Abstract
E-Collaboration is an important research topic, with a great number of researchers contributing on many aspects. The main reason for this major research activity is the broad topic’s scope, which involves not only technological but also social and psychological issues. As a result there are multiple interpretations about what e-collaboration is. More specifically we definitely can say that e-collaboration has been defined in many ways in the past, and the number of definitions has grown recently. The next section present the main terms in this area.
Key Terms in this Chapter
E-Collaboration: E-collaboration defined as “collaboration, which is conducted without face-to-face interaction among individuals or members of virtual teams engaged in a common task using information and communication technologies.”
CSCW: Computer-supported cooperative work or CSCW is computer-assisted coordinated activity carried out by groups of collaborating individuals.
Integrated Collaborative Technology: A collaborative technology is integrated if it combines support for more than one mode (e.g., synchronous or asynchronous), medium (e.g., text, graphic, audio, video, shared whiteboard, etc.), and structure (i.e., the support provided by the application for group development and productive outcomes).
Virtual Collaboration: Virtual collaboration is defined as collaboration, which is conducted without face-to-face interaction, enabled by technology.
Collaboration: Collaboration is the act of working together on a common task or process. Cooperation
Virtual Team: Virtual team, like every team, is a group of people who interact through interdependent tasks guided by a common purpose. Unlike conventional teams, a virtual team work across space, time, and organizational boundaries with links strength by Webs of communication technologies.
Groupware: Groupware is software that accentuates the multiple user environments, coordinating and orchestrating things so that users can “see” each other, yet do not conflict with each other.