient and most feasible way (in this day and age) to make resources and information available to a large audience. A well-designed environment can lead to "minimal development time" (see Natalie below) and open up time for additional activities or further development.
• A collaborative environment will allow for more resources to be created and used, especially in areas where "suitable commercial material" is hard to find (see Paula below).
• In large groups or organizations, finding the time to set up a meeting or a seminar can be very difficult due to different scheduling and availability, a collaborative (online) environment can allow all members to participate at their own discretion and on their own available time.
• Educators need to continuously learn and upgrade to keep up with the growing demands and developments in education. The sharing resources can be a kind of learning process.
• It is very difficult for one person to filter through and organize the wealth of information available, this is why collaborative environments for specific groups or organizations are so important. Two heads are always better than one.
• Collaborative environments can foster learning outside of the classroom and give the more learners time to research and explore on their own. (Also see Jane below).

Avatar	Userpage	Comment
	Nathalie?	I feel that collaborative environments can be very useful tools in order to share common resources between people with similar job functions or teaching respobsibilitites. There are so many people out there who are in similar positions as us and many of them have gone through the learning process of what works and what does not. I think we have a huge opportunity for elarning by sharing with others and often the use of shared materials can cut down on the amount of time spent on projects etc... As long as we are willing to give and receive and everyone keeps an open mind and gives credit where credit is due, this is a fabulous tool to use. We are currently working on a number of projects at work and within our global company we try to leverage as much as possible from others who have already developed learning materials. This leaves us with minimal development time and we can focus on other key pieces that require our attention.
	Paula	I agree with Nathalie that people with similar job/teaching responsibilities should collaborate. I often complain about the lack of suitable commercial material for me to use with my students here in the Middle East, but there are 14 other teachers in my department in the same situation, teaching the same level of students, who will all have the same exams at the end of the year. That's why our department is very proactive in creating material (generally using the Hot Potatoes software) and sharing it on our Blackboard Vista site. Of course, there will always be those who create more material than others, and some not at all, but those who spend the time generally enjoy doing so, and there is a sense of satisfaction that your material is being used by others. No pressure is put on individual teachers within the department to either create or use the material (apart from myself since I get time release for it!) and this do-what-you-can-when-you-can system seems to work quite well. The only issue is quality, and it can be quite awkward asking the author to make changes due to spelling mistakes or wrong answers before the material is uploaded to Vista.
	Penelope Thompson	I teach EFL in a Korean university and there is currently no unified program for the first year English classes. All the teachers (15 of them) just do their own thing and students are getting a real hodge-podge of styles, standards and content. Testing is totally unreliable in most cases and there is almost no communication between the teachers about anything! I feel sorry for the students as many of them are slipping through the gaps, and ending up at the end of second year as English majors and still not knowing where to put a capital letter in a sentence or what a period is used for. I think a collaborative environment like a wiki and forums could be used to start communication between the teachers to unify the program and share ideas about testing, standards etc. At the moment , some of the new teachers just share resources individually amongst themselves, but it would be great if it all could be posted so everyone could see it. I feel that we are all busily trying to "re-invent the wheel" when the long term teachers have probably done it all years ago, and have forgotten that newer teachers need to find the resources.
	Nicole Long?	I also teach EFL at a Korean university and we have very little in the way of cohesive structure for our teachers to communicate what they are doing in the classroom. As a result, I have recently begun a program wiki to enhance our ability to share ideas and materials. The administration has agreed to look at paying for more space once the initial set up is complete which would mean that we could upload handouts, or PowerPoint demonstrations that we use in class. The wiki also happens to be part of my FET8611 assignment but I think that there is a real need for teachers to create knowledge repositories, help new teachers, revitalize older teachers and create comprehensive systems of learning.
	Justyna	Like Penelope and Nicole, I teach EFL at a Korean university, and our program has the same issues. There is very little formal and functional communication between the teachers and even less resource sharing. All teachers teach similar courses, but there is very little unity. Also, teachers have separate offices (2 per room) and very varying schedules, so actual meetings are extremely hard to set up during the semester. Like Nicole, I've set up a wiki site that will serve as a base of communication and the flow of ideas for all the teachers in my department - which is greatly needed.
	Jane?	As a teacher in a IB school, collaboration is important skill for students to learn. Teachers often ask students to work together in groups to make presentations but there can be little time in the classroom. Online collaboration gives us the convenience to add to our projects whenever we have the time. As teachers we also need this convenience and that is why we enjoy using Googlepages websites for our class pages.
Victoria Kim, professor, English department	I'm currently teaching EFL at the Language Education Center, University of Ulsan, as well as at the Department of English Language and Literature. Since there are only three native speakers in the English Department, and all teach different courses, there is actually no need for sharing resources with each other. On the other hand, there are more than 15 foreigners teaching English mostly to freshmen at the Language Education Center. Usually, new teachers feel a bit lost and frustrated because nobody can actually tell them how it works in our school. A collaborative website could introduce them to the whole system and give them tips how to deal with various aspects of the courses.

