Reflections on AK’s “Collaboration: Wait…Say What?”

Apostolos Koutropoulos (henceforth referred to as AK in this paper, for several reasons) presented to the EDDE 806 class on the progress he has made toward his dissertation, which is titled Open Course Collaboration: A Case Study of Emergent Collaboration in Rhizo14 and Rhizo15. It is early on in his process, so AK’s presentation focused on the big picture, rather than on the details, and on his goals and current thought process, rather than his conclusions. The broad question with which AK is working is: “Why collaborate?” In other words, what are people’s motivations for collaborating, particularly with strangers in an online course setting? And following from that, what form do those collaborative relationships take, how long do they last, and what are their limits?

The autobiographical aspect of the presentation—the explanation of how AK came to be interested in this topic, beginning with MobiMOOC, and moving through his participation in Rhizo14 and Rhizo15—made clear the link between the presenter and his topic, and gave it a personal feel. AK’s approach was somewhat informal and relaxed, highlighted with a good use of graphics that served to punctuate his points. (The image accompanying the “Methodological Omnivore” slide was a case in point.)

As an overview of the project, this presentation was effective in highlighting the key elements of AK’s planned approach. The problem, the methodology, the intended analysis, limitations, potential challenges—these seemed consistent with one another. The only thing missing was something that would be difficult to render in the PowerPoint format: AK’s goals for a 3D model that he is playing with. Other aspects of the project will evolve as AK devotes time to them, and the emerging literature review will also be a guide.

If there is a lesson that I can take away from AK’s presentation and apply to my own research, it would probably be that a well-thought-out presentation with a consistent approach, good integration of text, spoken word, and visuals can be a very effective means of communicating complex ideas.

A couple of minor points worth addressing, though: though AK will certainly be researching this question more, likely until he is sick of it, his assumption that “people hate group work” is certainly worth exploring. While it undoubtedly true for many people, it may not be the case that this dislike of collaboration is universal—and reasons for it might vary across cultural, economic, situational, and demographic contexts. Additionally, a problem we all fall victim to in our work is the use of jargon and acronyms—a specialized language for an audience of insiders, the people we usually interact with. Depending on the context, though, AK might want to take care to make sure that all references are clear to those who are not steeped in this work. “Rhizomatic learning,” for instance, is not a concept with which all are familiar. Likewise, terms such as ANT, PLNs, and SNA need explication—at least they did for me. Otherwise, this was an excellent presentation on a potentially fascinating topic.