Discussion Questions for Week 6

Just to give you an idea of the topics I would like to discuss in today's class :)


1. What effect does time and distance have on collaboration?

2. How can collaborative tools that encourage freedom, ease of access, and lack of structure help/hurt collaboration?

3. In what ways may unequal capabilities/privileges among users and “assigned" roles hinder collaborative creativity?

4. What role does accessibility (on-line tools, HTML knowledge, membership only, etc.) play in the success of collaborative efforts? How can the art of simplicity contribute to accessibility?

5. Is order and hierarchy important in collaboration? How so?

6. CoWeb promotes “equal power to all users”. Is this approach effective? Why? Why not?

7. How can steps to enhance the security of collaborative tools hinder/enhance collaboration?

8. When administrators (teachers, supervisors, and people with authoritative power) are present, are collaborative efforts threatened? How? Can power be viewed as an instrument of fear? Control? Respect?

9. Discuss how technology is evolved into a platform for collaboration and a melting pot/salad of ideas in addition to documents, computer programs, and other informative artifacts.

10. What role does individualism play in collaboration? How can participants of a collaborative community maintain individualism?