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Academic Benefits of Collaborative Learning

• It promotes critical thinking skills. "Collaborative learning develops higher level thinking skills, stimulates critical thinking, helps students clarify ideas through discussion and debate, enhances skill building and practice, develops oral communication skills, fosters metacognition in students, and improves students recall of text content through cooperative discussions." (Roberts, 2005)
• It involves students actively in the learning process. "It creates an environment of active, involved, exploratory learning, encourages student responsibility for learning, helps students wean themselves away from considering teachers the sole sources of knowledge and understanding, fits in well with the constructivist approach and allows students to exercise a sense of control on the task." (Roberts, 2005)

Avatar	Userpage	Comment
	Justyna	Thank you Asra for adding the above topic. I think that learning is a major aspect of collaborative environments. It can also apply to teachers because by creating a collaborative environment, teachers are indeed engaging in so much more than just sharing of resources.

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How to encourage involvement?

"Metcalfe's law states that the value of a telecommunications network is proportional to the square of the number of users of the system (n²)" (Wikipedia, 2008). This law is stated in a variety of situations, and it can also apply to collaborative environments. However, getting the teachers involved might be a challenge at first due to many factors like time restrictions, intimidating technology, and lack of interest. Some ways of getting the teachers to share their resources might include:

• Training, workshops, and help pages - Very often a simple explanation can erase the intimidation factor. If the participants involved feel comfortable with the technology, they will be more interested in sharing what they've created. Also, getting the teachers past concentrating on the technology and, instead, focusing on the result (class notes, module 1.3). (Also see Natalie below.)
• Showing the benefits of the process first hand (see comments below).
• Making all the resources in easily accessible and easy to use formats.
• Making the concept of collaborative very clear: not every user needs to contribute in the same way. It's important that everyone is contributing in the way they feel comfortable. Also, it's important that all users recognize all types of input and contributions.

Avatar	Userpage	Comment
	Paula	Training, training, training! I've found that the biggest problem is fear that the technology that might be required will be too difficult. But often, after some training, teachers are surprised at how easy it is. But the training needs to be two-pronged: technical and pedagogical. They need to be convinced that there is an educational benefit, and it's not all just for show to impress the trustees!
	Nathalie?	I think that by educating them on the benefits is important - if they can see the value in using such a tool you will get more buy in and the data pool with become a great resource for a number of people. If someone learns they can cut their development time in half by sharing work many of them will jump at the chance. Encourage them to look and see what resources are available and make sure that it is in an easy to use format and accessible from almost anywhere.
	Nicole Long?	Another aspect that I think is often ignored in this idea of a 'shared learning environment' is the natural selfish impulses that many people have to keep their best materials and ideas to themselves. I agree with Nathalie that it's important to show them that they'll personally gain from being able to participate in a common group.
	Justyna	In my case, it's important to make my coworkers understand that a blog entry or a page comment is also a contribution - a dialogue between teachers is the first step to a successful collaboration. I agree with Nicole that some people might be reluctant to share their personal favourite material. It's really important that people understand that they should contribute to their best abilities or to their own personal limits.
	Cherry?	I have been trying to encourage staff at my university to enter into an online learning environment as a professional development activity. Most of the potential users have found that it 'takes too much time' to get involved. I have noted these same individuals working very closely together and mixing socially in the staff room. Yet, entering into a similar arrangement online has been avoided.
	Jane?	I think that there must be a need. If you can't see why to do something then there will be little motivation to do it. At my school we connect online but maintaining class sites and using the Google Apps for mail and Google Docs that can be edited collacbortively.
	Justyna	I agree with Jane that there must be a need, but even then, it can be difficult to get people to join. In my case, the need has been recognized by some more motivated teachers, but unless management is involved in some way, the others will still be reluctant to join. Obligation is probably a stronger motivational factor, but that can also have disadvantages - quality, unless controlled by management, can suffer if people feel forced into a clooaboration.

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Possible difficulties

There will always be a number of difficulties or setbacks to get past. These might include:

Technical factors

• Glitches in the system and platform incompatibilities
• Server issues
• Cultural restraints and problems with accessibility
• Lack of proper technical support (or inadequate technical support)

Human factors

• Quality of material uploaded is poor due to spelling or oversights (also see Paula above).
• Reluctance to share material if others don't contribute.
• Users not being comfortable using the technology.
• Users not interested in sharing or communicating at all.

