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Assignment 3 Design, Learning, and Collaboration Jonathan Marbach 1.which "collaborative technologies" do you know about? I'm really not sure. I guess it depends on what you consider a "Collaborative Technology" to be. I guess you could call Newsgroups, Messageboards and Mailing-Lists collaborative technology. I suppose also that Code Version Management software is considered collaborative. Online, mulit-user games could fall into that category as well, depending on the nature of the game - team based games apply more. 2.which "collaborative technologies" have you used? I've been on a 3d-graphics mailing list for a while in which people post problems and others post answers. When you do have a problem, the first thing to do is to search the archives and if you don't find your answer there, you post to the list. Not a very unique setup but it is very successful and if you follow it enough, there is a small community that arises from it: you get to know the people who ask and answer the most. 3.discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the "collaborative technology" which you do know best? Oops. I think I did that with #2. I guess a strength is that it does exploit the symmetry of ignorance in that someone always has the answer or can get to someone who does. The weakness comes from people using the list as a crutch and not taking the time to search the archives first, thus many typical questions are asked over and over. Asking for guidance on a particular tricky technique and asking for handholding are two different things. 4.can you think of any theories, conceptual frameworks, specifications which would guide you in developing "collaborative technology"? Not really. 5.have you ever read a book (or books) about collaboration? Not really, but I think Ray Kurweil's Age of Spiritual Machines did discuss some issues of how information-on-demand might change things. I can't remember what he said though... That book focuses more on machines than humans, but then again, maybe it doesn't... You'd have to read it! 6.discuss the following statement: "collaborative technology will have little success in non-collaborative environments" Well, I think one thing the statement might be hinting at is that if people aren't taught to expect to collaborate, then they won't accept a collaborative role. Currently, the model in the US is very centered on the individual, and of course it is - if everyone thinks they need their own car, everyone will buy a car for themselves. That kind of attitude propels the economy. Anyway, before I go too far off topic, my hunch is that you have to teach people to collaborate, much as we have to teach children to share. As an aside, I think it is found quite a bit in the computer field that people have this "I know everything about everything" attitude, which of course is never the case, so to go along with my last statement. I think we have to teach people to accept the symmetry of ignorance. (Is there another way to say symmetry of ignorance that sounds more positive? For example, should one say "Variance of Expertise" or something like that?
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