However, the purpose of this article is to briefly outline several types of software you’ve probably never heard of---software that, while not presently widespread in education, possesses promise for teaching and learning. I’ll briefly present five types of software:
• Collaboratory
• Digital Asset Management
• Concept Mapping
• P2P Collaboration
• Peer Review

COLLABORATORY SOFTWARE
The term “Collaboratory” has most often been used to describe a room containing computer workstations with special software designed to assist group decision-making processes like brainstorming and consensus building. However, you don’t necessarily need a specialized room in order to have a Collaboratory, for new technologies like wireless networks and laptop labs make it possible to turn any classroom or conference room into a Collaboratory.

What kinds of software tools are used in a Collaboratory? GroupSystems, a leading supplier of Collaboratory software (http://www.groupsystems.com/demos/tools.htm), includes these tools:

• Categorizer: Used to collect a list of ideas, then categorize those ideas into logical groupings. The group can brainstorm on one single list, or enter ideas directly into the categories. Common uses include cause and effect analysis; organizing lists of tasks; and simple brainstorming.

• Voting: Eight voting methods, including a customizable point scale, make the voting process flexible and powerful. Used to evaluate, make decisions, and build consensus.

• Group Outliner: Used to generate and/or organize ideas into a familiar hierarchical structure. Outlines can be displayed in bulleted or numbered format. The leader can distribute the whole outline to participants, or allow them to work in subgroups. Common uses include action planning; group writing; and process design.

• Topic Commenter: The leader enters a list of topics and asks participants to comment on those topics. Common uses include discussing strengths and weaknesses (SWOT analysis) and focus group research.

• Alternative Analysis: Used to evaluate a list of alternatives based on multiple criteria. Sophisticated charting allows for in-depth analysis. Common uses include evaluating job candidates; assessing risks; rating vendor proposals; and evaluating options.

• Electronic Brainstorming: Used for simultaneous and anonymous idea sharing on a specific question or issue. Common uses include team building; broad or focused brainstorming; and visioning or strategic planning sessions.

• Survey: Used to build, distribute, and collect survey forms. Common uses include employee feedback surveys; 360 performance reviews; and customer surveys.

How can Collaboratory software be used for teaching and learning? Take brainstorming for example, where a class generates ideas which are written down and then discussed in turn. Typically, this process takes a lot of time. However, with Collaboratory software, everyone types ideas into a single shared document where each person can constantly see what others are writing. The best ideas are selected via anonymous voting, the pros and cons of each idea are quickly compiled, and the highest-rated course of action is identified. Thus the processes of generating ideas, evaluating possible solutions, and selecting the optimal solution are completed much more quickly---and with a full record of the process to boot! For a teacher, the time saved could mean the difference between including a brainstorming exercise in class or excluding it for lack of time.

Another advantage is that Collaboratory software allows for anonymous input, which can lessen the chance of group members withholding good ideas, being reticent about speaking frankly in front of the instructor, the discussion being dominated by a few dominant personalities, or “groupthink” (bad decisions resulting from attendees who decline to state their reservations regarding a course of action that is either popular or advocated by a powerful or vocal member of the group). With anonymity, ideas can be judged upon their merits rather than by who advocates them.

To see examples of how Collaboratory software is used in education, see San Francisco State University’s web page at http://cet.sfsu.edu/classrooms/collaboratory/colabteach.html, where it is used by programs in Black Studies, Biology, Technical Writing, History, and Social Work.

DIGITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
As computers get faster and hard drives get bigger, I seem to accumulate more and more files, to the point that it’s so hard to find anything on my computer. Sure, I use the Search tool, but I vaguely wish for something, well, better.

But if I think I’ve got it bad, imagine the plight at an advertising agency with dozens of artists, each with thousands of files (it’s estimated that the average person with a “creative” job spends 1/10 of his or her work hours dealing with file management). To facilitate file sharing, agencies often keep files stored on a central server that can quickly accumulate millions of files! Often this leads to confusion, wasted time, even lost files.

To cope, ad agencies and other companies with a critical need to manage files have turned to a new breed of software for digital asset management (DAM). DAMs view digital assets as analogous to any other organizational asset (e.g., computer hardware) and provide powerful database tools for cataloging, storing, searching, and retrieving those assets.

Simple DAM software (I know, I chortle every time I say that!) offers thumbnailing of pictures, image libraries, and powerful indexing and keyword capabilities. Because you’re searching keywords or pre-generated thumbnail pictures instead of large files, even searches among millions of files are lightning fast. Some even allow “natural language” queries and have “anti-lawsuit” built-in digital rights management to ensure compliance with copyrights. As such products become more widespread and standardized, many other software programs will likely become DAM-compatible; for example, any digital clip art or pictures you buy will come “pre-equipped” with hidden metadata that facilitate their use by a DAM system.

For an instructor, a DAM program could save time and frustration in searching for files, allow sharing of PowerPoint slides among related presentations, and help build a collection of answers to frequently-asked questions. Most importantly, it could mean never losing another file!

