Individual Workspaces Research Articles

Physical and psychosocial aspects of the learning environment in information technology rich classrooms

This paper reports on a study of environments in emerging Internet classrooms. At issue for this study is to what extent these ‘technological classrooms’ are providing a positive learning environment for students. To investigate this issue, this study involved an evaluation of the physical and psychosocial environments in computerized school settings through a combination of questionnaires and inventories that were later cross-referenced to case studies on a subset of these classrooms. Data were obtained from a series of physical evaluations of 43 settings in 24 school locations in British Columbia, Canada and Western Australia. Evaluations consisted of detailed inventories of the physical environment using the Computerised Classroom Environment Inventory (CCEI): an instrument developed specifically for this study. Data on psychosocial aspects of the environment were obtained with the What is Happening in this Class? (WIHIC) questionnaire administered to 1404 high school students making routine use of these computerized classrooms. Potential deficiencies in the physical environment of these locations included problems with individual workspaces, lighting and air quality, whereas deficiencies in the psychosocial environment were confined to the dimension of Autonomy. Further analysis of these classroom environment data indicated that student Autonomy and Task orientation were independently associated with students' Satisfaction with learning and that many physical (e.g. lighting and workspace dimensions) and psychosocial factors (e.g. students' perceptions of Co-operation and Collaboration) were also associated. The results provide a descriptive account of the learning environment in ‘technology-rich’ classrooms and, further, indicate that ergonomic guidelines used in the implementation of IT in classrooms may have a positive influence on the learning environment.

Office Ergonomics: Measurements for Success

The successful implementation of an ergonomics program requires collecting data on worksite history repetitive motion injuries and assessing the corporate ergonomic needs. It is important to solicit management, department, and employee support. Program success depends on creating process, training program, skilled assessors, and an accountability method. A thorough understanding and application of neutral posture and the three seated chair positions is essential. Evaluation of the entire individual work-space is essential. Precise measurements of the individual, the office chair, and the work surfaces should be completed, and heights adjusted to meet individual needs. Functional, totally adjustable office chairs are a necessity. Vendor selection criteria and vendor contracts for chairs and office equipment assure consistent specifications and cost control.

Computer-Mediated Group Projects: Facilitating Collaborative Learning with the World Wide Web

We present the use of the World Wide Web (Web) to facilitate collaborative group work in 2 teaching environments: high school and graduate school. In the first case, high school students (N = 19) participating in a university minicourse worked in small groups for 25 hr conducting research and preparing a report on the Web. In the second case, psychology graduate students (N = 8) used personal Web sites for their seminar work. We found that the Web environment facilitated group work by providing (a) clear demarcations of individual members' contributions, (b) a structure for group members' participation, (c) easy access to group members' contributions, (d) individual work space, and (e) commensurable resources for each group member.

Design and implementation of a shared workspace by integrating individual workspaces

This paper proposes “TeamWorkStation” (TWS) as an approach to an effective shared workspace for the support of remote collaboration. There are three key design objectives in TWS: integration of virtual and actual workspaces, a simultaneously-accessible shared drawing surface, and smooth transition between individual workspaces and shared workspace. To achieve these objectives, images of computers and/or paper are overlaid so that information and images from both are effectively combined and distributed to the group members.