Collaborative Scenario

Category:Instructional design| Collaborative Environment Design | Collaborative Scenario | Sample Collaborative Environment Plan | Introduction to Ill-Structured Problems | Designing a Problem Space for a Collaborative Work Environment | Preparing an Online Collaborative Environment Plan

The designers of this course were recently tasked with collaborating at a distance on a "real-life" project as grad students in a Needs Analysis and Assessment class. Given the size of the group, varied schedules and limited resources, we knew we needed a “plan” to communicate effectively and ensure progress. Since meeting in person was not feasible, the need to create standards for collaboration, including tools used, was crucial to being able to work together. A conference call to discuss this topic was first on the agenda.

Among the biggest concerns of the group was identifying the technology to be used for collaboration. We wanted to determine the best way to develop deliverables, address team member concerns and communicate regularly as things progressed. Since a component of the ill-structured problem we faced was limited access to stakeholders and each other, we were overwhelmed at first. By creating an informal online collaborative environment design plan at the onset, we were able to focus our efforts and encourage active participation from all members of the group. Other considerations included the following:

Meeting times: what day/time each weeknight works with everyone’s schedule for regular meetings? We used Doodle.com to determine this.

Meeting location: where should we meet to communicate synchronously? It was decided we would meet via Skype given its text and audio chat capabilities.

Deliverable development: how will we share ideas and work together? Google docs were created to give all group members authorship and the ability to provide feedback as deliverables (forms, reports, etc.) took shape.

Project timeline: what do we need to accomplish in order to stay on track? A Google calendar was created to outline every phase of the project, including deadlines and meeting dates.

To see an example of what a formal collaborative environment plan for this project would have looked like, please click Next below. At the end of this lesson you will be asked to create a collaborative environment plan to test your skills.

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