Document-centered Peer Collaborations: An Exploration of the Educational Uses of Networked Communication Technologies

Abstract

Document-centered software, such as the CoNote application developed at Cornell University, supports cooperative work systems by facilitating communication within work groups via shared annotations (marginal notes) on a set of documents. The central idea is that shared annotations provide an effective communications forum for groups whose work involves frequent reference to some set of documents (e.g., teachers and students, field service workers, editors and publishers, organizations). In this study we examined how students used annotation tools for communication and learning and attempted to identify which factors influenced students’ interpretations of these collaboration tools. It appears that the beliefs that users hold about what constitutes a legitimate educational experience can influence the value they ascribe to educational software. Gender also seemed to have an impact on whether students felt that the annotations helped them create better Web sites and learn more effectively.