External links
http://blogs.salon.com/000200 7/2006/08/27.html#a1624 - article on underuse of collaborative tools
http://www.anecdote.com.au/archives/2006/09/why_people_dont.html - a further discussion on the above article

Avatar	Userpage	Comment
	Paula	You mention the problem of those not contributing, but I think we have to realise that there are people who are just simply not good at making materials, and shouldn't be encouraged to do so! This does not mean that they are not good teachers. Creating material that is suitable for a whole department is a skill in itself. Those who don't actually create materials can still contribute to the collaborative environment in another way, perhaps some kind of administrative role, or carry out research with which others can then use to make materials. Horses for courses!
	Justyna	I agree with Paula that defining what constitutes a contribution is very important (see "how to encourage involvement" above) to the overall success of the collaboration.
	Cherry?	I would agree that there are those who find it difficult to relate their classroom interaction to the 2D environment of print or the net. Yet, in the current economic and social climate, it seems that the only ones who have the support of an educational designer is the commercial world. Schools and universities expect that teachers/lecturers will know all about the educative process and how to transfer from one medium to another. It really is important that the administrators come to understand that there is a real need for design support.
	Janet Bradley?	The difficulty I am finding is our management isn't learned in the theory of "communities of practice" or the benefits of collaboration, and therefore isn't supporting the idea. It seems they have worked in isolation in the past, answering questions one on one. In late December I suggested we have a common area on our new LMS so those in the pilot could share their experiences in building their courses. Space was created but no one can post anything as it's locked and they're not posting anything. I emailed to the other five members on three occasions inviting them to meet, either online or f2f, and only two responded. When colleagues don't have a common meeting time scheduled into their timetable, it is impossible to arrange for a group to meet. Unless the encouragement comes from the top, and unless they promote the benefits of sharing resources, sadly I can't see it happening here.
	Jane?	Yes there are staff that don't contribute. It's important that we don't let those people hold everyone back. It is just not a real expectation that everyone will always contribute every time. I mean just look at these facilitated pages for example.
	Justyna	I agree with Jane. It is of vast importance to push on forward and continuously develop ourselves and better our working environment. Those who refuse to collaborate should not be forced to do so, and the rest also shouldn't expect to always move at the same pace.
Victoria Kim, professor, English department	I consider collaborative website to be a great tool for all users, since you are not only contributing to the website by uploading your resources, but also learning from others. It seems to me that most of the teachers are not willing to contribute to the website, because they are too busy, feel uncomfortable to share, or simply because they don't trust each other. That's too bad … for the school (since the whole organization thing is a mess), for the students (since they sometimes can get confused), and for the teachers themselves (since they need more time for preparing their classes).

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What is your experience with collaborative environments?

Avatar	Userpage	Comment
	Justyna	I have three very different collaborative experiences. (1) My first online collaborative environment was in FET5621. That was also my first experience using an LMS. I found the experience very rewarding and very helpful. (2) knowledgeGarden, so far, has been a very positive experience. (3) Unfortunately, until creating a collaborative web page for my department (as part of an assignment), I've never experienced an organized and supported sharing system at work. I've tried to set up a peer group before that would meet once a month or so to discuss classroom issues and share resources, but after receiving rather negative and disappointing feedback, I gave up. My web page is my second and hopefully more successful attempt at peer collaboration. It was slow to start, but slowly but surely the site is growing. This experience has been very frustrating and exhausting, but as I am starting to see more feedback and involvement, I am starting to feel more positive.
	Nicole Long?	I've had fairly negative experiences with collaborative environments both in courses and in the workplaces. People are simply too busy or not interested in the 'imagined' benefits of participating. I think that the concept of these 'shared spaces' is still too new for many people to grasp their value. My assignment 2 is a collaborative wiki which is struggling because many co-workers, who claimed to be excited at the possiblities, are now saying things like; "People won't visit my site so why will they use a wiki." or "I don't have time right now."
	Cherry?	A few years ago, I participated in an online learning environment Ikarus where we were given the task to come up with a 'course plan' in online learning PD. This task involved collaborative group work, because we needed to investigate and agree on the platform to be used, as well as the content to be incorporated. The task was achieved over a four week period, involving seven participants from around the world. For me, it became a very collaborative experience.
	Janet Bradley?	I had a very positive experience in collaborating last semester when my USQ colleagues had to create a WebQuest. One of the members came from Oman to the UAE to work with me one Saturday. I worked with another colleague in Prague until the early hours of the morning - and she introduced me to software similar to Ellumniate or Wimba, where we viewed each other's desktops. We built the web pages together. That part was very exciting! However, it always seems that in a team, there are one or two who take the lead and end up finishing the project, which I found to be the case in this instance.
John Scott, EFL professor	In my experience, collaborative work environments have been extremely useful. Where I work (a uni in Korea) we have a programme that has several levels and each level uses a specific textbook. With a staff of 20 and a various amount of different teaching methodologies being employed, it is difficult to determine the success of our programme. A few of us teachers set out to find out exactly what our students thought about our classes, textbooks and teaching styles. We did this by using students surveys before and after 2 semesters. Surveys were designed to be anonymous and they contained a variety of questions (some short answers, such as what did you, didn't you like about this class) ... Arranging meetings to discuss survey procedures, survey content and how to use the data is a bit difficult because we are in seperate offices and have different schedules. We set up a simple group on Yahoo and used our on-line group to share our ideas, interpret our data and post the survey results for all group members to observe. Simply, if we didn't set up an on-line group the logistics of arranging meetings and things as such would undoubtedly have made the eventual success of our project very difficult.
	Jane?	This Masters is the first time that I have ever participated in the www. Before that I only used it as a resource. I have been studying now for about a year and it has changed my whole outlook. My class blogs get a lot of attention which never ceases to surprise me. I guess that it is because the blogs have become integral to my teaching now. Personally, to a certain extent my class blogging has 'disappeared'.
	yourname?	Yourcomment

