Position Paper for Awareness in Collaborative Systems
Submitted to:
Susan E. McDaniel and John Brinck
Greetings:
Thank you in advance for considering my position paper for
participation in your CHI '97 workshop. Your workshop theme sparks
real interest for me. I am currently involved with distance learning
collaborative environments. The aspect of awareness in computer-mediated
communication and distance learning is certainly important to address at
this point.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Regards,
------------------------------------------------------Laurie P. Dringus, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Nova Southeastern University
School of Computer and Information Sciences
3100 SW 9th Avenue
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33315
Internet: laurie@scis.acast.nova.edu
http://scis.nova.edu/nova/hci/top.html
954-262-2073 (work)
954-262-3915 (fax)
Position Paper:
Awareness is an important concept to define and achieve to produce rich
online learning environments (Dringus, 1995). Since 1983, Nova
Southeastern University and its School of Computer and Information
Sciences (SCIS), has used electronic collaborative tools to join faculty
and
students online in asynchronous discussions (e.g. email, bulletin boards)
and synchronous classrooms (e.g. the Electronic Classroom (ECR), a
real-time distributed blackboard/conferencing environment). The tools
and
systems we use have dynamically changed and improved over the years, yet
the underlying concepts of facilitating groups working together at
different times or locations, are as important to us now as they were in
the early days of our inception of online delivery programs. The SCIS is
increasingly using the Internet as an unique opportunity for faculty to
create rich online learning environments for courses. Creating a rich
learning environment is a challenge and difficult prospect for educators
to
effect without some concentrated thought to visual presentation of the
course information and activities, the functional aspects of the
interface,
and the availability and choice of collaborative tools that assist with
creating an AWARENESS that "class is now in session."
All of the aspects that the organizers describe in the first paragraph of
the workshop participation call, are issues we must deal with on a
continued basis in electronic/distance learning environments. We must
consider "what information to provide, how to provide it, how to give
users control of the information....."
A well-designed online course nurtures collaborative communication and
interactivity, whereby "awareness" is (or should be) in the control of
the
participant. Tools that support awareness as a concept of collaborative
communication and interactivity form a mirror that reflects how the
learning environment will be perceived by students and faculty as a
dynamic
location for communication and learning (Dringus, 1995).
However, awareness has been difficult to concretely define. Not everyone
agrees on what awareness is or the extent to which awareness should be
conveyed. We have attempted to approach this by creating learning
metaphors (such as the ECR) to strengthen the perception that a real-time
environment exists to provide learners, at any-time and any-place, with
ample
opportunity for meaningful collaboration and discussion. How is
awareness
perceived? How do collaborative systems (and people communicating)
effect
this concept? How is a balance achieved between providing too much
awareness (as in information overload, for example) and supporting the
needs of learners without interfering with natural communication
processes?
I anticipate this workshop will assist me to explore the concept of
awareness from a variety of angles as the organizers suggest in the
workshop participation call. I am looking forward to extending the
outcomes of this meeting to my current research in collaborative learning
environments.
Reference
Dringus, L.P. (1995, Fall). Interface issues associated with using the
Internet as a link to online courses. Journal of Interactive Instruction
Development, pp. 16-20.
Biography
Laurie P. Dringus, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the School of
Computer and Information Sciences at Nova Southeastern University, Fort
Lauderdale, Florida, USA. She earned her Ph.D. in Information Systems
from
Nova Southeastern University in 1991. She teaches graduate courses in
human-computer interaction and decision support systems. Several of her
courses are accessible via the Internet. Her research interests focus on
design and evaluation of human-computer interfaces, usability
engineering,
computer-mediated communications technology and user performance, group
support systems, and distance learning environments.
is:
laurie@scis.nova.edu. Her Web site URL is:
http://scis.nova.edu/nova/hci/top.html
Her email address