Learning Content Management Systeme (LCMS) unterstützen die professionelle Erstellung, Verwaltung und Auslieferung von Lernmaterialien [BHMH02]. Die Speicherung der hierfür verarbeiteten Lerninhalte in einem zentralen Repository ermöglicht neben deren Wiederverwendung auch den Zugriff für mehrere Nutzer und somit das Zusammenführen der verschiedenen Kompetenzen, die während der Erstellung benötigt werden: Die mithilfe der Lernmaterialien zu vermittelnden Inhalte müssen nicht nur fachlich richtig, sondern auch didaktisch, gestalterisch und technisch für ein oder mehrere Zielgruppen individuell aufbereitet worden sein. Dabei reichen die Zielgruppen von verschiedenen Abteilungen bis hin zu Lernern mit verschiedenen Muttersprachen und Kulturen in international agierenden Unternehmen und Bildungseinrichtungen. Die Arbeit der Nutzer mit dem LCMS wird durch verschiedene Mechanismen und Funktionalitäten erheblich vereinfacht, ihre Zusammenarbeit untereinander blieb bisher aber weitestgehend unbeachtet. Das Promotionsvorhaben, das in Kooperation mit der chemmedia AG erfolgt, setzt an diesem Punkt an. Als Vorbild und somit zur Identifikation von Kommunikations- und Kooperationskonzepten werden Social- Software-Anwendungen herangezogen, bei denen die gemeinsame Content-Erstellung scheinbar unproblematisch stattfindet. Als methodische Klammer wird die DIN EN ISO/IEC 19796 [Deu09] herangezogen. Sie gibt einerseits die für die Analyse nötige Strukturierung der Prozesse bei der Lernangebotserstellung vor und liefert außerdem die für die Evaluation benötigten Qualitätskriterien.

Zugl.: Duisburg, Essen, Univ., Diss., 2005

Nous abordons dans cette thèse le problème de la conception d’un système informatique de soutien évaluatif, pour soutenir et évaluer en temps réel l’activité collaborative dans le cas particulier "d'une activité régie par des process issus d'organisations différentes". Nous définissons un process comme un ensemble de règles, de politiques, de plans, de normes ayant pour vocation de guider et de servir de référence à la réalisation d’une activité collaborative. Nous positionnons notre recherche dans le cadre applicatif de l’entrainement à la gestion de crise, et dans le cadre technologique de l’interaction tangible.Pour mettre en place un soutien évaluatif flexible et intelligible, nous proposons un système socio-technique capable d’apporter aux acteurs une conscience organisationnelle partagée et distribuée.Dans ce cadre, trois verrous essentiels sont considérés : (1) représentation et gestion de contextes liés à l’activité soutenue et aux interactions entre acteurs, (2) représentation et gestion des différents process liés à l’activité soutenue et à l’interaction, et (3) articulation entre l'activité soutenue et l'interaction.Pour répondre à ces verrous, nous proposons le système OrA s’appuyant sur trois groupes de principes relatif à l'activité soutenue et à l’interaction : modularité et représentation des process et contextes, gestion autonome et faiblement couplée des process et des éléments de contexte, coordination flexible entre ces mécanismes de gestion de process et de contextes.Ces principes sont mis en oeuvre au sein d’un système informatique s’appuyant sur les modèles des collecticiels, et en particulier CLOVER, des modèles de traces, des systèmes multi-agents normatifs.Ce système est évalué en démontrant la possibilité de modéliser les process d’un cas pratique d’exercice de gestion de crise, puis en proposant une utilisation en situation d’un exercice réel d’entrainement à la gestion de crise. / We discuss in this thesis about designing an computer system for an evaluative support , to support and evaluate in real-time the collaborative activity in the particular case of "an activity governed by processes from different organizations". We define a process as a set of rules, policies, plans, standards which aim to guide and be a reference for the realization of a collaborative activity. Our research is applied to training in crisis management, and situated in the technological context of tangible interaction.To implement a flexible and comprehensible evaluative support, we propose a socio-technical systemfor bringing the actors shared and distributed organizational consciousness.In this context, three key issues are considered: (1) representation and management of the contexts associated with the sustained activity and the interactions between the involved stakeholders, (2) representation and management of various processes associated with the sustained activity and the interaction and (3) the articulation between the sustained activity and the interaction.To answer these issues, we offer the OrA system based on three groups of principles, both about sutained activiy and interaction : modularity and representation of processes and contexts, autonomous management and loosely coupled processes and contextual elements, flexible coordination between these process and context management mechanisms.These principles are implemented in a computer system based on the model of groupware, especially CLOVER, a traces models, and normative multi-agent systems.This system is evaluated by demonstrating the ability to model the process of a practical case of crisis management exercise, and by providing a use situation of a real exercise training in crisis management.