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Creating the environment

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Possible content and organization

The content should, of course, reflect the base of the environment and the organization or group for which it is created.

Avatar	Userpage	Comment
	Justyna	In my case, teaching EFL in Korea, these resources could include different ways to: present necessary class material, provide review material, online testing, facilitate classroom participation, encourage learning outside of the classroom, and establish a learning community for the students.
	Justyna	I think that aside from the basic layout there should also be a discussion forum where the members communicate, a place for brainstorming. The content should be organized in such a way that it reflects the program or set up of the organization, possibly facilitating input and orientation.
Luz Romero, professor, Spanish department	Collaborative environments by using technologies should be quite practical for users. For instance, the access shouldn't take too much time with log in or identification steps because they take some time, distract and in most of the cases people need to memorize a password. It would be easier if the whole community of users share the same password. Also, I find that index made with key words, searching windows and sitemaps are quite useful especially for new users and those ones who are afraid of using technologies. If the content is interesting but its access is complex, just few people can reach it.
	Jane?	Yes my class blogs reflect the work that is being done in my classroom. They help the students to share their point of view and to connect with each other. I also have a rule that everything on the blogs must connect to our school work.
	yourname?

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Facilitating usage for everyone

• The site's name is of vast importance. A simple name (as simple as possible but as relevant as possible) is better since a long name might be difficult for some users to remember.
• Because there is such a "diversity of existing methods and rules", choosing a well-balanced and simple to use toolset is a very important aspect of creating a collaborative environment. (Molina 2005).
• A site must be appealing from two points of view. It must be easy enough to use, but it must also look good. There has to be a good balance between functionality and appearance. For example, the site cannot be too clustered looking or too simple looking. A lot of text can possibly distract or discourage certain members.
• A good site will take into account the level of technical expertise of each member, and make it easily accessible and editable for all members involved but especially those not comfortable with technology. A collaborative environment must be very sensitive to the difference between, what Prensky (2002, as quoted in class notes, module 3.1) calls, "digital natives" and "digital immigrants". The module also mentions (3.9) "digital foreigners" - these are the users that need to be catered to the most.

Avatar	Userpage	Comment
	Justyna	A possible way to make editing very easy is to set up all relevant categories and areas of input beforehand, creating a skeleton of the document to be edited with areas marked "insert your comment here" or "insert your link here".
	Nicole Long?	I've found this article to be quite helpful at looking for good qualities in a web design; Bernard, M. (2002) Optimal Web Design http://psychology.wichita.edu/optimalweb/print.htm, Software Usability Research Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Wichita State University.
	Justyna	As I set up a wiki for my department, I realized that there is a very large difference of how I see technology and how many of my co-workers see technology. What I consider normal and expected technology, one that has "disappeared" into my everyday life (Widham, 2005, as quoted in class notes, module 3.2), is still a bit of a mystery to some. I've had to shift my strategy of introducing the wiki to be really sensitive towards those intimidated by technology. I've also had to re-design parts of the wiki to be very linear and simple.
	yourname?

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Important technical and social components

Trust

Avatar	Userpage	Comment
	Cherry?	I think it is important that the participants in any environment feel comfortable. If they do not trust the other people in the group, they will not be open for learning. If it is a technology based environment, if members of the group have the basics and feel confident about asking others to help them out, it will become a collaborative learning environment. If there is not trust or desire to build such, the learning will not grow. Sometimes, perhaps technology can get in the way, but I think also, if trust is there, the participants will learn the technology in order to be able to participate. Such was my case when participating in the Ikarus project. I think the work done by Gilly Salmon (2003) is very useful in considering how to build the trust between participants as one builds a collaborative learning community.