Examples of DAM software aimed at workstation users include Canto’s Cumulus (http://www.canto.com/), WebWare’s ActiveMedia (http://www.webwarecorp.com/products_services_activemedia.html), and eMotion’s CreativePartner (http://www.emotion.com/images/CreativePartner.pdf).

CONCEPT MAPPING SOFTWARE
Psychologists who study human cognition believe that our long-term memories are functionally organized as connected webs of concepts called “semantic nets”. Here’s an example: picture a little circle with the word BIRD in it. Under that circle are several other circles with ROBIN, SPARROW and OSTRICH in them. Lines called “links” connect the lower circles to the upper one. This represents that robins, sparrows, and even ostriches are part of the larger concept of “birds”.

If you graphically represent this or similar examples on a sheet of paper, it’s called a concept map (the results tend to look a bit like souped-up organizational charts). Concept maps offer the advantage of showing relationships as well as facts; i.e., you not only see the intellectual parts, you see how they fit together.

There’s a burgeoning movement in education to teach students how to create and use concept maps. Perhaps the best-known concept mapping software is Inspiration (http://www.inspiration.com/productinfo/Inspiration/index.cfm; you can download a 30-day free trial from http://www.inspiration.com/freetrial/index.cfm?fuseaction=insp). Inspiration can generate concept maps from outlines (or vice versa),

A different method is used by CMap, concept mapping software available from http://cmap.coginst.uwf.edu/ that is free for academic uses (download it at http://cmap.coginst.uwf.edu/download/cmapForm.html). CMap is used not only to create concept maps, but also to navigate, share, and criticize; that is, using CMap is a shared activity. It consists of software that is downloaded and installed on individual PCs along with servers to house the concept maps. NASA has used CMap to capture a lot of knowledge in order to prevent “brain drain” when experienced rocket scientists retire.

P2P COLLABORATION SOFTWARE
Nearly everyone has heard of Napster and is somewhat familiar with the debate regarding the downloading of MP3 music files via the Internet. The type of software that makes such activities possible is called “peer-to-peer” (P2P) software. P2P software works by turning each user’s computer into a miniature Internet server, so that while you’re browsing other users’ shared files, they can browse yours. Such a scheme means that files never reside on a central server (which is what makes file sharing so slippery, legal wise).

However, while folks are familiar with the concept of sharing music, video, or other files via P2P, not many people are familiar with the possibilities P2P affords for educational collaboration. Imagine a “Napster” where instead of music files being shared, bits of data fly back and forth between two or more students who are collaborating on an assignment in Microsoft Word or PowerPoint. This collaboration can involve the use of tools that create outlines, word process documents, share pictures, allow users to “chat” via text or voice, synchronize documents, schedule calendar events, etc.

Sound cool? It did to Ray Ozzie, the creator of Lotus Notes, when he founded Groove Networks in October 1997. Groove, found at www.groove.net, sells P2P Collaboration software to businesses. However, they offer a free version of the Groove software for individuals. After downloading and installing the software, you create a user account and then create one or more “shared spaces” in which to work. Browse a menu of tools, add the ones you want to your shared space, and you’re ready to invite someone over to collaborate!

PEER REVIEW SOFTWARE
Speaking of collaboration, collaborative learning is currently a “hot” buzzword in education. Essentially, it means teamwork. Someone must have noticed that even though we tend to punish students for “not working independently” throughout school, these same students graduate and enter job environments where most work takes place in teams!

Peer review is a form of collaboration that involves students evaluating students. Often, an instructor provides a rubric whose specific instructions provide a framework for the evaluation and increase the reliability of students’ ratings. An interesting twist on peer review is calibrated peer review. As you can imagine, some students are better peer reviewers than others. Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone’s opinion “counted”, but the opinions of better judges somehow counted more? That’s what calibrated peer review is all about.

UCLA has created a web-based program called CPR for calibrated peer review (see http://cpr.molsci.ucla.edu/). An instructor creates (or borrows from the CPR library) several “calibration” essays, and then creates a series of evaluation questions for the essays along with his/her answers to those questions. A student entering the system first reads and rates the calibration essays. If the student’s ratings are similar to the instructor’s, then that student’s “calibration” is high and their opinions are more highly weighted. After calibration, the system randomly assigns several classmates’ papers for rating, and finally the student rates his or her own paper. It’s a “win-win”---CPR allows instructors to give frequent writing assignments without increasing grading workload, and students learn from critiquing each other’s (and their own) work.

By the way, Turnitin.com, the leading detection service for academic plagiarism (www.turnitin.com, has recently added peer review capabilities to its service as well.

CONCLUSION
I hope that the information presented here wasn’t completely redundant for you, and that reading this article may have led you to download and try some new software. Drop me a line at bob.bramucci@rcc.edu with your thoughts.

Well, that’s it. Look for another article soon!

Bob