People work together to solve a wide variety of problems using different forms of cooperation for each class of problem. Modern technology is complex, and therefore it is unusual for an individual to attempt the development of a major project single-handedly. In an attempt to provide computer-based support for the problems that arise when two or more people attempt to cooperate to perform a task or solve a problem, the area of Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) becomes relevant. The software development process almost invariably involves cooperation that crosses group, professional, and subcultural boundaries. The complexity of software development demands that highly integrated groups of analysts, designers, and users are involved in the process. Many development activities may occur concurrently. The area of CSCW and advanced information technology, with its enormous capabilities for transmitting and storing information, holds considerable promise for the software development process. / Computing / M. Sc. (Information Systems)

O trabalho dos usuários em sistemas de informação é uma atividade social que envolve grupos de pessoas que cooperam entre si para desempenhar as mais variadas funções. A natureza da cooperação, por si só é complexa e depende dos indivíduos envolvidos, do ambiente físico e da organização onde o trabalho se desenvolve. Os aspectos ligados ao trabalho cooperativo dos usuários não são considerados no enfoque tradicional da engenharia de software, uma vez que o usuário é visto de modo independente do meio ou grupo em que está inserido, com o modelo individual generalizado para o estudo do comportamento coletivo envolvendo todos os usuários. O objetivo deste trabalho é propor um processo de requisitos de software para tratar as questões envolvendo o trabalho cooperativo em sistemas de informação que apresentem coordenação distribuída nas ações dos usuários e a comunicação entre eles ocorre, preponderantemente, de modo indireto por meio dos dados inseridos no uso do software. Para tanto, a pesquisa faz uso de conceitos da ergonomia, da cognição e da engenharia de software. Utiliza-se a pesquisa-ação como metodologia de pesquisa em três ciclos, aplicada durante o desenvolvimento de um sistema de workflow corporativo em uma empresa de pesquisa tecnológica. No primeiro ciclo, o processo trata da definição dos requisitos do domínio do problema e das contribuições individuais dos usuários. No segundo ciclo, as contribuições do grupo (suas ações e inter-relações) são consideradas com as contribuições individuais pela simulação da solução proposta. No terceiro ciclo, o processo trata do refinamento dos requisitos do trabalho cooperativo, com o software em uso real no ambiente de trabalho. Os resultados obtidos no final do ciclo 2 e início do ciclo 3 durante a aplicação do processo em campo, mostraram a necessidade de melhoria do processo. Esta evolução é necessária, visto que a inclusão do sistema informatizado altera o ambiente de trabalho dos usuários, passando da interação face a face para a interação mediada pelo software. Os resultados obtidos evidenciaram que o maior grau de consciência dos usuários sobre como os inter-relacionamentos de suas atividades são realizados contribuem para um decréscimo em seus erros individuais, diminuindo o retrabalho de recodificação do software e acima de tudo o uso inadequado do sistema, evitando a propagação das consequências desses erros nos resultados finais do trabalho em grupo. / Users\' work in information systems is a social activity that involves people groups cooperating to perform many different functions. The nature of cooperation itself is complex and depends on the people involved, on the workplace environment and on the organization in which the work develops. Aspects related to the users\' cooperative work are not considered in the traditional approach of software engineering, since the user is viewed independently of his/her workplace environment or group, with the individual model generalized to the study of collective behavior of all users. This work proposes a process for software requirements to address issues involving cooperative work in information systems that provide distributed coordination in the users\' actions and the communication among them occurs indirectly through the data entered while using the software. To achieve this goal, this research uses ergonomics, cognition and software engineering concepts. Research-action is used as a research methodology applied in three cycles during the development of a corporate workflow system in a technological research company. In the first cycle, the proposed process exposes the definition of the problem domain requirements and the users\' individual contributions. In the second cycle, the contributions of the group (their actions and inter-relationships) are considered together with the individual contributions through the simulation of the proposed solution. In the third cycle, the process deals with the refinement of the cooperative work requirements with the software in actual use in the workplace. The results at the end of cycle 2 and the beginning of cycle 3 during the process application in the field show the need for process improvement. This is necessary because the inclusion of a computer system changes the users workplace, from the face to face interaction to the interaction mediated by the software. The results show that the highest degree of users\' awareness as the interrelationship of their activities are carried out contributes to a decrease in their individual errors, reducing software recoding rework and above all the inappropriate use of the system, avoiding the spread of the consequences of these errors in the final results of the group work.

