Collaboration Services for the Math Forum Digital Library

Drexel University, Philadelphia PA

Investigators

Abstract

The NSDL is intended to serve learners in both collaborative and individual settings, as well as formal and informal modes. If one carefully studies learning in school, workplace and home, one finds that most learning is a subtle mix of collaborative and individual effort. Unfortunately, to date digital library services focus almost exclusively on the needs of individual users. Support for collaboration has been largely limited to mechanisms for anonymous, asynchronous collaboration within the whole user community, where results obtained by individuals may be fed back into metadata for future use by all. Little support has been developed for direct collaborative use of digital libraries by small groups of people working together. The adaptation of groupware components from current CSCW and CSCL systems makes it feasible to develop collaborative learning environments as digital library services, significantly increasing the potential impact, efficiency and value of digital libraries. This Project provides a model and test case of such an approach within the successful Math Forum Digital Library (MFDL). The MFDL now aims to extend the appeal and mathematical depth of the Problem of the Week by bringing students together in small, online groups for asynchronous and synchronous collaborative learning at a distance. The four project goals for advancing collaborative services in the NSDL are the following: 1. To better understand the computer support needs of small groups collaborating in a digital library. 2. To design a collaborative learning environment within a digital library. 3. To evaluate the use of a collaborative learning environment within a digital library. 4. To incorporate a collaborative learning environment within a digital library as a sustainable service.