Collaboration, easy as 1, 2, 3...

Throughout my professional career, I’ve had to collaborate with colleagues on a variety of projects. Some of these experiences were on large committees and others were with smaller groups. I found that the Three Musketeer rule as put by out 37 signals is probably true. The smaller the group, the better the results.

How does this translate to online collaboration? Instead of a boardroom filled with people trying to hash out changes to a document or website, now collaboration can be done remotely. Employees can be on opposite sites of the globe and yet work together on documents.

This all sounds fantastic, but the road to collaboration isn’t easy. You can’t just slap a document online and expect people to be able to produce content without prior planning. In fact, planning is of utmost importance. And after planning, the next consideration is relationships. People who collaborate need to have trust in each other and be able to rely on each other to get the work done.

Recently in the graduate course I’m taking, Elements of Visual Design, we have had some unique opportunities to collaborate online. Not all of these ventures turned out perfectly, but each project taught valuable learning experiences.

Wiki
One of our first projects was to collaborate on a class wiki dedicated to specific elements of our class. Each student was responsible for a different element. Because of this, most students wrote the entirety of their own entries. Instead of collaborating on the wiki pages together, it became more like editing each other’s work. Now, this is an element of collaboration that is important, but not necessarily the intent of the assignment.

The class truly came together when one student was unable to do more than a simple outline on his/her page. I wrote the first paragraph. Then another student jumped in to add more. Then another. Together, we all finished the page. This situation turned out to have encouraged collaboration between students eager to pitch in and help out.

Writeboard
This experiment was truly more a collaboration. Unlike the wiki experience, where the setup made us merely editors of each others work, the setup of the writeboard contributed to more cooperation. The writeboard consisted of a single document, where users can see changes made by others. Unlike the wiki where a single person was responsible for the content of a page, no single person was responsible. So, students were more likely to add to the work, feeling less like they were treading on another’s territory. The resulting document has a little bit of everyone.

Forums
Online forums are another area of collaborative learning. Students can hold discussions on certain topics. At first this method was not very active in my particular class. It felt as if students were talking directly to the professor, but not each other. In this area more student/professor interaction occurred. This parallels the interaction that normally occurs in a face to face class.

However towards the end of the semester when our final shared project began, more discussion is beginning to take place in the forums. Students are sharing plans and ideas.

Online class vs face to face

One would think that an online class would foster online collaboration. It is the only way the students converse, and therefore should make sense that they would have to work together that way. However, each student reads assignments and does homework at different times and at their own pace. One might not even be aware of a posted collaborative assignment before another starts working on it.

Another disadvantage for an online class is that lack of physical connection. There is no hanging out after class to discuss how to approach a project. There is no eye contact and no way to gauge another’s interest.

This goes the same for student/professor interaction. There is no way to judge tone of voice, to see if one is getting something right. It is difficult to judge tone in electronic text.

Since students approached assignments like the wiki project on their own time, there was no discussion beforehand. As Maish Nichani, points out in Planning: Sustaining Wiki-based Collaboration Projects prior planning is key. In our eagerness to attack the wiki project, we didn’t sit down and discuss it first.

One of the advantages is that members of an online class are accustomed to using technology to communicate and create projects. Online students also need to be good at time management in order to complete the coursework. These skills are key in online collaboration.

Suggestions

Each class is different, and especially with an online class, students have their own time commitments outside of the online classroom. However, one way to address the lack of planning before a collaborative project would be to hold a real time chat beforehand. This doesn’t have to be long, and should give students enough time to brainstorm the project and parcel out duties so they could work separately.

When I took my first online course, my professor had students introduce ourselves and then required us to respond to other’s introductions. This had the side effect of having the students relate to each other on a personal level before the class began. This way, we were less afraid to speak to each other. This parallels that whole ‘hanging out after class and chatting’ situation that is difficult to recreate in an online course.


Final Thoughts

Collaboration is an important aspect of the workplace in various different industries. Working in an online setting has various pros and cons. The technology makes communication easier. It’s also easier for changes to be seen and commented on across screens instantaneously. There is no more waiting for packages or faxes to arrive and go through yet another editing process. Also, online collaboration allows members of a team to contribute to projects no matter where they are, even if they’re on the beach.

However this online collaboration breaks down if there isn’t a personal relationship between the collaborators. Add in lack of planning and then no manner of technology can help. Technology is a tool, like so many others. Users need to use this tool to help them, not let technology take over for the sake of technology.

After my experiences with this course, I am going to use one of the technologies we explored in my professional career: writeboard. However, I am going to use it in combination with face-to-face meetings with my coworker, where we will plan elements of our grant application before we set out to write our document. This way we will make the best use of the technology to serve our needs.