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While web 2.0 technologies have been around for awhile now, many organisations are still in an experimental phase. There are all too often rare wins and rare examples of it being used correctly to fulfil a strong business need or solve a business problem. This article argues that organisational collaborative tools such as social intranets etc will not be embraced or used to their full potential if employees do not already communicate with each other - i.e. have a structure, management style or physical layout that supports them to communicate. As the article states, "The existence of collaborative tools does not automatically imply that people will collaborate or collaborate effectively." (A. Broomhall, 2009) This makes sense. In a working and professional environment, most staff are more guarded in their communication (depending on the culture of the organisation of course) and less reluctant to use collaborative tools like they might as strangers on the World Wide Web. If the fundamentals of communication are working well in an organisation and already exist (ie. people have met face to face, have already established communities, have trusted relationships where they share information) they are then more likely to collaborate online. There are several intranet features which can be used to strengthen these communication paths and employee relationships: - staff directory - news channels - social news sites. It is these types of technologies (available on most intranets) which can help encourage the development of communication networks, and in turn support the use of collaborative tools. Reference: Broomhall, A (2009) No collaboration without communications Retrieved from http://www.steptwo.com.au/papers/cmb_nocollaboration/index.html

Thanks for providing this article, Kristy. I agree with Broomhall that just because collaboration tools have been put in place, it does not guarantee that these tools will be utilised or even used in the manner in which they were intended. However I also don't agree that "if people are not already communicating with each other, then there is little chance they will feel comfortable enough to share their knowledge online." (Broomhall, 2009.) I think that Net 308's Blackboard discussion forums, although not extremely lively, are an example of strangers communicating with each other and sharing knowledge. Successful forums and even groups on Flickr are comprised of those that have not met in real life nor communicated with each other prior to utilising the collaboration tool they are part of. Although I will agree that successful collaboration required the right collaboration tool and proper facilitation of such, the main factor in success or failure of online collaboration comes down to common purpose or interest. Without that fundamental element, at least at the beginning, I believe success to be far fetched and difficult to achieve. I agree that a staff directory would aid in the success of collaboration in the organisation Broomhall refers to in this article. I feel that an ice breaker activity as outlined by Augar, Raitman and Zhou (2004.) of sorts would also benefit. References: Broomhall, A (2009) No collaboration without communications Retrieved from http://www.steptwo.com.au/papers/cmb_nocollaboration/index.html Augar, N., Raitman, R. & Zhou, W. (2004). Teaching and learning online with wikis. In R. Atkinson, C. McBeath, D. Jonas-Dwyer & R. Phillips (Eds), Beyond the comfort zone: Proceedings of the 21st ASCILITE Conference (pp. 95-104). Perth, 5-8 December. http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/perth04/procs/augar.html

This is an interesting article that brings up some great points on the importance of communication regarding collaboration. I totally agree with the author, communication within an organisation is vital in order to collaborate effectively. The main problem companies experience when implementing online collaboration tools, is the objections many employees have when introduced to these new tools (Foster, 2009). Fear, uncertainty, resistance and concerns are some of the issues companies have to deal with as employees are asked to go from being a passive consumer of online information to becoming a creator of content by posting discussions, comments etc. that anyone can view. Foster (2009) suggests that businesses should spend more time thinking about the impact of these changes on their employees. In order to deal with the different issues employees may have, Foster suggests organisational change management. Like Broomhall, Foster (2009) highlights communication as the common element whether the change is coming from the top of the organization or from the bottom. The article is a useful resource for this project as it focuses on the importance of communication when organisations are implementing collaborative tools. Broomhall (2009) argues that employees need information about internal changes and external influences which may impact their daily work. As Broomhall points out, the existence of collaborative tools does not automatically imply that people will collaborate. References Broomhall, A. (2009). No Collaboration without Communications. Retrieved from http://www.steptwo.com.au/papers/cmb_nocollaboration/index.html Foster, D. (2009). Collaboration Technology and Organisational Change. Retrieved from http://gigaom.com/collaboration/collaboration-technologies-and-organizational-change/

Due to the global financial crisis, companies globally have been finding ways to cut costs. Instead of staff travelling to attend meetings, businesses rely on methods such as video conferencing to assist in facilitating meetings with geographically dispersed teams. This article published on the technology blogging site Read Write Web discusses four main trends in regards to video conferencing. The four trends stated are consumerisation, mobility, interoperability and providing a social layer. Mobility and the social layer are interesting trends when thinking about collaboration via video conferencing. Smartphones being released are beginning to include video conferencing as a standard functionality. Through the use of smart phones, mobility allows team members to participate and collaborate whilst on the move. It unshackles team members from the restraints of being restricted to an office. For team members that travel regularly being able to videoconference from hotel rooms or other offices through their smart phone provides them with flexibility previously not seen. Social layers being added to software is becoming the norm (Flinley, 2010). The social layer extends video conferencing beyond just audio and video. By adding social layers to videoconferencing software, users are able to communicate in the one location rather than utilising multiple platforms. A social layer provides "social networking, instant messaging, voice and video into one system" also including the ability to share files. By encapsulating all means of communication in the one destination, team members save time and recording communication becomes easier. References: Finley, K. (2010). Four Trends in Enterprise Video Conferencing. Read Write Web. Retrieved on 12 April 2011 from http://www.readwriteweb.com/enterprise/2010/10/trends-in-enterprise-video-conferencing.php

