Knowing the Knower: A Systems Development Case Study

The word ‘group’ seems to suggest co-operation and collaboration in any environment be it organisational or educational. Communication does not necessarily encourage collaboration, for example, discussion forums can, if not properly structured and controlled result in information overload and therefore structural chaos; ten threaded replies can result in ten thousand unstructured responses and queries The benefit of a communication forum (as a component of a larger system with the ability to track and administrate development projects) emanates from its potential to provide structure to the human communication process within groups. This paper focuses on the design and development of a forum that allows learners to gain access to both internal (within their own college class) and external experts to learn and collaborate for the benefit of each actor (individual learners, groups, experts) and future End Users within the case. The research outlines the factors necessary for successful design and use of the environment, through the investigation of current research and the analysis of the case environment. It also highlights the potential of the system to overcome the physical barriers of the traditional classroom and the pedagogical advantages that such an environment can, when properly mediated (controlled) and structured provide. The environment can facilitate collaboration, reduce conflict and avail of all of the benefits that technology and access to expertise can provide. The research context was that of a single case study in a third level IT department examining the value of an online expert forum to manage and control development projects