This master thesis describes our work with Team Sweden and how we have attempted to perform a Software Process Improvement using groupware. Team Sweden is a distributed academic software development organization doing research on artificial intelligence and robotics. Such an organization has a lot to gain from the introduction of a more structured process model. We have investigated the possibility of supporting the development processes of a small software development organization by introducing groupware. Only introducing a groupware tool or technique is not enough to improve the processes of an organization. Process improvement requires an infrastructure and groupware could be a useful tool for establishing it. Improved communication and knowledge sharing through groupware can be beneficial for establishing a process infrastructure. Groupware should be used in conjunction with other process improvement measures in order to be effective and improve the capability of the targeted organization. / This master thesis describes our work with Team Sweden and how we have attempted to perform a Software Process Improvement using groupware. / gustav@nordenskjold.com hakingma@hotmail.com

Groupware packages are increasingly being used to support content delivery, class discussion, student to student and student to faculty interactions and group work on projects. This research focused on groupware packages that are used to support students who are located in different places, but who are assigned group projects as part of their coursework requirements. In many cases, students are being asked to use unfamiliar technologies that are very different from those that support personal productivity. For example, computer-assisted cooperative work (CSCW) technology is different from other more traditional, stand-alone software applications because it requires the user to interact with the computer as well as other users. However, familiarity with the technology is not the only requirement for successful completion of a group assigned project. For a group to be successful, it must also have a desire to work together on the project. If this pre-requisite is not present within the group, then the technology will only create additional communication and coordination barriers. How much of an impact does each of these factors have on the acceptance of CSCW technology? The significance of this study is threefold. First, this research contributed to how a user's predisposition toward group work affects their acceptance of CSCW technology. Second, it helped identify ways to overcome some of the obstacles associated with group work and the use of CSCW technology in an academic online environment. Finally, it helped identify early adopters of CSCW software and how these users can form the critical mass required to diffuse the technology. This dissertation reports the impact of predisposition toward group work and prior computer experience on the intention to use synchronous CSCW. It was found that predisposition toward group work was not only positively associated to perceived usefulness; it was also related to intention to use. It also found that perceived ease of use, at least in this study, had a direct and positive impact on intention, and was not mediated through perceived usefulness. These findings hold implications for academia and how it uses complex collaborative software. Avenues for further research are identified.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether the style of a user interface (i.e., its look and feel) has an effect on the usability of a synchronous computer supported cooperative work (CSCW) environment for delivering Internet-based collaborative content. The problem motivating this study is that people who are located in different places need to be able to communicate with one another. One way to do this is by using complex computer tools that allow users to share information, documents, programs, etc. As an increasing number of business organizations require workers to use these types of complex communication tools, it is important to determine how users regard these types of tools and whether they are perceived to be useful. If a tool, or interface, is not perceived to be useful then it is often not used, or used ineffectively. As organizations strive to improve communication with and among users by providing more Internet-based collaborative environments, the users' experience in this form of delivery may be tied to a style of user interface look and feel that could negatively affect their overall acceptance and satisfaction of the collaborative environment. The significance of this study is that it applies the technology acceptance model (TAM) as a tool for evaluating style of user interface look and feel in a collaborative environment, and attempts to predict which factors of that model, perceived ease of use and/or perceived usefulness, could lead to better acceptance of collaborative tools within an organization.

