Facilitators:

Jin Li

IBM Canada Ltd.

jinli@ca.ibm.com

Collaborative Learning Workshops at CSCL 2003

Workshop Summary

This workshop is designed to enable participants to explore and identify the unique issues and challenges for effective user interface design for CSCL environments.

Workshop Description

This workshop will be offered for three of the 2-hour slots. The facilitator will explain the goal of the workshop and the procedures to be followed. Current HCI methods and techniques have primarily been focused on single user environments. CSCW research has been focused on techniques to improve collaboration and group work. However, in a CSCL environment, users not only need to interact with the software effectively and collaborate with other users, but also need to learn and gain knowledge in a domain. The first 45 minutes will be spent with participants discussing the issues and challenges they have encountered in designing UI for CSCL environments. About half an hour will be spent to categorize and prioritize the issues and challenges. Another half an hour will be spent to discuss some of the UI design techniques that have been applied and found effective. The workshop will be wrapped up with an open discussion and summary at the end. Flipcharts and a computer projector will be used throughout the session as required.