The Human Community
The Human Factors Institute started off this year too and there have been some interesting and innovative projects that have come our way. With the pioneering vision of the Director, Dr.Jay Gillette, the team is all geared up for an exciting year at the institute. The projects are not only interesting, but also innovative and make the researchers to think outside the box.
DML for DCC (Digital Media Learning for Distributed Collaborative Community):
This year among the other projects, the institute was involved with the development of a grant proposal for the MacArthur Foundation. The MacArthur Foundation is a private, independent grant making organization that is based in Chicago. This year the foundation was requesting proposals of existing projects in relation to Digital Media and Learning. The existing Weblog project which involved the building of a Distributed Collaborative Community (DCC) using Weblogs as the tool to implement it was seen as the perfect fit to the requirements of this grant.
The fact that this concept has been applied to an active class at the Center (ICS 602- Human Communication) with great success, gave us a strong footing on the proposal. The community megablog uses a movable type platform which is relatively easy to use. The response of the students regarding the unique concept of blogging has been overwhelming and this has helped in the building of a Distributed Collaborative Community.
Women in technology: Another important aspect that is to be covered in the DCC project is the participation of women in the technical world. The blogs act as a platform for the women to express their views on various issues which they might otherwise not communicate. It helps the women community at CICS (both current and alumni) to collaborate with each other thus initiating a healthy competition.
Incidentally, Dr. Jay Gillette presented on our Weblog project at the Global Forum 2007 held at Venice, Italy in November, titled “Creative Collaboration for the Information Renaissance: Weblogs Build Collaborative Community”. The talk was well received.
The People:
One of the greatest resources that the institute is proud of is its human resource. With 15 researchers (that’s one-fourth of the entire class) in the team, the institute resonates with energy and enthusiasm that is sure to take this institute which represents the Center to greater heights.
Dr. Gillette’s concept of involving everyone with everything is being applied at the institute and every researcher gets a chance to head and manage the work sessions every week.
Usability:
One of the projects that is currently under discussion is the usability testing of websites. Though this was being done as a part of the curriculum all these years, it is proposed that this testing can be done as a part of the institute’s research work that goes hand in hand with the curriculum. It is also being discussed about the setting up of usability testing set up that can remain in the lab even for future testing projects.
The Greatest Challenge:
One of the greatest challenge that institute is facing is getting resources for the institute. By resources, I mean things that can be from a table or a chair to computers and money. Human resource is another very important aspect that might prove to be useful for the institute. There is a team (Research Business Development) that is dedicated in working for this and there is a lot of progress that is being made with regard to this. The team is taking support form all the team members and is on the look out for organizations and companies that might be able to use our service and in return offer us any kind of resource that might be useful to the institute.
The Beauty:
The institute meets on Fridays from 10 am to 12 pm. Being a Friday, people tend to relax at the end of the week. But the response of the researchers has been stupendous and it is their participation and enthusiasm that will make this institute a great success.
Another interesting aspect of the institute is that, people participate in the activities of the institute even if they are not physically present. This helps us in building in a community that may be distributed over time and space and still maintain the cohesiveness within the team.