This article introduces some video conferencing applications, such as Cisco, Skype, Nefsis Basic, BlackBerry Playbook, and Google Voice, and shows how they are used as collaboration tools in enterprises. Burke (2011) summarizes that the use of such tools helps to establish instant communication, save travelling time, and cut business cost. One of my selected articles, iManage Unveils the First Multi-Platform Collaborative Content Management Suite, announces a new Internet content management application suit called iManage WorkSite MP which is an online collaboration tool as well. Both video conferencing tools and Internet content management applications are network-based, so users' contributions will be available instantly, and shared information can be distributed globally. Both of them aim at improving business efficiency, reducing cost and resource, and finally developing organisational service and product quality. While video conferencing tools focus on communication by audio and video, Internet content management applications, such as iManage WorkSite, has more to do with information management, such as text, image, and spreadsheets. It can be said that online collaboration tools can facilitate meetings among team members geographically, provide access to shared knowledge and ideas, and manage organisational information effectively. I argue that the combination of both video conferencing and content management tools can offer a comprehensive service to an organisation to compete in the global economy. As Fedorowicz, Laso-Ballesteros, and Padilla-Melendez (2008) state, the development of online collaboration "will facilitate multidisciplinary innovation and reduce barriers and inefficiencies among people working together" (p.1). Reference: Burke, M (2011) Comment on Four Trends in Enterprise Video Conferencing. Retrieved from http://groups.diigo.com/group/cur

Video conferencing as one of online collaboration tools, able to change the way people communicate as well as their perceptions towards the work day in nowadays. Video conferencing has become a part of communication strategy, this article shows that about 37% of Skype users use the service for business purpose, which is they use Skype to make conference video that is more convenient and less traveling cost, users would be able to meet up without consuming traveling time which normally required in order to meet face to face. I found out this article are useful in terms of explaining the way video conferencing been used in business as well as introducing 4 new trends on how people use it, and as resources itself, it is credible enough, this article took from ReadWrite Enterprises web sites that mainly focusing on business purposes. By relating on my own topic, which is talk about the use and features of social bookmarking site (delicious), video conferencing as well provides specific features in order to facilitate the video conference, hence users would be able to use the features and communicating online, same as the way delicious using it special features, such as tags, where people would be able to collaborate their bookmarks as long as they are sharing and using same tags. As for value, this article shows and recommends how useful video conferencing is and there is multiple ways and benefits we could get by using it online. References: Finley, K. (2010). Four Trends in Enterprise Video Conferencing. Read Write Web. Retrieved on 12 April 2011 from http://www.readwriteweb.com/enterprise/2010/10/trends-in-enterprise-video-conferencing.php

Face-to-face communication is not always an achievable goal for companies that have team members who are geographically dispersed. Video conferencing has been available for a number of years but has not always been accessible. Traditionally, video conferencing was an expensive way to communicate due to phone, software, hardware and high-speed Internet connection costs. Most computers now have in-built cameras and microphones. Skype builds on this hardware by providing software to facilitate video conferencing. Skype was originally only able to facilitate two-way conferencing but Version 5.1 allows users to videoconference with multiple users. Skype is a free download, video conferencing is free, calls can be made to landlines/mobiles for a discounted price and exchanging files and instant messaging can be utilised within the program. When face-to-face conferencing is unavailable, video conferencing can be a great alternative. Maintaining interest in an audio only conference can be difficult, attendees have the opportunity to switch off and work on other tasks whilst conferencing. Incorporating video into the meeting provides attendees with the ability to observe one another and see when a person is losing interest. Providing visual cues that assist receivers and senders to decipher messages enhances communication, attendees can also see vital hand/head gestures that help facilitate the flow of the conversation. By seeing these gestures the other attendees are able to grasp pauses in conversations or misunderstandings much faster. Skype and videoconferencing will not be effective if the Internet speed is not able to sync the video and audio. If there are delays or echoes this could have a detrimental rather than a positive effect on communication. Members in this situation may prefer to revert back to audio only or instant messaging as communicating with a delay/echo is annoying and in no means a productive way to communicate. References: Isaacs,

This resource outlines the advantages of using video as oppose to audio only. As mentioned face to face communication is not always possible, and it is important for companies and organizations to consider the advantages of using video conferencing as oppose to audio calls only in order to discuss decisions and have conversations relating to work. Video conferencing seems to be a vital tool for many organisations; more then 50% of mid-size businesses use video conferencing (Finley, 2010). An important part of using conferencing software is to be able to enable natural collaborative behaviours. In this article Tang & Isaac's outline the advantages of using desktop video conferencing and suggest that as oppose to audio only calls, video conferencing can be more beneficial and influence more natural ways of collaborating and communicating. In internet communications we often contrast online communication to face-to face communication. In this article we are not comparing these two, but rather exploring the advantages of video conferencing over audio conferencing. Using this source we can conclude that video conferencing has strong advantages over audio conferencing because they show an employee's facial expressions which can make communication much much easier. Despite these advantages, it is vital for organizations to have a accommodating internet speed as well as hardware in order to enable individuals to effectively use video conferencing without experiencing technical issues (e.g. screen freezing) . Videoconferencing is definitely a valuable way to communicate when there are geographic boundaries between members, however in this situation the workers still face the obstacle of time zone differences. Never the less video conferencing is becoming increasingly cheaper and easier (Finley, 2010) and is clearly an important part of many organisations. This is a useful resource if you are interested in understanding how organisations benefit from video conferencing

