The process of digital formalization in sociotechnical learning communities: needed or overloaded?

  • Authors:

  • Isa Jahnke

  • Affiliations:

  • Dortmund University of Technology, Center for Research on Higher Education and Faculty Development, Dortmund, Germany

  • Venue:
  • CSCL'09 Proceedings of the 9th international conference on Computer supported collaborative learning - Volume 1
  • Year:
  • 2009

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Abstract

The Web 2.0 is often characterized by an informal participation, which means a free cooperation of as many as possible without any restraints from organizations, processes, or technical platforms. In contrast to public communities, an official organization like a company consists of rather formal structures which define what a member should do and how to fulfill a task by assigning a role. If such a formal organization supports a community, does the balance between informal and formal structures will change? This short paper presents the results of a field study about a socio-technical community called 'InPUD' which is part of a faculty. The main conclusion is that a specific degree of digital formalization in online groups is needed for successful online structures and sustainability. By using new media like Web 2.0, the balance between informal and formal structures in institutions will be changed.