Page history
One very important technical component of a collaborative environment, especially in wikis, is "page history". It allows the user, as well as, other users to see the changes and progress made within a particular page. This is also a great component in catching and correcting possible vandalism.

RSS Feeds
"Depending on who you talk to, RSS stands for Rich Site Summary or Real Simple Syndication. Either way, RSS is a real important technology that information specialists and educators would be well advised to harness sooner rather than later. In simple terms, Weblogs (and an ever-growing number of other sites) generate a behind-the-scenes code in a language similar to HTML called XML. This code, usually referred to as a "feed" (as in "news feed"), makes it possible for readers to "subscribe" to the content that is created on a particular Weblog so they no longer have to visit the blog itself to get it. As is true with traditional syndication, the content comes to you instead of you going to it." (Richardson, 2004).

RSS is a very important component of collaborative efforts because it allows everyone to stay updated and aware of any changes within the environment.

Related knowledgeGarden pages
Introduction to RSS
Specific RSS software and tools

External links
http://www.learningcircuits.org/2004/may2004/0405_trends.htm - Eva Kaplan-Leiserson's article on RSS
http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7024.pdf - EDUCAUSE: 7 things you should know about RSS


Should good technical components be the main guide in choosing a collaborative environment?

Avatar	Userpage	Comment
	Justyna	I think that certain technical components can make a difference in "whether or not" and "how much" some users contribute to the collaborative environment. For example, the knowledgeGarden wiki is rather complicated to use at first, and the way to edit the pages can be a bit disorientating for novice users (especially those not interested in technology). The "save" function is rather inefficient in the way one must exit the editor (or preview) just to save (back up) even the smallest of changes, and then scroll to the bottom of the page to edit again. I am rather paranoid about losing my work, and I like to save as often as possible, so I find the process in kG rather time-consuming. Other wiki sites (ones with WYSIWYG editors), for example Netcipia, offer "save" and "save & exit" buttons, or make the edit, save, exit, and re-edit process very quick (like in Wetpaint).
	Jane?	Yes! I choose to work with Blogger.com because it has the most tools and is available in Indonesian (my students first language). I tried using Edublogs but they were so limiting that we changed back to blogger.
	yourname?

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Getting and giving feedback

It is important to encourage all users to continue contributing by providing positive feedback and support. "Without the support and participation of a learning community, there is no online course." (Palloff & Pratt, 1999, p. 29, as quoted in class notes, module 4.4) The same can be said about about all collaborative environments.

"People need to feel that when they contribute, it is having an effect." (Bud, 2005, The Key to Online Communities — Fostering Interactivity, para 2, as quoted in class notes, module 4.4.1) Without feedback, the users might get too discouraged or dissatisfied with the success and progress of the environment.

Avatar	Userpage	Comment
	Justyna	I think that in general, most people are better at responding than at starting new conversations, so there always must be that one person who will start. However, that "courage" to start should always be rewarded with feedback otherwise the writer (and others looking at the discussion) might be discouraged from further discussion.
	Justyna	I think that collaborative efforts can keep the energy levels pretty high and encourage everyone to continue to chip in. In my experience in setting up a wiki for my department, the sheer amount of work and editing, coupled with a few technical setbacks, felt very discouraging and was a lot of work for one person to accomplish. I found the initial feedback of 3 my coworkers (who were asked to look at 3 possible wiki hosts) very encouraging. However, once the site was ready to be edited by others, the pause in communication and feedback has so far been very frustrating.
Luz Romero, professor, Spanish department	Communication among the members of a virtual community is the basic essence of a community, if they don't share their opinions or information it would be a little bit difficult to configure the community, but not impossible. It's just a matter of time. Once the technical foundations and resources are created, which is the most difficult part, the users need time to explore them and weigh them up because they are in front of something that is new in spite contents are so related to them. This passive role in getting involved is the first stage of community's configuration. (I don't have the information the "digital migrants, immigrants and foreigners" maybe is quite similar to what I am trying to say here) Some people are stuck down as passive users forever, but it doesn't mean that they are not there. They are part of the community as information consumers. Other users change from passive roles to active roles as soon as they have particular needs, questions or comments to set up, which are the beginning of dialogues. Sometimes replies come quickly, late or never come. However, the speed of replying depends more on human factors than technical factors. Finally, I think that allowing humorous comments helps to create a warming context of feedback and conversation.
	Jane?	Feedback is essential but can be hard to keep up with if you manage a big community. I have 20 bloggers in Grade 5 and soon my 22 Grade 3 will join them. Ahhhhhhh! Secret is to make posting comments to each others blogs a part of the assessment. Mind you, it's the teachers comments that my students hang out for.
	yourname?