Finley, K. (2010). 4 Trends in enterprise video conferencing. Retrieved from http://www.readwriteweb.com/enterprise/2010/10/trends-in-enterprise-video-conferencing.php

As a not fully identified type of platform-a blog or microblog-Tumblr has become the preferred platform to share information and ideas. Unlike Twitter with limited 140 characters post and Facebook that ask you to create virtual identity, Tumblr give a space that is more fun and entertaining. As collaboration tools, Tumblr will be a perfect match with traditional publishing. This article talks about how publisher use Tumblr as an online tools to emerge two-way communication between publishers and readers. Author stated that by posting stories, Tumblr offer opportunity to make it going viral (Mwangaguhunga, 2010). The easiness of Tumblr to be shared around, give a chance that Tumblr will become a great collaboration tools. The five publishers mentioned in the article, each publisher using Tumblr in their own way to fit their printed version. They see Tumblr as a new way of communicating with younger audience and it is how they understand their readers. * Life (http://life.tumblr.com/) * The Village Voice (http://villagevoice.tumblr.com/) * The Atlantic (http://villagevoice.tumblr.com/) * The Economist who always incorporated their magazine with nontraditional elements that exist (http://theeconomist.tumblr.com/) * The New Yorker (http://newyorker.tumblr.com/). The way publisher post a story in Tumblr does not have to be the same type that they published on the printed version. It can be a funny story, a glimpse of what the audience sees on the next edition, a short video of related topics on magazine (which they can show in their magazine) and other type of content that give more experience to readers. Tumblr also can be a good publicity for the publisher, showing that they understand their readers. Mwangaguhunga, R. (2010). 5 Tumblr Microblogs that Works. Retrieved from http://emediavitals.com/content/5-tumblr-microblogs-work

Tumblr is quickly becoming one of the Web's most popular and unique platforms on which to share and discover interesting content of all media. Many popular publishers have flocked to Tumblr to share content in a new way. The article is interesting as it gives an overview of five publishers that use the microblogging platform effectively. Many companies are struggling with their social media strategy and getting it right can be a challenge. In order to succeed with tools like Tumblr, businesses need to understand the audience they are trying to reach and communicate in a language of their customers (Nathan, 2010). The five publishers that Mwangaguhunga (2010) examines know how to communicate in ways that attract their readers. The author suggests that frequency in posting is what attract and engage the community. Microblogging can be an effective tool for businesses if used well. One of the benefits of microblogging that has not received as much attention in the literature is its use for crowdsourcing. Crowds can be more performing and efficient than current organisations. Using a microblogging site like Tumblr for crowdsourcing can be faster, cheaper and more accurate than putting a project in hands of individuals (Kessler, 2010). Tumblr provides a new way of communicating with consumers, thus I find this article valuable as a resource for the project. References Kessler, S. (2010). 5 Creative Uses for Crowdsourcing. Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2010/05/26/creative-crowdsourcing/ Mwangaguhunga, R. (2010). 5 Tumblr Microblogs that Work. Retrieved from http://emediavitals.com/content/5-tumblr-microblogs-work Nathan, L. (2010). How Businesses Can Overcome Social Media Obstacles. Retrieved from http://www.logannathan.com.au/social-media/how-businesses-can-overcome-social-media-obstacles/

From this article I found out that Tumblr as one of the blogging platform is a way for publishers to be more irreverent, funny and make them unique by putting on Tumblr both in their official website or even their blogs. This article mentioned about five publishers that use Tumblr as micro blogging social platform such as Life, The Village Voice, The Atlantic, The Economist and The New Yorker. In here, users can share both information and ideas whereas Tumblr give more space compare to Twitter which limited into 140 characters only. By relating to my own topic, which is talk about the use as well as features of social bookmarking site (delicious), tumblr both features and usefulness support as an online tools to works, create and emerges two-way communication within readers and publishers, it is a great collaboration tools since each of the users would be able to customized their own way, and as for this case as the outcomes, tumblr is a new way of communicating with younger audience, last but not least as for the sources itself, its taken from some media sites named emedia as in credible sources where it based on media organization. By looking at this article I found out several benefits of using tumblr and how the features support on how users - in here are publishers and readers are able to share both information and ideas. References: Mwangaguhunga, R. (2010). 5 Tumblr Microblogs that Works. Retrieved from http://emediavitals.com/content/5-tumblr-microblogs-work

At first glance, Michael Rosenberg's paper is merely another insect in the swarm of academic opinion following Egypt's January revolution. But it is not. Published in September of 2010, Rosenberg unknowingly produced a fascinating body of work. Written mere months before Egypt's first political upheaval in 30 years; the research paper gives an honest and unaffected assessment of the influence of communication technologies in a country which was gearing up to undergo a groundbreaking Internet-charged revolution. The Guardian analyst Hossam el-Hamalawy asserts that, rather than coming from the blue on January 25, the Egyptian revolution is "a result of a process that has been brewing over the past decade- a chain reaction to the autumn 2000 protests" (el-Hamalawy, 2011). He believes that the 'key to it all' was the visual transmission of the protest to such a wide audience. A consideration with which Rosenberg would certainly agree. Perhaps many Australians saw the speed and mass delivery of the Egyptian revolution as a surprise on the front page of their morning newspaper; however Rosenberg's assessment of Egypt's history and present "environment of repression and alienation" shows us that the "aura of impending revolution" was long-standing. The 'snow-balling' social movements are due to the "ride and proliferation of information and communication technologies" (Rosenberg, 2010) such as the immergence of the Egyptian Movement for Change. In her book, R. Kelly Garrett analyses the role of information communication technologies in protest, concluding that they are "changing the ways in which activists communicate, collaborate and demonstrate" (Garratt, 2006). Rosenberg applies this technological shift to his incredibly accurate prediction that (with the exponential increase of internet users since 2000), "Things are finally looking up for the Egyptian people...the spirit of the masses finally has the power and the op

