A multi-touch interface for enhancing collaborative UML diagramming

Abstract

Multi-touch interfaces facilitate collaborative learning and, thus, represent a promising educational technology. Their ability to synchronously accommodate multiple users is an advantage in co-located collaborative design tasks. This paper explores the multi-touch interface's potential in collaborative Unified Modelling Language (UML) diagramming by comparing it to a PC-based tool. The results of the study demonstrate that the use of the multi-touch table enables an increase in the equity of participation, enhanced collaboration amongst team members, and the facilitation of parallel-participative design.