I am a big believer in the importance of collaborative learning, and in today’s age, computer-supported collaborative learning. But I think the biggest hurdle to better online collaboration is compatibility issues. There are ways around these issues, but nobody wants the trouble of converting files or buying virtual pc or something like that. For collaboration to succeed, the participants need to be able to exchange ideas quickly, without technological hang-ups. Hopefully computer designers will key into this idea of layers and build computers and programs in layers so that a particular layer can easily be moved and adapted to many different situations, platforms, and computers. If the layers of software design each had their own interface, the layer itself could be moved to a new situation and the interface would allow the layer to still work. Think legos. A lego can be used in many different designs because the interface allows it to be part of a ship, plane, or anything else. This would really help online education and learning, I believe.
Dr. Andy Gibbons of BYU has been talking recently about computer and instructional design layers, and I think he presented at AECT last year on this subject.
