Towards an analysis of how shared representations are manipulated to mediate online synchronous collaboration

Abstract

This work is concerned with an analysis of how shared representations - notations that are manipulated by more than one person during a collaborative task -arc used as resources to support that collaboration. The analysis is built on the concept of "informational uptake": how information moves and is transformed between individuals via a graphical representation as well as a verbal "chat" tool. By examining patterns of such uptake, one can see ways in which the activity of two individuals is coupled and joined into a larger cognitive (and sometimes knowledge-building) activity distributed across the persons and representations they are manipulating. © Springer-Verlag 2004.