USING ONLINE TOOLS TO SUPPORT COLLABORATION

Over the course of this blog experience, l have collaborated with other bloggers online via different means. Collaborating online today has never been easier; there are a number of options that alter collaboration in real time. These include but are not limited to sharing articles and papers, images and videos, websites and media to presentations, tasks and more. This blog post is going to consider all types of collaborative means that apply to my experiences.

This post is going to start out by discussing my experience using forum and chat room collaboration. I am a member of many different types of forums and chat rooms. In my opinion this online environment facilitates learning, collaboration and cooperation. Take for instance; school forums (like moodle and webct) which are one of the most popular e-learning technologies that encourage and support collaboration. I have always had a positive experience using chat rooms but most especially forums. A forum is an asynchronous technology; which does not require all participants to be online simultaneously. Therefore, it allows members from a variety of time zones to interact at a time that suits the individual. This is one of the major advantages l appreciate when using forums for collaboration. Another added advantage is that most forums have the option to send updates from the forum directly to your email account. This l call an added advantage because it serves as some sort of medium when others create/update/comment on topics. However, l have come across forums that are simply daunting. In other words, too many posts, feedbacks or comments completely overwhelm one when trying to get information. This only happens when one does not structure the forum accordingly or when there are to many members registered to a single forum. In reference to chat rooms, l have used it occasionally mostly for quick interaction or to send over a file. However, chat rooms l feel have not nearly benefited me as much in comparison to forums or emails. This I believe is because often time chat rooms turn to of-topic when used which eventually becomes a waste of time. Also, chat rooms can become very disorganized at a moment and confusing when one is trying to get a point across. So, moderation in chat rooms is always the best route to take.