Selecting communication media for distributed communities
Open accessAbstract
Within the 'Virtual Mobility and Distributed Laboratories' project three naturalistic case studies of distributed research communities were conducted with a focus on the communication media used. The findings provide insight into relationships between the different media that the communities selected, and the different activities to which these media contributed. It is suggested that these findings are also relevant for distributed groups in which collaborative learning is the primary aim. A framework is presented for understanding and recommending selections of media for particular kinds of tasks, which is derived by integrating Media‐richness Theory and Activity Theory. This framework indicates how task/media fit may be achieved while taking into account the evolving character of activities in a distributed community. Some implications of the framework for collaborative distance learning are highlighted.
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In a previous analysis of VMDL evidence, activity levels were interpreted as varying over time with corresponding changes in communication richness requirements.
“In a previous analysis of VMDL † evidence, these levels were interpreted as varying over time with corresponding and changing communication richness requirements (Heeren & Lewis, 1997).”
From An Activity Theory framework to explore distributed communities (1997) · cites this paper as Heeren & Lewis, 1997
The information richness of a communication channel is a key parameter for the effectiveness of human-human interaction.
“The VMDL project had the use of media in naturalistic, distributed communities as a central focus and other evidence supports the idea that the 'informationrichness' of any particular communication channel is a key parameter when looking at the effectiveness of human-human interaction (Heeren & Lewis, 1997).”
From An Activity Theory framework to explore distributed communities (1997) · cites this paper as Heeren & Lewis, 1997
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Cites
Information richness. A new approach to managerial behavior and organization design
Daft, R. L., & Lengel, R. H. (1983) · doi:10.21236/ada128980 · Cited by 2,263 · cited 5× · see citing works
“Two ‘information tasks’ are hence related to this (Daft & Lengel, 1984): • reduction of uncertainty: transmission of a sufficient amount of information; • reduction of equivocality: developing shared understandings of external factors and frameworks of reference.”
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Research works printed but not linked: 12
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- Kuutti, K. (1991) Activity theory and its applications to information systems research and development. In Information systems research: Contemporary approaches and emergent traditions (eds. H.-E. Nissen, H.K. Klein & R. Hirschheim) pp. 529-549.
- Leontiev, A.N. (1978) Activity, consciousness, personality. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
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- Nardi, B.A (1996) Studying context: A comparison of activity theory, situated action models, and distributed cognition. In Context and consciousness: Activity theory and human computer interaction (ed. B.A. Nardi) pp. 69-102. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
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Cited by
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Organizational Learning: Diverging Communities of Practice?
Easterby-Smith, M., Snell, R., & Gherardi, S. (1998) · Management Learning · doi:10.1177/1350507698293001 · Cited by 302 · see citing works
An Activity Theory framework to explore distributed communities
Lewis, R. (1997) · Journal of Computer Assisted Learning · doi:10.1046/j.1365-2729.1997.00023.x · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Self-citation
- Authors
- Heeren, E., & Lewis, R.
- Affiliations
- Lancaster University (GB)
- ORCID
- Lewis, R.
- Venue
- Journal of Computer Assisted Learning
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 1997-06
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 85-98
- ISSN
- 0266-4909 (ISSN-L)
- 1365-2729
- OpenAlex
- W2106010704
- Cited by
- 32
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2022: 1 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 29.96
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Computer Assisted Learning (publishedVersion)
- University of Twente Research Information (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- European Commission
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Online and Blended Learning
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Team Dynamics and Performance
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Innovative Teaching and Learning Methods
- Keywords
- communication media selection, virtual mobility, distributed laboratories, media richness theory, activity theory, cooperative learning, online communities
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