Working together on the Web

Web 2.0 influenced us in our ability to communicate and permeability to share and interact; furthermore, our learning progress would be benefitted too. 

 A web 2.0 site allows us to edit the content of the website and enables everyone to share their masterpiece without anybody’s permission, like Wikipedia, a comprehensive learning platform, consisted of contributions around the world users and have been found that professionally as Encyclopedia Brittanica (Giles, 2005) although teachers won't treat Wiki source credited.

Indeed, as a student, I found that Wikipedia facilitated professional collaboration and multicultural learning.  For example, the Discussion Page enabled users to chat and give comments on a particular topic, this action suggested cultural diffusion like abbreviations, terms that every users utilize; people with different cultural background like political preferences, religion, environmental protectors would for or against particular topic. We can definitely learn global understanding apart from entire knowledge in printed Encyclopedia. 

In favor to our academic learning, Google documents created a great hit and welcomed by professionals, teachers and students around the world. But why?

First, free of geographical and temporal constraints (Kanselaar, G. Erkens, Prangsma, & Jaspers, 2002);

Second, Google Documents’ toolkit enables only one version of the collaborators’ document at all times and highlighted changes by users, this feature is incredible fantastic since we won’t feel annoying about which version is the most updated while sending files back and forth with E-mail or MSN;

Third, Google Documents enable collaborators to see changes of the document in the real time, this feature facilitated the delay of messages or communication barriers with amendment towards the document;

Forth, collaborators’ names are found in a small, colored boxes at the bottom of the document, to identify who are working on the document with you at the same time;

Fifth, Google Documents’ commenting tool provided chatbox/dialogue square for collaborators to exchange ideas, like Instant Messages as MSN.

In short, Google Documents demonstrated a great example of collaborative writing with a great complexity and comprehensive mixture of technologies. Social presence and precise amendment, contributions with a maximum 10 talents at one time, the result is a great piece of work – to match the intelligence of collaborative writing. I agree with the following quote!

Computers and computing offer profound opportunities to learn new things, old things in new ways and construct knowledge in ways that would be inaccessible without access to technology. Constructionism particularly applies to learning with digital technology. (Stager, 2005)

However, things cannot be perfectly designed. The nature of your job will determinate or constraint the usage of Google Documents.

For example,  if you work in a bank, personal information from clients should be handle  delicately and carefully. As a result, email system rooted in the Intranets will be a suggestive way to communicate and facilitate group working, other than tools designed and managed by a public website/server.