From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
A collaboratory, as defined by William Wulf in 1989, is a “center without walls,
in which the nation’s researchers can perform their research without regard to
physical location, interacting with colleagues, accessing instrumentation,
sharing data and computational resources, [and] accessing information in digital libraries”
(Wulf, 1989).
Bly (1998) refines the definition to “a system which combines the interests of the scientific
community at large with those of the computer science and engineering community to create integrated,
tool-oriented computing and communication systems to support scientific
collaboration” (Bly, 1998, p. 31).
Rosenberg (1991) considers a collaboratory as being an experimental and empirical research environment in
which scientists work and communicate with each other to design systems,
participate in collaborative science, and conduct experiments to evaluate and
improve systems.
A simplified form of these definitions would describe the collaboratory as
being an environment where participants make use of computing and communication
technologies to access shared instruments and data, as well as to communicate
with others.
However, a wide-ranging definition is provided by Cogburn (2003) who states
that “a collaboratory is more than an elaborate collection of information and
communications technologies; it is a new networked organizational form that also
includes social processes; collaboration techniques; formal and informal
communication; and agreement on norms, principles, values, and rules” (Cogburn,
2003, p. 86).
Seems like a really good fit. In this innovative new space, students will discover, explore, inquire, learn and create by:
- informally and formally communicating, interacting and collaborating with peers, faculty, library and technology staff,
- accessing and discovering information,
- leveraging information and communications technologies, social networking tools, classroom software, eLearn, learning technologies, and new media (to name only a few).
A new learning landscape!