Howard Rheingold is one, if not the most, interesting writer and theorist about collaboration and the use of new participatory media literacy in the framework of Flash Mobs. Cited in almost all the papers, studies and blog posts I have read, he certainly represents a respected thinker and is a reliable author of a number of books on this topic, including Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution (2002) and The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier (2000), which establish and explain the relationship between social, cultural and new digital communication mediums. In this video in particular, Rheingold talks about the relationships between communication, Medias (as communication mediums) and collective actions. He argues that our communication means, the way we use them, how they are developed and the ways in which we organise socially have been co-evolving since the beginning of human interaction (2005). He also states that this mutual evolution has conveyed new social interactions, and one perfect example to illustrate this theory is certainly the Flash Mob phenomenon. It is just a new way to interact, made possible by online collaboration of humans expressing their natural need to socialise. This reference in my bookmark list represents a valuable piece of information as it describes the historic bond between communication, collaboration and our social development. Indeed, Rheingold emphasises the fact that collaboration, as a vital question of survival, has naturally emerged between humans. REFERENCES Rheingold, H. (2000). The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier. MIT Press. And (2002) Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution. New-York: Basic Books. And (2005) Howard Rheingold on Collaboration [video streaming], accessible from http://www.ted.com/talks/howard_rheingold_on_collaboration.html (accessed on 10th April, 2011)

In this article, West argues that the field of education is falling behind and missing out the opportunities that online collaboration can bring to students. He states that "with the ease that misguided youth can organize themselves into a mob; professionals can organize themselves into supportive learning communities." (2010). In particular West discusses Twitter, the use of certain hash tags relevant to his field in music education. West also discusses groups available on Facebook, and how Skype has been used to bring a field expert into the classroom and have a composer watch and ensemble from the other side of the world in order to provide commentary and feedback. West mentions that prior to social networking and other online tools, the only real way to collaborate with those in your field of interest or profession was to attend conferences or conventions held for that specific purpose. But now with the availability of online collaboration tools and the wide spread accessibility, there is a "new universe" (2010) of collaboration and information. West employs that the classroom no longer need to be 4 walls, 1 teacher and 20 odd students, and that the classroom has "at it's disposal a rapidly growing cornucopia of tools, information and services online…" that could bring so much more to students and educators alike. References: West, T. (2010). The Antithesis of Flash Mobs - How Professional Learning Communities Are Changing Education. Retrieved from http://www.thomasjwestmusic.com/apps/blog/show/3327014-the-antithesis-of-flash-mobs-how-professional-learning-communities-are-changing-education

The interesting part of this post that relates to my topic is when West describes Flash Mobs as a springboard for violent events in Philadelphia. According to several papers I have read regarding Flash Mob studies, West is obviously right when he talks about the "ease with which youth can organise themselves into a mob" (Rheingold, 2002). He is also right when he states that they have demonstrated the power of online collaboration because Flash Mobs Mobs simply emerge when communication and computing technologies amplify human talents for cooperation. They are products created from humans' interactions on and with digital mobile communication devices (Nicholson, 2005). But he is wrong, I believe, when he talks about Flash Mobs in general as being an abuse of social networks. Flash Mobs are just one of the many possibilities of how Internet can be used to transform virtual online collaboration between a large number of people into real, concrete offline happenings. Clay Shirky though does a great job of describing the position of Internet in our always changing social interactions and organisation (2008). He notably argues that how tools get used depends on the political environment, and if the Philadelphia riots were actually adopting the same organisational process as Flash Mobs, they did not have anything to do with Flash Mobs (Callari, 2010). As one of the first mob organisers, Bill Wasik, says: "the mobs started as a playful social experiment" (Ubrina, 2010). If Flash Mobs can be used as protest tools, especially in low freedom environments, they were themselves peaceful - almost artistic - interventions. One example used by Howard Rheingold, and which he called a "Smart Mob", is the Ice Cream Flash Mob in Belarus where people ate ice cream to protest against the authoritarian government (Rheingold, 2002). Mobs should be distinguished in nature and by definition, from riots, even though these had been partly organised through Internet.

