Weekly Report 4

This week we tried meeting online, via AIM, as a method of working together on the Instructional Problem Statement. In theory one of us probably could have done it on our own, but I think it was helpful to try that method. It was very interesting. I don’t know how Alicia found it, but I thought it worked rather well. When we are using that method we can both choose a location and background situation that best suites us, whether that is having music playing, a TV on, or absolutely no sound whatsoever. Collaborating via an im system also has the advantage of being possible regardless of physical distance, so we could easily go on vacation but still work on the project together.

I think the only real weakness is that when I am working on an idea, Alicia can’t see what my idea is until it’s complete and I send it in a text message. Therefore there are long periods of silence while one of us is developing an idea, or the other is examining it after it has been sent as a message. In many ways I definitely agree that in person is superior, but when in person is not an option or is inconvenient, this works. I think it’s a good idea to experiment and try different methods of communicating and handling aspects of the project now, in the early phases, so that we can work out the kinks and know what works when things become more hectic. We don’t need all our documents to also be on a wiki, or as google docs, but I figure “why not”.