just-pressed

Earlier this year we helped set up an e-learning environment to observe collaborations between art and design students. The aim of the site was both to motivate students to add work to the site and to record their responses to the work.

We created a registration page to ensure only bona-fide students could participate, analytics software tracked the overall activity (though not that of individual students) on any items added. Students were allowed to create their own usernames to be displayed against the work and any comments left. A group were assigned as editors for the site who moderated comments and selected featured items. With a significant body of other students voluntarily registering as contributors and a ‘live’ comments box allowing real time conversations between students logged on to the site encouraging others to join in, the site became a dynamic and ever changing community.

The results of the study have now been completed and the resulting paper is being presented at the 8th European Conference on e-Learning in Bari, Italy.