Communication & Collaboration

Online collaboration and communication

Web tools on Web 2.0 provide a place that is easily accessible by everybody on collaborative work. With a wiki, colleagues can share their knowledge easily on the web to form a knowledge base. Blogs can be used to share their experience in some developments. Moreover, web 2.0 tools can be obtained and integrated easily to form an integrated tool that suits their need to increase productivity. For example, using google drive for collaborative editing on documents, using google map to indicate locations, using wiki to share information between the employees, etc. In such a way, companies can save their cost on purchasing the same amount of tools to be used in the company.

In the context of sales, with the help of web 2.0. Marketing has shifted to online basis utilising social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, etc. These platforms provides a way such as “comments”, “follows” functions to allow the interaction between the company and the target customer. Based on a survey conducted by Techdirt Insight Community, 49% of the respondents said collaborative online tools have a positive impact on their jobs and most of the respondents said that they are using external websites for external purposes. In such a way, companies can easily reach and interact with the public.

Advantages

  • Peer support practically and emotionally.
    Through working as a group, collaboration nurtures networking. Allows university students to build up their social and professional network. Students could get help from peers when they’re stuck and learn together, they all could learn from different perspectives.
  • Build up their sense of responsibility, since one’s work may depend on other’s.
  • Preparing an online collaborative workspace for projects act as a simulation of how a group of professionals work together.
  • Produce and present as a group provides an opportunity for students to learn from others’ work and mistakes.
  • An opportunity for students to express their diverse opinions and develop communication skills.

Disadvantages

  • Some students might not feel comfortable in collaborating with the others through online discussions.
  • Students might not be able to join in online discussions, because of their commitments in personal and professional life.
  • Diverse skill and knowledge level among group members, which might lead to unfair working conditions.
  • Communication of ideas and progress might be delayed because of delays in communication and responses.
  • A discussion group could be beneficial for students. However, participating in a discussion group means there are extra effort to participate in another social event.
In the emerging information society, students are required to employ a growing variety of cognitive skills in order to connect with the others and solve problems in digital environments. Therefore, digital literacy is crucial for online communication and collaboration, in which students are needed to have the ability to access, evaluate, analyze, and synthesize multimedia digital texts; the ability to create multimedia expressions; the ability to communicate online; and the awareness, attitude, and ability to use digital technology appropriately (Martin ,2008).
 
Reference:
Martin, A. (2008). Digital literacy and the “digital society.” In M. K. Colin Lankshear (Ed.), Digital literacies: Concepts, policies and practice (pp. 166-167). New York: Peter Lang.

ICT plays an important role for modern young people communication and interaction especially in teaching and learning. New skills and strategies are required to deal with the ever changing environment. Unlike traditional learning practices, empowered by technology, collaboration in learning can further foster better learning results. The authors have also highlighted students are now digital natives and although even the new literacy is kind of new to them, these tools tend to be easily adopted and embraced by them.

Furthermore, use of different inventory and tools in collaboration provide a space for learning and for connecting with other people. Besides helping the students to adapt their own Personal Learning Environments and also build their digital identities. Few inventories were introduced, for example Google Drive, virtual classroom, social networking platforms, wikis or blogs should take into account for the teaching and learning plan.

The following positive aspects for effective online collaborative work: 1) access to peer knowledge, 2) availability of other students to provide feedback, 3) ability to access the technology at one’s convenience, and 4) an opportunity to reflect on the exchanged messages (Ellis, 2001). As a teacher, to facilitate students achieve these by developing students’ personal learning environment, an effective learning platform, like Microsoft Teams which includes Web 2.0 features allowing students to work together simultaneously. Students can share and edit their works anytime and anywhere. They can chat and call meetings with their classmates and teachers through Teams.

Reference:
Ellis, A. (2001). Student-centred collaborative learning via face-to-face and asynchronous online communication: What’s the difference? In Proceedings of the 18th Annual Conference of the Australian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (pp. 169-177), Melbourne, Aust