IT Applications Theory Slideshows

By Mark KellyMcKinnon Secondary CollegeVceit.com

Online community & their tools

People who work together or socialise because they share an interest.

They use ICT* tools to assist with:• collaboration• knowledge sharing• collective identity

What is an Online community?

*Information and Communication Technologies

Community Types

• Social• Work-based• Project/interest-based

Online Community Characteristics

• Shared interest• Desire to share information, ideas on that

interest• Cooperative• Members may be widely-separated

geographically• Can be broad cultural differences between

members

Characteristics• Members often speak different languages, and

come from different cultures– May lead to misunderstandings or difficulties with

understanding accents or local slang

Translation is not always easy or

accurate …

Needs of online communities• Security – to keep out vandals, enemies• Public access – to spread their interests• Privacy - e.g. using avatars, nicknames• Sharing information & resources• Ego – a way to earn recognition for skill• Socialising• A way to be heard• Making community decisions• Participating in projects

These needs affect their sites

• Some sites are heavily secured, closed sites• Some are open to all visitors• More or fewer info sharing tools (e.g. Wikis,

forums) depending on what their aims are.

Tool categories:

- Synchronous (in real time, e.g. live chat, phone call, videoconference)- Asynchronous (not in real time, e.g. email, web forum)

Common online tools

Synchronous good!

• Immediate, good for emergencies• Issues sorted quickly

Synchronous bad!

• Has to be attended to immediately. Disrupts other tasks.

• Hard to coordinate a good time for both parties to talk (especially if in different time zones)

• Instant responses or decisions may be required: it can result in poorly-thought out or badly-worded or impulsive and regrettable comments.

Asynchronous good!

• Can spend time contemplating a response and carefully crafting a reply.

• Can collect and deal with a message when it's convenient for you.

Asynchronous bad

• May be a considerable time lag between sending a message and getting a reply.

• Unable to do quick follow-up questions as you can with real-time communications.

• Discussions may take a lot of slow back-and-forth correspondence

• Lacks a ‘human touch’ – not good for team solidarity or seeing colleagues as real people.

Common Toolsemail mailing lists

web forums Social networking

Live chat instant messaging

web sites blogs

networked databases shared calendars

project management tools Wikis

Content-management systems What do these do?

The right tool• No one tool is perfect for everything- need a

selection.• Synchronous tools need people to be available

at the same time, regardless of time zone• Visual tools allow extra non-verbal

information e.g. facial expressions, body language

• Email allows attachments and time to reflect and compose a thoughtful reply, but lacks subtle non-verbal cues

Security

• Encrypted documents• SSL (secure websites)• Virtual Private Networks (VPN - secure

internet channels)• Virus / malware / trojan / spam filters

Online communities may need

• 1. Shared Access to Data / Files• A secure place for storing data, documents,

discussion threads etc so members can access the shared data, and add to it or edit it.

• Different privileges for different members, depending on their status or data needs.

• Building Social Engagement• Blogs and Instant Messaging Systems display

the real-time presence of others• Enable real time discussions • Help build community solidarity via

spontaneous face-to-face teamwork.

By Mark KellyMcKinnon Secondary Collegevceit.com

More info:http://www.mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au/vceit/virtualteams/tools.htm

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IT APPLICATIONS SLIDESHOWS