Known as 'social media marketing, viral marketing, buzz, and guerilla marketing' Word Of Mouth Marketing has become an important feature of marketing online. This article is a fairly in-depth study looking at issues of shifting narratives, practices and theories in WOMM, particularly in the face of growing social media communities. The article looks at ways social - media marketers are dealing with "networked coproduction of narratives" made possible by the affordances of social media tools and the Internet (Kozinets, 2010). Kozinets et. al. argue the evolution of word-of-mouth marketing is marked by 3 stages: First, the Organic Interconsumer Influence Model, or simple word-of-mouth, which is not directed, promoted or directly influenced by marketers; Second, the Linear marketer Influence Model, sees marketers seeking to influence and guide WOM by focusing on so-called "opinion leaders" who are able to influence others. This the of marketing will be familiar to Facebook or Twitter users, who may be used to seeing products recommended by well-known celebrities; Third, is the Network Coproduction Model. This refers to "managed one-to-one seeding and communication programs". As Marketers and consumers often have very different goals, such a strategy is not without risk. As Kozinets et.al. point out (2010) "consumers are regarded as active coproducers of value and meaning, whose WOM use of marketing communications can be idiosyncratic, creative, and even resistant". The main challenge in Word Of Mouth Marketing (WOMM) online is that marketers typically have less control over the content and direction of the campaign or opinion (see Mangold and Faulds, 2010). According to Kozinets et.al (2010) the key to successfully engaging large and often disparate groups is building network of "one-to-one" personal relationships, which allow individual members to become involved and feel a part of the process of narrative building and meaning creation. References: Kozinet

As we know that collaboration is one process of participation in a group project or between organizations. This article elaborates the factors of effective influences in developing collaboration process of organizations in order to achieving the desired results for organizations, such as the skills of leadership, communication, sustainability, participation etc. (Hogue, st al, 1995), and internal communication, external communication, membership, and goal setting. (Borden ,1997). The article also explored that the importance of networking collaboration in areas of organizations cooperation and collaborative relationship. I agree with that the building and developing the trust is the vital skill for leaders to nurture the collaborative relationship between organizations. Trust is the basic element for all kinds of collaborative projects. The purpose of the collaboration is what the leaders and stuff in the group seek to create, so ensuring a clear and understood goal for collaborative groups and organizations is also an important issue. In order to establishing a successful collaboration within organizations, trust, freedom with bring different perspectives to bear to solve problems and provide with positive change, and considering of culture and work environment and so on are supportive points to manage the organizations as a successful whole. So, for collaboration to be successful between organizations there must be clarity, direction and communication. Reference The Role of Collaboration in Organizations.(2010). Retrieved from http://collaboration-tools.org/business/the-role-of-collaboration-in-organizations/ Hogue, T. Perkins, D. Clark, R. Bergstrum, A. Slinski, M. & Associates. (1995). Collaboration framework: Addressing community capacity. Columbus, OH: National Network for Collaboration.

This article by Chris Brogan demonstrates the enormous potentials of adopting a virtual office using communication and collaboration tools. Brogan, owner of a small-business education and growth company believes that doing business without the traditional trappings means equipping employees with the right platforms. The author breaks down the tools he used for his virtual office. The first list was the tools used for communication which comprised of: - Skype: Used as a de facto office phone - Adium and Trillian: An instant messaging tool. - Yammer: An internal organisational version of twitter. As their online collaboration tool, company used various free virtual tools: - Google Docs (docs.google.com): sharing information back and forth. Google Docs is one of the more popular tools for sharing and editing documents in real time online. - Linoit (en.linoit.com): A virtual cork board for sticky notes. - Dropbox (dropbox.com) - Real time file sharing. At one time, the office was a physical place, and communicating with colleagues meant visiting their cubicles to discuss ideas or ask questions. Online media, however, have expanded the office to virtual environments in which one regularly interacts with co-workers from different cultures and countries (Amant, 2003). A virtual office removes time and place for an organisation. Reference: Brogran, C. (2011). Virtually there: Facilitating communication and collaboration at a virtual office using software tools. Entrepreneur, 39(1), 1. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=dc3fa996-00f5-4ad2-994b-3393f25aad18%40sessionmgr114&vid=2&hid=108 Amant, K. S. (2003). Making contact in international virtual offices: an application of symbolic interactionism to online workplace discourse. Institute of Technology & Sci. Communication, 46(3), 4. Retrieved from http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/freeabs_all.jsp?arnumber=1227596

No one possesses all the knowledge. Therefore, we have to know how to share knowledge among members of organisations. Two main points are fully utilizing knowledge and avoid knowledge losing within organisations. The article demonstrated a successful story of knowledge sharing at Lockheed Martin. They built up and internal social network call Unity (Brogan, 2010). Unity helped employees share their experience and solution in the network. They can post their challenge of a project. Other employees can give suggestion once they have related knowledge or experience. Finally, employees transfer their knowledge within organisation. The process of knowledge sharing is not an easy task. Although we understand we have to share their knowledge because everyone's knowledge is limited; people still want to keep the knowledge rather than sharing out. It is because knowledge is an asset. People afraid they lose their merit once they share knowledge. Therefore, knowledge manager should promote that knowledge transfer is enhancing their working efficient and building up their knowledge intelligence in organisations instead of reduce their value. Lockheed Martin give me a view of they can promote this concept successfully to their employees. I think this is the main reason of their success. They can transfer the knowledge from experienced staffs to new staffs. Reference Brogan, B. (2010). Internal Collaboration, Communication & Knowledge-Sharing Works at Lockheed Martin - Make It Work for You. Retrieved from http://www.interactyx.com/blog/internal-collaboration-communication-knowledge-sharing-works-at-lockheed-martin-a-make-it-work-for-you

