Portrait of the CWLab

Picture yourself in a regular meeting discussing plans for an upcoming project. 

You and others are seated facing one another in a horseshoe-shaped table.

As often happens, the discussion begins to wander. A few people dominate the discussion and influence the group's direction. When new ideas are raised, they are criticized as soon as they are offered.

Now picture color notebook computers in the meeting and a five-foot public display screen in front of the room.

Each person's computer is linked to the others for information exchange.

A facilitator guides your group through a series of activities designed to maximize the contributions of each member and reach group goals.

Using this electronic meeting format, individuals are able to:

• contribute ideas simultaneously and anonymously
• become more efficient and effective in meetings
• have an equitable amount of time to contribute to the discussion.

You receive minutes of your meeting in both print and disk form. This is an electronic meeting in the Collaborative Work Lab.

The software which runs such a meeting is an electronic brainstorming tool. It is one of  several tools available in the Collaborative Work Lab,  a computerized collaborative work system software developed by GroupSystem's Corporation in Tucson, AZ.

The individual tools in the software can be configured in a variety of ways to support planning, decision making, and/or negotiation tasks.

A few examples of how these individual tools can work together include: strategic planning, policy recommendations, curriculum development, developing evaluation criteria, gathering knowledge from groups of experts, grant writing and reporting, and conducting focus groups.

Group work, demonstrations, instruction, or research may be selected at the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community, or with a portable Lab at the user's site.

Fees are nominal and can be negotiated to fit available resources.

Inquiries concerning use of the CWLab should be directed to:
Jeffrey Chait - Telephone: 812-855-6508   e-mail: jchait@indiana.edu

To schedule the use of the CWLab for your group or organization, please contact:
Stacey May; Telephone: 812-855-6508   e-mail: stmay@indiana.edu