Video conferencing falls short of the concept of awareness. One might be inclined to think that awareness is increased once group members of a collaborative project can view one another, regardless of whether or not it is on a screen. However, based on my personal experience during the video conferencing demo, using multiple display screen is not good for awareness. When group members are unaware of what is currently going on during discussions then there is a potential for splits. The discussion may become unproductive and only the opinions and viewpoints of actively participating members will be addressed. The decisions of the group will be one sided.
Video conferencing could be confusing, reducing awareness, when there are multiple screens. Therefore, you have to pay close attention to sound so that when someone is speaking you could quickly turn your head to that particular screen. Also, multiple screens make it difficult to pay attention to facial expressions because it is distracting. In addition, if you have a small desktop monitor, then you aren’t really getting the same experience as a life size projection although the images are high resolution. It is harder to pay attention to detail with smaller screens and people participating in a discussion can doze off, play games, and text on their phone, without being noticed. Furthermore, there is a huge privacy issue because you could be watched without knowing; the monitor could be on but the monitor could be off. You could be chatting with a friend and be unaware that you are “participating” in a video conference.
One of the great things about the video conferencing demo was that a user can send his or her desktop so that participants can see what the individual is working on. However, this could be distracting if other participants are speaking. Another good or bad thing is the chat feature. Individuals can chat while others are talking. However, this could also reduce awareness because it is distracting.
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Although I do agree that there is a spit in awareness and the formation of groups that are displayed while video conferencing when grounding is sufficient then awareness is high. There is also group awareness when the interaction is organized as it was in our class. It is also a good point where you mention the awareness decreasing based on the fact that only a small amount of individuals participate but there was only so much that a number of individuals could input which lead to that reduction in awareness.
ReplyDeletegood point that splits will probably become more likely during videoconferencing, although I'm not sure why you think that. Do you think that groups would form within parties that are co-located?
ReplyDeleteWhat ways can you think of to try to make it so people are less likely to get distracted during video conferencing, it seems like it would be important to make them feel more responsible and watched. Maybe having personal displays and cameras for everyone, even if they're in the same room would work, but that would be ridiculously expensive.