An Internet Collaboration Model: Speaking From Experience
Are you thinking of collaborating on an Internet project with colleagues? Below you will find tips and issues that we (Hazel Jobe, Karen Walkowiak, and Robert Owens) explored as we collaborated on the Shamrock Lane endeavor. It has been our experience that collaboration is about teamwork, sharing and networking with those who have common goals!
Making the Choice to Collaborate:
To Collaborate . . . or Not To Collaborate
Why Collaborate?
Collaboration can be a most enriching experience! The purpose of collaborating with colleagues is to learn not only from one another, but with one another. Collaboration requires a certain degree of risk, active participation from all group members as well as consistent and open dialogue, which is the cornerstone of communication. Be prepared to share your ideas! Mutual respect is crucial when working in a group; group members should feel safe enough to share and justify personal opinions. Collaboration requires thorough planning in the initial planning stages of creating a project, and for us, has proven to be an effective communication strategy for sharing our skills, knowledge and publishing standards with the online educational community. Collaboration for us, was much more than combining each other’s work to produce one project; it consisted of the sharing of concepts that were nurtured, reworked and implemented according to group consensus. That’s the challenge!!
Choosing Your Partners: Luck of the Draw
Is it necessary to know the members of your collaborative group personally? How do you decide whether or not you will be comfortable collaborating with others? These are valid questions! In our experience, we did not know each other personally. However, we were each familiar with the others’ work. As Franklin Fellows #7, 8 and 9, it was fortuitous that we were all to present a web feature for the month of March. Our choice to collaborate was hatched during a chat session. We discovered that we had common goals and expectations of ourselves and that we were prepared to commit to one another. Given the opportunity, we chose to run with an idea!
Part Two-->>>>
 Printable Version of this Article
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Hazel Jobe, Karen Walkowiak, Robert Owens
©March 1999
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