Response to "Internal Collaboration, Communication & Knowledge-Sharing Works at Lockheed Martin" posted by Shan Shan Cheung This article discusses the Unity social networking platform that was implemented into Lockheed Martin at the end of 2009. Unity connects around 140,000 Lockheed Martin employees globally and provides knowledge sharing functionality such as blogs, wikis, file-sharing, RSS feeds, forums and social book marking. With 60% of its workforce identified as baby boomers Lockheed Martin needed to find a solution where corporate knowledge didn't leave the organisation when their people retired (Change Factory, nd). Often valuable information was locked away in an individuals email account which was inaccessible by other people who needed to access historical corporate knowledge. In contrast, Unity enabled certain employee contributions to become a permanent record. The other main group of employees at Lockheed Martin known as Millenials are the youngest generation in the workforce. Millenials are seeking social networking tools within the corporate environment as effective communications channel with the attitude that "I can access this type of tool at home, so I should be able to utilise it at work". Unity has also provided a platform to enhance business improvement and streamline processes as in the proposal tool kit. In summary, whilst Baby Boomers and Millenials operate differently (Options, 2001), Unity seeks to provide an effective communications channel to harness corporate knowledge and build collaboration amongst staff and ultimately reduce risk of losing corporate knowledge when the baby boomers retire . Reference Coping with the baby boomer brain drain. (n.d.) Retrieved April 15, 2011 from http://www.changefactory.com.au/articles/human-resource-management/coping-with-the-baby-boomer-brain-drain/ Generation Difference At Work - A Sleeping Giant. (2001). Retrieved April 15, 2011 from http://www.lifecare

This article published in the First Monday Journal provides a case study of how video conferencing was used by teachers for education purposes. Lessons learnt from this case study can be implemented by a business looking to establish a collaborative team communicating through the use of video conferencing. The case study segmented the benefits into four areas, other places, other times, other senses and other brains. The teachers found that videoconferencing was effective in motivating its students as they were communicating with people around the world. Organisations can take this learning and use it in the workplace by connecting like-minded individuals who are located in different offices/countries. This has the ability to motivate and inspire other team members and will potentially lead to more successful outcomes being achieved. Members of the project found that sometimes it was more convenient to videoconference as each member could suggest a suitable time to meet. However this would not always benefit teams communicating with people in other countries as they could be affected negatively by time differences. However team members were able to use the recording function to ensure information was always accessible in the future. The case study found that video conferencing gave team members the ability to use other senses other than just hearing to experience the communication. By being able to see people reactions, facial gestures and body language the communication process was improved and collaboration was easier. As the saying goes "many hands make light work" with the more brains included in the collaborative process different ideas and approaches can be discussed. With increased focus on cost saving, video conferencing provides a cost effective way to ensure that the best employees are included in the collaborative process.

Skype is a free download which can be accessed from their website (www.skype.com.au). It is user-friendly, quick and easy to download. Once installed, minimal instruction is required to use Skype. Skype users can be located through searching the email address book, connecting through Facebook or inputting the username into the search box. Once connected with others, Skype has the ability to make audio calls, videoconference, share files and instant message. Video conferencing can be utilised throughout Skype with no charge. Skype allows users to see and hear others, which increases the effectiveness of the communication exchange. In Skype's recent update, screen-sharing functionality was added. This functionality enhances a videoconference by providing users with access to share one another's screens to view presentations or to assist with IT issues. Audio calls can be made between Skype accounts or through VOIP software to landlines or mobiles. The benefit of making calls through Skype is that they can be significantly cheaper than calling through a mobile or landline. Skype call charges start as low as $0.23c per minute. Credit for calls can be loaded onto Skype through the use of a credit card. Instant messaging allows users to talk to one another without the use of audio or video. It can be utilised when working on projects or for an alternative to video/audio in particular when Internet speed may not be high enough for a good connection. Instant messaging can be conducted with just one person or multiple people can use instant messaging simultaneously allowing for people to collaborate on projects. An extra benefit of Skype is file sharing, files can be shared instantaneously with no limit on the file size. This is a great benefit to businesses that may have size restrictions on their work email.

Skype is an excellent software that both individuals and businesses can make use of. Skype's unified communications capabilities make it a useful strategic tool for businesses. While Skype has been successful in the consumer market, it may have had harder time cracking into business market as there are already several competitors. Skype likes to point out that more than 30 percent of its global user base uses the service for business. However, there have been speculations that a greater proportion of business use is overseas and that a much smaller percentage of "business users" have integrated Skype with their office systems (Blackwell, 2009). Blackwell (2009) suggests that the reason why not more businesses use Skype is that call and connection quality are not always as good as they are on public switched telephone network. As Skype works over the open, Internet and peer-to-peer technology help route calls, thus the service may not provide the quality sufficient for business use. Another concern is the security of the Skype service as it uses the public Internet for voice calls (Reardon, 2009). I think that the different collaborative opportunities Skype offers are valuable for small or medium-sized companies looking to keep costs down. Reardon (2009) believes that businesses in general won't get rid of their existing telephone service to use Skype, but some may use it to communicate with employees internally. References Blackwell, G. (2009). The Pros and Cons of Skype for Businesses. Retrieved from http://www.smallbusinesscomputing.com/buyersguide/article.php/10729_3816716_2/The-Pros-and-Cons-of-Skype-for-Business.htm Reardon, M. (2009). Skype Targets Businesses with New Service. Retrieved from http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10201830-92.html

I agreed that skype is an excellent tool, since it is user friendly and widely accessible. Apart from computer usage, it could also be accessed on smart phones, which it is a trend now and still growing on mobile phone usages. I felt that Skype had especially collaborated distant communication; as a student studying away from home country, a budget international communication tool like Skype is demanded. Yet the quality of calls is doubtable as Elin Frustol said, and I found this is a problem with most of online calling tools, such as msn messengers, tango and vibers. I believe that is not only the problem of the tool but also internet accessibility, and computer technology. These issues would need a longer time to fixed, and it may lead to broader usage such as business and government, however the question is would it still be a budget tool by then?

