Collectivethought: Supporting virtual teams with semantic networks

Given the wide application of computer-mediated discussions in supporting virtual teams, the proposed technical platform, CollectiveThought, is driven by the inherent challenges in virtual team collaboration. Particularly, we propose to apply semantic networks to the representation of computer-mediated discussions and to discuss the ability of the resulting prototype CollectiveThought in facilitating knowledge sharing and developing collective semantic networks within a virtual team. Meanwhile, incorporating features from traditional discussion forums, e.g., self-presentation and asynchronous communication may mitigate the negative effects due to virtuality and allow coordination and collaboration.