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Knowledge sharing and communicative tools

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Where to create the environment?

Because of the nature of collaborative environments, the choice of the space for the environment must be based on the overall efficiency of the space to facilitate "effective collaboration between groups of people" (course readings, module 6.3). Environments that are a part of the "read-write web", such as wikis, are ideal for such projects.

External links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaborative_software - Wikipedia's article on collaborative software
http://llt.msu.edu/vol7num2/emerging/default.html - Blogs and Wikis: Environments for On-line Collaboration

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	Kate	I agree that Wiki's have an advantage over Blogs for collaboration because Blogs tend to be linear in structure and less easy to navigate as the content grows. This blog was created to share Information Literacy instruction, ideas, lesson plans, etc. amongst the 17 colleges of the HCT network in the UAE. HCT Information Literacy Network. The experiences from this blog has shown me that even though its purpose is collaboration, there needs to be a 'champion' or facilitator to ensure that the initial enthusiasm is maintained and the information is kept up to date.
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WIKI vs. HTML

There are some advantages and disadvantages to both approaches, but which one is more productive? Which way is more user-friendly? Which one is easier to learn quickly? Which one is more time efficient?

Related knowledgeGarden pages
reflection on using a wiki vs other tools

External links
http://participation.netcipia.net/xwiki/bin/view/Tutorial/Spirit - Netcipia's reasons for choosing a wiki over a traditional webpage

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	Justyna	I like wikis much better for collaborative projects for several reasons. Wiki code is much easier, even if the code is slightly different for each hosting service, because it's much simpler than HTML, it's still much easier to learn and edit. The user interface is similar to that of web pages, so there aren't many barriers to editing wiki pages (especially using WYSIWYG editors which resemble MSWord editor menus).
Luz Romero, professor, Spanish department	According to my experience, I think that Wiki (Netcipia) is so easy to use, particularly in editing procedures! It's really effective for groups with a common objective.
	Justyna	Wikis are convenient for setting up fluid content that needs continuous editing and augmentation (Lamb, 2004). They are specifically designed to be easily edited by many users.
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Please go to Knowledge sharing and communicative tools for a detailed and more technical look at some of the technologies discussed below.

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Wiki pages

A good wiki page will be able to efficiently combine separate tools into one collaborative environment: forums (blogs), file attachment (document storage), etc. The enormous advantages of of using wikis are apparent when their social implications are considered (Molina 2005). Wikis create a community and allow for fluid discussion and communication.

Because wikis grow and evolve as a direct result of people adding material to the site, they can address a variety of pedagogical needs, like student involvement, group activities, and so on (EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative: Wikis, 2005).

There of course are some downsides to using wikis - mainly because so many people are editing the site:

• "Ownership and control ambiguities where people are concerned that they will not be given credit, that someone will deleting my work, or that someone will misrepresent what I have done." (Davies, 2004, as quoted in course notes, module 6.9.4)
• Possible vandalism and corruption of content
• Possible arguments about deleted content or augmented content

As module 6.9.4 in our course notes suggests, there are a number of different ways to deal with possible difficulties, which include:

• Defining the project and its expectations
• Organizing the site into an orderly structure.
• User training - technical and social.
• Setting up goals and rules.

Examples of educational collaborative communites:

WIKI EDUCATOR is a relatively new community of international educators who have establised a Wiki primarily for networking between education professionals. The WikiEducator is an evolving community intended for the collaborative:

• planning of education projects linked with the development of free content;
• development of free content on Wikieducator for e-learning;
• work on building open education resources (OERs) on how to create OERs.
• networking on funding proposals developed as free content.

Related knowledgeGarden pages
Introduction to wikis
WikiWhys
A NAKED WIKI: How to use Wikis for Teaching and Learning
reflection on using a wiki vs other tools
Does wiki work for me
Wikis in education
Sakai Wiki Tutorial
7 reasons to avoid wikis: And what you can say to counter them!?

External links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki - Wikipedia's article on wikis

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What's your experience with wikis?

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	Justyna	Here are two examples of wiki pages I played around with while looking for the "perfect" wiki for my project (a website for the teachers in my department): Wetpaint and PBWiki. After long and strenuous (OK ... mundane) search, I settled on Netcipia because it had the biggest amount of space (2GB) and the best features (wiki and blog in one). It's a bit more complicated to use than the two sites above and a bit more difficult to rearrange, but as long as you organize yourself well from the start, it's not too bad.
	Justyna	I definitely liked the wiki services which offered WYSIWYG editors because of their efficiency and time saving features. I feel comfortable using code, but a collaborative environment has to be comfortable for everyone involved.
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What are some important rules and guidelines with regards to wikis?