Learning Content Management Systeme (LCMS) unterstützen die professionelle Erstellung, Verwaltung und Auslieferung von Lernmaterialien [BHMH02]. Die Speicherung der hierfür verarbeiteten Lerninhalte in einem zentralen Repository ermöglicht neben deren Wiederverwendung auch den Zugriff für mehrere Nutzer und somit das Zusammenführen der verschiedenen Kompetenzen, die während der Erstellung benötigt werden: Die mithilfe der Lernmaterialien zu vermittelnden Inhalte müssen nicht nur fachlich richtig, sondern auch didaktisch, gestalterisch und technisch für ein oder mehrere Zielgruppen individuell aufbereitet worden sein. Dabei reichen die Zielgruppen von verschiedenen Abteilungen bis hin zu Lernern mit verschiedenen Muttersprachen und Kulturen in international agierenden Unternehmen und Bildungseinrichtungen. Die Arbeit der Nutzer mit dem LCMS wird durch verschiedene Mechanismen und Funktionalitäten erheblich vereinfacht, ihre Zusammenarbeit untereinander blieb bisher aber weitestgehend unbeachtet. Das Promotionsvorhaben, das in Kooperation mit der chemmedia AG erfolgt, setzt an diesem Punkt an. Als Vorbild und somit zur Identifikation von Kommunikations- und Kooperationskonzepten werden Social- Software-Anwendungen herangezogen, bei denen die gemeinsame Content-Erstellung scheinbar unproblematisch stattfindet. Als methodische Klammer wird die DIN EN ISO/IEC 19796 [Deu09] herangezogen. Sie gibt einerseits die für die Analyse nötige Strukturierung der Prozesse bei der Lernangebotserstellung vor und liefert außerdem die für die Evaluation benötigten Qualitätskriterien.

Web applications offering real-time collaboration support (e.g. Google Docs) allow geographically dispersed users to edit the very same document simultaneously, which is appealing to end-users mainly because of two application characteristics. On the one hand, provided real-time capabilities supersede traditional document merging and document locking techniques that distract users from the content creation process. On the other hand, web applications free end-users from lengthy setup procedures and allow for instant application access. However, implementing collaborative web applications is a time-consuming and complex endeavor since offering real-time collaboration support requires two specific collaboration services. First, a concurrency control service has to ensure that documents are synchronized in real-time and that emerging editing conicts (e.g. if two users change the very same word concurrently) are resolved automatically. Second, a workspace awareness service has to inform the local user about actions and activities of other participants (e.g. who joined the session or where are other participants working). Implementing and integrating these two collaboration services is largely ine cient due to (1) the lack of necessary collaboration functionality in existing libraries, (2) incompatibilities of collaboration frameworks with widespread web development approaches as well as (3) the need for massive source code changes to anchor collaboration support. Therefore, we propose a Generic Collaboration Infrastructure (GCI) that supports the e cient development of web-based groupware in various ways. First, the GCI provides reusable concurrency control functionality and generic workspace awareness support. Second, the GCI exposes numerous interfaces to consume these collaboration services in a exible manner and without requiring invasive source code changes. And third, the GCI is linked to a development methodology that e ciently guides developers through the development of web-based groupware. To demonstrate the improved development e ciency induced by the GCI, we conducted three user studies encompassing developers and end-users. We show that the development e ciency can be increased in terms of development time when adopting the GCI. Moreover, we also demonstrate that implemented collaborative web applications satisfy end-user needs with respect to established software quality characteristics (e.g. usability, reliability, etc.). / Webbasierte, kollaborative Echtzeitanwendungen (z.B. Google Docs) erlauben es geografisch verteilten Nutzern, Dokumente gemeinschaftlich und simultan zu bearbeiten. Die Implementierung kollaborativer Echtzeitanwendungen ist allerdings aufwendig und komplex, da einerseits eine Nebenläufigkeitskontrolle von Nöten ist und andererseits die Nachvollziehbarkeit von nicht-lokalen Interaktionen mit dem gemeinsamen virtuellen Arbeitsraum gewährleistet sein muss (z.B. wer editiert wo). Um die Entwicklung kollaborativer Echtzeitanwendungen effizient zu gestalten, wurde eine Generische Kollaborationsinfrastruktur (GKI) entwickelt. Diese GKI stellt sowohl eine Nebenläufigkeitskontrolle als auch Komponenten zur Nachvollziehbarkeit von nicht-lokalen Interaktionen auf eine wiederverwendbare und nicht-invasive Art und Weise zur Verfügung. In drei dedizierten Studien, die sowohl Entwickler als auch Endanwender umfassten, wurde die Entwicklungseffizienz der GKI nachgewiesen. Dabei wurde die Entwicklungszeit, der Umfang des Quelltextes als auch die Gebrauchstauglichkeit analysiert.