The collaborative experience

Interesting to compare the collaborative wiki on the OLL course and the RM course. Like all comparisons, there are some variables which reduce the poignancy of any potential conclusions …but, the OLL has a very clear task, deadline and we have together (sort of) forged our individual responsibilities. The RM wiki was a useful forum for editing a list of interview / survey questions, but there was so much politeness that it took ages to get anywhere. There were too many verbose comments (including mine) to wade through. We failed as a group to identify individual responsibilities and – for me – motivation waned.

On the downside of wikis generally, they still feel cumbersome to edit and use. Perhaps this simply improves with practice. There not beautiful creatures, though…

stakeholder theory and collaboration

I have been noticing common themes in the work of Mary Parker Follett (Schilling M 2000, Decades ahead of her time: advancing stakeholder theory through the ideas of Mary Parker Follett, Journal of Management History) and in collaborative learning / knowledge. Both decentralise authority / power / decision-making away from a few key stakeholders.

On a personal level, I like the levelling out, the sort of egalitarianism of all this. For learning, it provides opportunities for increased social learning in e-Learning, and can potentialy be used effectively in role-play.