“laboratories without walls” collaboratories the online professional communities of learning

“laboratories without walls”

Collaboratories The online professional communities of

learning.

The Plan

Review of this week’s readings 3 field trips to local collaboratories Introduction to the Activity! 45 minutes to spend on the Activity! Take a short break. Regroup to share and compare. Debrief.

Collabatories Finholt Scientific Collaborations at a Distance Teasley & Wolinsky

Collaboratories are a form of Internet mediated science where scientists are connected to each other, to instruments, and to data independent of time and location


Collaboratories seek to address these issues: convenient access to scarce instruments,

specialized equipment and unique datasets common work setting to support interaction

among geographically distributed collaborators resources and mechanisms to support large-

scale projects or “big science” (Weinberg, 1961) inclusion of non-elite scientists in collaborations


Issues faced in collaboratory settings: technology access issues: platform, network, complexity competition among collaboratory members and fear of

being anticipated, or scooped, by others—also IP issues fear of work load increase for sites hosting instruments

(unfounded in some cases, EMSLC) local participants may resent the invasion of remote

participants lead scientists may withdraw from collaboratory

interactions, leaving the collaboratory without central leadership

measures to determine return of investment of time & resources


Technology challenges of distributed collaboration:

entry barriers to technology-based environments

construction of shared attention knowing who is who in a shared interaction turn-taking mechanisms broadcast orientation versus joint work DYSWIS

Different (Key)strokes for Different Folks: Designing online venues for professional communitiesBringelson & Carey Deliberately designed environments (as

opposed to organically evolved) Both designed as meeting places for

community learning Ad-free, business-free

Tapped In Educators

TeleCHI Human-computer interaction professionals

Different (Key)strokes for Different Folks: Designing online venues for professional communitiesBringelson & Carey

Tapped In Work schedule (short

day, home in evenings) Seasonality (school year) Tech knowledge low Campus-type interface Synchronous seminar-

type events “Greeters” to draw

visitors “Rooms” sponsored by

other organizations

TeleCHI Work schedule (longer

hours, brief clear windows

Participation is event-oriented

Tech knowledge high Events-focused interface Events to promote

interactions between graduate students and practitioners

Regular events to draw visitors

Design factors


Previous exposure to tech Access to new/developing tech Time and rhythm of access to the venue Breadth and depth of the community Sustainability of interactions

RAMP Model Work Roles Tech Artifacts Metrics for success Supporting changes in Process

Member Characteristics to Consider


“All communities…must engage and involve members.”

“A community is a group of people who are willing and able to help one another. In this sense, community is more than a way a group of people defines itself: it is a capability that can be developed and improved over time.”

On-line communities: helping them form and grow


Invest in the means, not the ends Focus relentlessly on the needs of members Resist the temptation to control Don’t assume the community will become self-sustaining

(create support infrastructure) Consider environmental factors

“More than one OLC manager observed that introverts and extroverts adapted very differently to the online tools”

Extend community-building beyond the discussion space Seek out and support members who take on informal roles

Roles tend to remain constant within community, regardless of the individual filling them.

What Works?

Measuring the success of an online community – Joseph Cothrel

Why are ROI calculations not done? Concerns about attaching dollar values to human

relationships Fear that calculating ROI for community efforts is

impossible 3 principles to measuring success:

Define business objectives/how will success be measured

Ongoing measurement and reporting on performance Use measures to make fact-based decisions to

improve community over time

Measuring the success of an online community – Joseph Cothrel

Community ROI Incremental value: value created for a

business by the presence of an online community; could be money, employee satisfaction, product development cycle times

Conversion rate: rate at which community results in desired action; e.g. buy a product

Community member: member-to-member interaction; affect decisions by referrals; provide targeted market

3 field trips to local collaboratories

Science, Physics, Aironomy Research Collaboratory (SPARC)http://www.windows.ucar.edu/SPARC

Bug Scopehttp://bugscope.beckman.uiuc.edu/

The Collaboratory for Community Supporthttp://comnet.org/collaboratorycs/

ActivityPlan a Collaboratory in only 45 minutes!Each of these areas represents a bit of

description of a group and their presumed practices. Please feel to invent the details that will assist you in answering the questions that follow.

Research Groups: Competitive Science Collaboratory K-12: Kids are research scientists too!

http://bugscope.beckman.uiuc.edu/ SOCIAL POLICY: altruistic, socially minded,

non-profithttp://comnet.org/collaboratorycs/

ActivityTell us about your Collaboratory: What sort of “laboratory without walls” will

you form for your group of researchers? How will you recruit people to participate? How will you retain people, interest and

funding? How will you measure the success of your

collaboratory? How do you differentiate your collaboratory

from a research data base?

“laboratories without walls” collaboratories the online professional communities of learning

Documents