SI 689: Computer-Supported Cooperative Work

An advanced course that explores the social, organizational, and technical issues involved in designing, developing, and deploying computational and communication tools to support the activities of groups and organizations. Students review a variety of research methods and conceptual frameworks that have guided CSCW work. Both classic and contemporary material is read and discussed. Students gain first-hand experience with a variety of tools through class demos and through a semester-long group project that evaluates an instance of a tool.

• Understand the nature of social and organizational processes that are relevant to technology adoption and acceptance
• Learn about the different methods for studying social and organizational processes
• Become familiar with some of the major theoretical perspectives that have influenced CSCW researchers
• Know how to evaluate the success of a technology adoption in social or organizational terms
• Understand the changing and diverse nature of technological constraints that shape the kinds of applications and infrastructure that have been developed to support group and organizational activities
• Grain first-hand experience with the use of a variety of CSCW tools
• Understand the rapidly expanding marketplace in CSCW technologies