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Collaborative Editing Technology Comes to Campus
5/05/06
A demonstration of a new interactive software application drew a series of wows from an audience at a ConTEXT educational session recently in Reno, NV. Croquet is a combination of computer software and network architecture that allows a group of people to work on an application simultaneously over the Internet. Each person in the group is able to see another's work and communicate in real time. While Croquet has worked its way onto some campuses where administrators have used the application for projects and meetings, ConTEXT was the first time many collegiate retailers experienced the innovative technology. During the session Croquet Anyone? The Digital Classroom of Tomorrow, Julian Lombardi, one of Croquet's architects, explained Croquet by comparing it with the way computers and the Internet are frequently used today. Using Croquet, content in many types of media can be created, altered, moved to a different location, shared, and stored at the same time by members of a group at different locations.
Lombardi, assistant vice president of academic services and technology at Duke University in Durham, NC, predicted Croquet would revolutionize business and higher education learning, especially for online course work. He wasn't sure how the technology might impact college stores in the future. Nonetheless, he indicated that college store personnel should be aware of Croquet along with other emerging technology for education and retail operations.
"I honestly feel that this is the way this tool we have in our laps was meant to be used," Textbook Manager John Vile said of the personal computers he uses at home and at work in the University Bookstore at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg. "Rather than me working on something and then sending it to you, and waiting for you to send it back, this would break that barrier," he said.
Lombardi and a group of his colleagues have been working on the Croquet project for several years. He said 30 years ago the first developers of the Internet imagined something like Croquet. The social situations, or "cocktail party" atmosphere of chance encounters and serendipitous interactions which can drive learning are missing from our current interface system, Lombardi said. "It's devoid of human contact, and that is what Croquet is trying to address," he added.
Lombardi created a character with a likeness of his own face to show the audience how Croquet can be used as a meeting tool, different from a usual conference call where people aren't always sure who is talking. Using Croquet, participants on the conference call can tell who is talking by movement of characters or photos of the actual people involved in the call.
Croquet currently is not being marketed for sale. Lombardi said he and his colleagues are first looking to create a paradigm change. They want users, especially on college campuses, to try it out and see the various ways it can be deployed. "Once there is that paradigm change, Croquet could be built upon," Lombardi said.
You can learn more about Croquet and explore its components by downloading the application from the Internet. Go to www.opencroquet.org.
Why the name Croquet? It is rooted in an act of rebellion, Lombardi explained. "In Victorian society, the game became popular because it allowed people who were under the gaze of authority to step away from that gaze," he said, "The game of croquet represents the freedom from authority."
You also can read an Educause brief about collaborative editing at www.educause.edu.
—Tara York Ellis
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