This paper examines some aspects of physical-digital workspaces, focusing on multi-user, multi-touch technologies and how different workspaces impact collaboration. We introduce the concept of globally collaborative work. We chose to use case studies completed by groups of students in an engineering course to test different workspace modalities: the use of a large multi-touch table top in conjunction with a multi-touch board (vertical), the use of tablets with the multi-touch board, and finally the multi-touch board alone. The evaluation criteria are based on modes of interaction which emerge during globally collaborative work sessions: individual work, communication, coordination, cooperation and collaboration. We hypothesized that the workspaces would influence collaborative activity, expecting to see higher rates of collaboration in the table top environment than in the other two modalities studied. However, results showed less co-building and more cooperative work, as students divided their work and later attempted to negotiate a coherent product built on individual contributions. Lastly, we share a few design recommendations based on these results.
International audienceLes étudiants disposent d’une large palette d’instruments de communication interpersonnelle et d’accès à l’information. Cet article vise à explorer les relations entre les pratiques de communication ordinaires des étudiants et les pratiques éducatives en contexte universitaire, en considérant que les pratiques ordinaires constituent de fait une forme de distance présente dans le supérieur. Est ainsi mise en évidence l’existence de plusieurs formes de distances dans les formations, dont les caractéristiques sont analysées dans une perspective instrumentale au regard de résultats en sociologie des usages. ABSTRACT. Students can use a wide scale of tools to communicate and access information. This article aims at exploring relations between ordinary communication practices of students and the ones in a higher education context, considering that these ordinary practices constitute a form of distance learning in higher education. The existence of several forms of distance among students is exposed. Their characteristics are analysed in an instrumental perspective and confronted to results in sociology of usage
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