Collaboration Grid

by John Spencer

In working with collaborative groups, I've noticed that tools are often chosen based upon comfort level, trendiness or simplicity rather than the function or the format in relationship to identity of the group and the purpose of the task. I've grown frustrated with brainstorms on visual topics where we used text-based tools or in trying to co-create something using a medium designed for communication. For that reason, I've created the collaboration grid. I realize that it's pretty arbitrary. I don't pretend to base this off of research or science. However, I thought I would share it with anyone interested.


THE FUNCTION

When I think about collaboration, I tend to think in two domains. I typically have times when I am co-creating and other times when I am communicating. On some level, the two will always co-exist in collaboration. However, sharing ideas over a cup of coffee is very different than painting a mural together.

In terms of online collaboration tools, I find myself using Twitter or Google Chat for sharing ideas and using Google Docs or Prezi for co-creating. For that reason, I have placed various web tools on a continuum between the creative and the communicative domains. Some tools fit evenly between these, like simple blogging, where the user is just as likely to engage and share as he or she is to create and post. Others fit on more extreme sides of each domain.

A few questions to consider:

• Are we helping to ensure that we are creating rather than simply consuming information?
• Is there a balance between sharing in the communication along with sharing in the creation of a product?
• What is the nature of a tool with regards to creating and communicating?

THE FORMAT

In terms of format, there tends to be a continuum between text-based and multimedia. Some tools, like blogging and micro-blogging are toward the middle. However, Skyping with someone is a very multimedia experience while shared writing documents tend to be very text-based.

It's important that teachers and students think about the format as they collaborate. Too much reliant on text or visuals can skew the nature of the collaboration. A visual brainstorm on Pinterest will look far different than a text-based brainstorm on a Google Document.

A few questions to consider:

• Does this allow for audio, visual or text-based information? If it allows for multiple representations, which one is it most geared toward?
• How do these tools mirror in-person interactions? How do they vary from face-to-face interactions?
• What is lost in this medium? (For example, tone of voice, facial expression, etc.)

John T. Spencer is a teacher in Phoenix, AZ who blogs at Education Rethink. He recently finished Pencil Me In, an allegory for educational technology and A Sustainable Start, a book for new teachers. He also wrote the reform-minded memoirs Teaching Unmasked: A Humble Alternative to Waiting For a Superhero and Sages and Lunatics. He has written two young adult novels Drawn Into Danger and A Wall for Zombies. You can connect with him on Twitter @johntspencer