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	Justyna	I think that it is important to clearly establish rules for deleting content. These could include setting up a survey asking other users if the page could be deleted or changed significantly. This is especially vital if the page contains content edited by multiple users.
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Web (HTML) pages

Web pages are a very useful and a very efficient tool to use. You can upload all of your materials and handouts onto a site, and then you (and your peers) can access them anywhere. However, the obvious drawback to using HTML pages is that there can only be one administrator (so access has to be shared between users).

There are many ways to create websites, ranging from novice to expert web design skills. The best way to quickly get a site going is to find a free web hosting service and start with a really simple pre-designed site. Most free hosting services offer WYSIWYG editors (like the one on this site) and site templates (design and colours). Learning HTML is only a good idea if you're really interested in web design, or you have very specific ideas that won't fit into pre-made templates. Designing an HTML site from scratch gives you the most freedom, but you need to either master HTML or use design software such as Dreamweaver (which takes time to learn).

Related knowledgeGarden pages
free web hosting and servers

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What's your experience with web pages?

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	Justyna	This is my HTML site hosted on Tripod and USQ. FET5621 was the first time I designed a site using HTML and Dreamweaver. Before that I always used free hosting services with built-in site builders. I am very comfortable in the design environment, but I realize that so many people still see creating web pages, even using simple sites like Google Pages, as technology that is too difficult to learn. I think wikis might be "less scary" in that sense.
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Is it possible to create an efficient collaborative environment using web pages?

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	Justyna	I think that web pages have a lot of potential because they in general allow for a little bit more freedom in design and layout. At the same time, they are very weak on a collaborative level because all participants must use the same editor to change the site. People can be very intimidated by "extra" technology, such as site builders. In editing a wiki, there is no "obvious" software to use - especially in WYSIWYG modes. I see web pages as too linear and too single-administrator centered for efficient collaboration.
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Blogs

Publishing though blogs have become an "established communication tool" (EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative: Blogs, 2005). Blogs are often used for many educational purposes. They are a good technology to use because they are very common, and many people are already familiar and comfortable with using blogs. Blogs are significantly easier and faster to use than wikis, and they can be a much more convenient way to update one's information - from a single administrator point of view. However, due to their linear structures, blogs might not be as efficient as wikis for large projects.

Blogs are a good collaboration tool because by default they require feedback from users if communication is to continue. "Commenting capabilities in many of the blogging software packages allow for easy peer review for students and teachers and make bringing in experts or mentors from outside the classroom easy" (Richardson, 2004).


Related knowledgeGarden pages
Multimedia Blogging in Education
Blogging to encourage a Community Of Practice

External links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog - Wikipedia's article on blogs
http://www.infotoday.com/MMSchools/jan04/Richardson.shtml - Will Richardson's article on blogging and RSS
Why Let Students Blog

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What's your experience with blogs in collaborative situations?

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Social networking

Social networking systems are a good way to start collaborative environments because so many people are already a part of some social network and many are very comfortable in those environments. However, there are many drawbacks to these systems, mainly the limitations set by the designs and functions.

Related knowledgeGarden pages
Social Networking Software
Social networking sites

External links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites - Wikipedia's list of social networking websites
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_network_service - Wikipedia's article on social network service

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How well can social networks function as collaborative environments?

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	Justyna Szluinska	I think that social networking has potential for collaborative uses, but in general (according to my small experience), most of the services focus on the individual. Also, all the social features and games (especially on Facebook) can be distractive to the overall puropse.
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File sharing

File sharing software allows users to create and edit documents online. This kind of software is especially useful in collaborative environments where more than one person is responsible for creating the resources.

External links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_sharing - Wikipedia's article on file sharing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shared_resource - Wikipedia's article on shared resources
http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7009.pdf - EDUCAUSE: 7 things you should know about Collaborative Editing

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Conferencing systems

Conferencing systems can be a good way of adding the "human touch" to collaborative environments, but many of the systems are limited by computer and speeds and internet connections. In general conferencing systems are a good "extras" to a collaborative environment.

Related knowledgeGarden pages

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Portals

From Asra's Page - Sharepoint 2007:
"SharePoint is a very powerful application, it does a lot more than WebCT. It is a very comprehensive content management system. It integrates with Microsoft office hence you can easily create documents, check them out and edit them. A group of people can work collaboratively on a single document. Its integration with Outlook helps you to share documents easily across the organization. To explain it in simple terms, you can put it this way: SharePoint is the whole college, the building and everything in it the people, the resources, filing cabinets, etc., and WebCT can be compared to the classroom where the actual learning takes place.

