Collaborating Using Conferencing Software

Todayʹs technology provides almost unlimited ways for people to distribute information and to collaborate in the workplaces. Electronic mail provides asynchronous communication (different time, different place), while conferencing software enables synchronous communication (same time, different place). Some benefits of face-to-face interaction may be lost when collaboration occurs through computer systems; therefore, advantages and limitations exist for using conferencing software for group interaction purposes. Students need to understand the advantages and limitations of conferencing software to collaborate effectively using this technology. A classroom experiment designed to develop face-to-face and remote collaboration skills using conferencing software was organized. Using matched groups, two similar activities were conducted with two different content development methods. Student perceptions of the collaborative writing processes were measured after each activity. The data were used to compare group interaction while using conferencing software to group interaction during face-lo-face meetings. The results indicate comparable performance using either method; for some factors, however, the results were better when the students used conferencing software to collaborate.