Online communication and collaboration: a reader

The rise of web 2.0 tools over the latter half of the 2000s has sparked a new wave of enthusiasm as to the perceived benefits of technology in education. Although the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to support online communication and collaboration is not a new phenomenon, it can be argued that web 2.0 tools combined with the new conditions of cheaper, faster and the ‘always-on’ mode of Internet connectivity now seem to carry unquestionable promises for the future of education. As such, the editors of Online Communication and Collaboration: A Reader aim to collate a range of articles that combine the ‘classic and up-to-date’, as well as the ‘academic’ and the ‘popular’ in order to blend ‘scholarly rigour with readability’ (p. xii). Their intention is, therefore, to provide an overview of ‘the way we communicate and interact together, enabled by technology’ (p. xii) as well as ‘to contribute to further understanding and improved practice of online communication and collaboration’ (p. xiii). Following the long tradition of Open University (OU) readers, the editors have succeeded in assembling a wide collection of papers that vary in subject-matter, theoretical perspective and depth, but nevertheless fit together into a coherent whole. In cases where an appropriate third-party article was not available, the editors acknowledged that they produced ‘original material . . . grounded in our own areas of expertise’ (p. xii). There are a total of 22 chapters divided into eight different sections. Part I focuses on the theoretical approaches with regards to how people ‘work in groups’ thereby giving the reader a brief overview of the benefits of asynchronous communication through the use of the online forum. Part II introduces the concept of ‘collaborative technologies’ and provides an overview of the often obtuse academic field of computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW). This section takes both a theoretical and a critical stance on the topic as well as providing a model for evaluating collaborative technologies. Part III looks more deeply into the use of ‘wikis’ and ‘instant messaging’ as collaborative tools, whilst Part IV presents (in a single chapter) a case study of the Linux open-source operating system. Parts V and VI, respectively, look at the concept of ‘online communities’ especially through virtual worlds such as MUD and Second Life. Part VII of the Reader then goes on to offer a more general overview of web 2.0 and present opposing views with regards to the perceived societal and educational benefits of these tools, whilst the final section of the book examines the evolution of social networking sites. If much of the preceding synopsis is unfamiliar in terms of acronyms and jargon, then this book may be of some use offering a quick ‘way in’ to an often confusing (and sometimes confused) set of literatures. Yet, there is perhaps less here for the already initiated reader. Notwithstanding the good intentions of the editors, Online Communication and Collaboration: A Reader at times reads like an informative, yet Evaluation & Research in Education Vol. 24, No. 2, June 2011, 159 161