External links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Document_management_system - Wikipedia's article on document management systems

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Groups

Groups often offer messaging (by e-mail), link sharing, calendars, file sharing, and photo sharing.



Related knowledgeGarden pages

External links

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Please go to Knowledge sharing and communicative tools for a detailed and more technical look at some of the technologies discussed above.

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Possible resources teachers can include in their environments

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Please feel free to add to this list of resources.

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Hot Potatoes - http://hotpot.uvic.ca/

Related knowledgeGarden pages
Hot Potatoes

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Audacity - http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Related knowledgeGarden pages
Audacity

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Other related topics

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Learning Management Systems (LMS)

LMSs are a way of organizing and managing all aspects of a given course or program, and they include some tools for collaborative learning (course readings, module 6.5). A collaborative environment for sharing resources could be embedded into an LMS.

Related knowledgeGarden pages
Learning Management Systems

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Additional pages of interest in knowledgeGarden

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Online and productivity tools that work

Communities of practice
Discussion Boards for Collaborative Problem Solving

FET8601 Online Teaching: Strategies and Tactics
FET8611 Learnitology: Collaborative Learning Tools
Teaching Ideas

Emerging Technologies and the Impact and Implications for TESOL
Emerging environments in language teaching
Mobile Learning and Social Networking for EFL at a Korean University

Virtual Reality: Active Worlds in Education
Second Life: more than just a game
Learning in a virtual 3D environment: SecondLife

mLearning in 2008

7 reasons to avoid wikis: And what you can say to counter them!?

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References

Course modules are accessible only to students enrolled in FET8611 (semester 3, 2007). All other references (incluing the ones cited in the course notes) can be found below. The dates of retrieval refer to the last date the article was accessed (either by me or in the course references).


Bernard, M. (2002). Optimal Web Design. Retrieved on February 2, 2008 from http://psychology.wichita.edu/optimalweb/print.htm.

Bud. (2005). The Key to Online Communities — Fostering Interactivity. In The Community Engine: Creating Effective Information Communities. Retrieved on 20 July 2006 from http://thecommunityengine.com/home/archives/2005/01/the_key_to_onli.html.

Communities of practice. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved on February 2, 2008 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communities_of_practice.

EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative: Blogs. (2005). 7 things you should know about Blogs. Retrieved on January 2, 2008, from http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7006.pdf

EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative: Wikis. (2005). 7 things you should know about Wikis. Retrieved on January 2, 2008, from http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7004.pdf

FET8611: Emerging Environments for Learning. Course from The University of Southern Queensland. Toowoomba. Australia. Retrieved from http://mystudydesk.usq.edu.au/file.php/32/material/toc.htm.

Grant L. (2006). Using Wikis in Schools: a Case Study. Retrieved on February 6, 2008 from http://www.futurelab.org.uk/resources/documents/discussion_papers/Wikis_in_Schools.pdf.

Jasmeen, A. (2008). SharePoint 2007. In KnowledgeGarden: Our Learning Community. Retrieved February 2, 2008, from SharePoint 2007.

Lamb, B. (2004). Wide Open Spaces: Wikis, Ready or Not. EDUCAUSE Review, 36-48. Retrieved January 2, 2008, from http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERM0452.pdf

Metcalfe's Law (2008). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved on February 2, 2008 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metcalfe%27s_law.

Molina, P. G. (2005). New Student Collaboration Tools. Retrieved on January 2, 2008, from http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/DEC0501.pdf

Palloff, R., M., & Pratt, K. (1999). Building Learning Communities in Cyberspace: Effective Strategies for the Online Classroom. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Prensky, M. (2002). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, retrieved on 23 Sept, 2005 from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf.

Richardson, W. (2004). Blogging and RSS — The "What's It?" and "How To" of Powerful New Web Tools for Educators, Retrieved on February 6, 2008 from http://www.infotoday.com/MMSchools/jan04/Richardson.shtml

Roberts, T. S. (2005). Computer-supported collaborative learning in higher education. USA: Idea group publishing.

Salmon G. (2003). E-moderating: the key to successfully teaching and learning online. Retrieved on February 2, 2008 from http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=www.atimod.com/research/presentations/networking2001.ppt&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8.

Windham, C. (2005). The Student's Perspective. In D. G. Oblinger & J. L. Oblinger (Eds.), Educating the Net Generation: EDUCAUSE. Retrieved on 30 October 2005 from http://www.educause.edu/educatingthenetgen.

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intext citations and reference list

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This page was created by: Justyna Szluinska

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