Two tools are discussed in this article, a 3D virtual world for teaching and learning called the AET Zone and ConnectYard, a collaborative tool that integrates different forms of online communication. Although AET Zone has some benefits and has been useful in the teaching programme at the Appalachian State University, it is the second tool that offers more opportunity for those needing to collaborate. As a collaborative tool used in an educational setting, ConnectYard provides as its basis for success a social constructivist viewpoint. Learners construct their knowledge through social and cultural settings (Kim, 2001). ConnectYard provides an online collaborative setting allowing students to learn together. One of the main attributes of the tool is that it is able to interact easily with existing social networking tools such as Facebook and Twitter, text messaging and even email. The advantage of this is that members do not have to get to know a new technical application - they can use whatever they are most comfortable with. Another feature of this tool is that students are able to contribute even if they do not have an Internet connection. Students can collaborate using mobile phones, allowing them to connect anywhere, anytime (ConnectYard, n.d.). The ConnectYard widget is embedded within a web page, interfacing with other networks (Howard & Wallace, 2010). Using ConnectYard gives collaborative members a choice about what tool they use at whatever time they want. As stated by Howard & Wallace (2010, last para.), "The use of social networking tools allows our students to engage in a level of collaboration that would be awkward, if not impossible, without a means to communicate effectively". ConnectYard is an effective, easy to use collaborative tool, which offers flexibility, privacy and builds community.

References: ConnectYard (n.d.) retrieved from http://www1.connectyard.com/ Howard, B & Wallace, P 2010. Social Networking Tools to Facilitate Cross-Program Collaboration. EDUCAUSE Quarterly (EQ) 33(4) retrieved from http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/EDUCAUSEQuarterlyMagazineVolum/SocialNetworkingToolstoFacilit/219139 Kim, B. (2001). Social Constructivism. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/

My topic is the collaboration practices of open source software development. You can access this article by logging into ACM via the Curtin Library website. OVERVIEW: Because the production of Open Source Software (OSS) relies heavily on the work of volunteers, the motivation of those volunteers is imperative to the success of any OSS development. Recognising this, this paper seeks to explain the motivations of those who work on OSS projects, using the learning theory of Legitimate Peripheral Participation (Lave & Wenger, 1991) as a guide. Building on this theory, the authors assert that the transient and open nature of an OSS development community appeals to user/developers as an environment to learn and hone their skills through 'legitimate participation'. Having identified the desire to learn as a key motivation for participants, the authors suggest that to attract more users to become OSS developers, leaders of OSS projects should create a list of progressively difficult tasks to foster the learning process and "enable newcomers to move toward the center of the community through continual contributions" (p. 9). Although this paper focuses on learning as a motivation, the authors acknowledge that because OSS is "a very complicated phenomenon" (p. 10), other motivations no doubt play a part. Informed by this and other articles, I would postulate that these other motivations include dissatisfaction with current software options (because "the best hacks start out as personal solutions to the author's everyday problems" (Raymond, 1999)), the desire for participants to gain reputation within the community, and the egoistic benefits of contributing to a program with a flatteringly large population of users. Raymond (1999) recognises the importance of satisfying the egos of "hacker/users" by providing them with a "piece of the action" (p. 29), while an internet-based survey (Hertel et al., 2003) has found that activities within OSS te

determined by participants' own "perceived indispensability and self-efficacy" (p. 1159). Overall, I believe that the community surrounding any given OSS-development is a key factor in the production of motivation, as it provides participants with the opportunity to gain reputation, satisfy one's own ego, and learn through legitimate participation in a project that the participants are personally interested in. References: Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Raymond, E. (1999). The Cathedral and the Bazaar. Knowledge, Technology & Policy, 12(3), p. 23-49. Hertel, G., Nieder, S., & Herrmann, S. (2003). Motivation of software developers in Open Source projects: an Internet-based survey of contributors to the Linux kernel. Research Policy 32(7), p. 1159-1177.

This is an analytical article in which the writer, Elisha Peterson, discusses the use of Wiki's in her mathmatical undergraduate course. The wiki-based software, wikidot, allowed her students to post questions as well as work collaboratively on assignments. In the article the author outlines the ways in which the wiki was specifically helpful for her class. She believes that it helped to improve participation by her students. This nturn helped students to feel more at ease when they saw what other students assignments were about. She also talks about their collaborative glossary of terms, in which each student had to post two definitions. She found that because of the collaborative nature, the students posted more than the required. It was also interesting to note that students were able to comment and correct other students work, which in turn ensured they werent studying the wrong material. However it seems that what was the most important for her class was the the compatibility wikidot had with their typesetting tool LaTeX. This made typing out mathematical equations an ease instead of students having to scan written material to the site. it seems that another positive of the site is the fact that it shows the logged time of each student, and therefore shows how much time they spent online either merely reading or perhaps editing (and what they edited was shown as well). I feel the most important part of her analysis is the feedback from her students. When examining the feedback it was obvious to see that many students believed that the online collaboration helped them when it came to studying for exams. I believe this would be a great way to get help from other students; you are able to address your question to a whole group of people instead of just one person (the teacher) this way students will get answers much quicker. It seems that the only issue behind the use of a wiki is the fact that students are unable to edit a page at the same time, however it s

Online collaboration has already proved its worth in software production and in the business models of various websites and organisations (eg. Wikipedia). This article provides a good example of how online collaboration can be worthy of inclusion into course material. In this example, students in the author's maths class benefited from extending their small community into an online space because students could correct each other's glossary entries and gain guidance by looking at other students' projects online. While it would have been possible for these students to collaborate offline as well, I found it interesting that various properties of the Internet seemingly made online collaboration easier than offline collaboration. For example, students could access the Wikidot page even outside of class time. Built-in features of the wiki such as forums, syntax for 'definition lists', hyperlinks, and LaTeX further assisted communication online. Having completed units involving the use of online collaboration tools (including Wikidot), I've observed that the usefulness of online tools is inevitably limited by how many students actually participate. While Ye and Kishida (2003) postulate that a 'community of practice' motivates participants to learn through participation, I would theorise that the allocation of marks to collaborative tasks is the most effective motivation for students to participate. Indeed, the author finds that tasks to which marks are allocated had excellent participation rates, while the forum, for which use was not compulsory, was used by only a few students. References: Ye, Y. & Kishida, K. (2003). Toward an Understanding of the Motivation of Open Source Software Developers. Proceedings of the 25th International Conference on Software Engineering. Accessed April 15, 2011, from http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=776867

This article discusses the author, Elishia Peterson's experience in creating and maintaining a wiki for her mathematics students to use during their semester. Peterson describes the tasks and activities she assigned the students in order to utilise the online collaboration tool that is Wikidot and was satisfied with the level of student involvement. (2009). Peterson is also forthcoming in any negatives and shortfalls she experienced during the course of the semester period, including the issue of more than one person working on the page at a time (which locks the other out and they are thus required to wait their 'turn') and that having to learn how to use the Wiki properly also took up a little extra time. Despite these minor issues, Peterson explains that the wiki created a more "streamlined student - instructor" relationship and that the communication kept the students engaged. The ability to post course material and answer questions on the wiki, along with the activities assigned to the students, created an environment where the students were able to work together. Peterson does mention that the use of the discussion board may have further enhanced the experience for her students but she found the board largely ignored perhaps as there was no grade requirement to utilise that specific tool. This reminds me of Broomhall's (2009) observation that just because a collaboration tool is available, does not mean it will be used. References: Broomhall, A (2009) No collaboration without communications Retrieved from http://www.steptwo.com.au/papers/cmb_nocollaboration/index.html Peterson, E.. (2009). Using a Wiki to Enhance Cooperative Learning in a Real Analysis Course. Primus : Problems, Resources, and Issues in Mathematics Undergraduate Studies, 19(1), 18-28. Retrieved April 17, 2011, from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID: 1642644011). Retrieved from http://proquest.umi.com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/pqdweb?index=1&did=1642644011&SrchMode=1&sid=10&Fmt=4&VI

This is an interesting blog that debate e-mail is a powerful collaboration tool or not. I totally agree with Suarez (2006) that e-mail is a very powerful communication tool. We can receive every mail whether are junk mails or useful mails. Others could receive a mail within few minutes from someone who live at the other side of world. In addition, people receive wide range of information from e-mail. However, I am not completely agreed that we miss out the point of collaboration and knowledge management once we define e-mail is good enough collaboration tool. Suarez (2006) mentioned how people have managed e-mails. Although nine people read e-mails, only a person knows the content of e-mails, is able to trace out particular e-mails and uses e-mails. Thus e-mail is not powerful collaborations tool. My opinion is the argument misses the essential elements of knowledge sharing. It is human. No matter the knowledge sharing tools or other collaboration tools, they also require human's management. If no one sends mails in electronic format, e-mail would not be at society anymore. The nature of e-mail still is collaboration tools. Organisations should focus on human is well use e-mail system and the information that inside e-mail system. This is a human base procedure. Reference Suarez, L. (2006). Email: The Good Enough Collaboration Tool - Is It Really? Retrieved from http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/elsua/email-the-good-enough-collaboration-tool-is-it-really-11473

I know someone who works in information management and, to prevent duplication, they have dedicated procedures, spelling out who is supposed to archive emails and documents. As I understand it, only the original sender submits a copy to the file, cc copies can be deleted.

Thanks Shan as I enjoyed reading this article. The question of whether the good old email is a good enough collaboration tool is an interesting debate. I beg to differ that email is not a powerful collaboration tool. I am part of an organisation where are main communication and collaboration happens through emails. We plan, organise, discuss and share documents through emails. I will list some functions vital to our organisation that email provides: 1. Organisation - You can track and organise responses through email by clicking on the latest responses. The latest email often contains the conversation from previous users as mentioned my Samantha in her response. Who said what and at what time can also be noted. 2. Document sharing - Just like any collaboration tool, you can attach and send any document in any format to the group in your network. The only area traditional email clients falls short is real-time editing. Google Gmail provides this function by incorporating Google Docs with the Gmail Service. This makes it a powerful online collaboration tool where content editing is incorporated into the email system. 3. Records - Like modern collaboration tools, emails can be archived and searched. Though we meet up on monthly basis, my organisation can be classified as a virtual team. As a virtual team, email is a powerful collaboration tool for us. Thanks once again, a great article related to my topic of collaboration within organisations.