• Describe the concepts of the theoretical fields covered by the curriculum of the courses "Information in Context" and "Computer-mediated communication and collaboration"
• Explain the basic principles of organizing information
• Describe users' information needs, assess their implications for organization of information and recommend an information architecture design
• Apply concepts and theories from the course reading to explain social aspects of information and the role that computer-media play for culture, communication and collaboration
• Apply concepts and theories from the course reading to analyze and explain various forms of computer-mediated communication and computer supported collaboration and give recommendations for empirical cases

Drawing on information systems research, applied social psychology and sociology, the course will introduce the main approaches to understanding and implementing computer-mediated communication via social media with the objective to nurture virtual team work, online community and electronic knowledge sharing in organizations. The aim of the course is
 

• To provide the students with concepts and theories from the fields of computer mediated communication (CMC) and practices relevant to communication in organizational contexts
• To provide the students with an understanding of social aspects of information and the role that computer-media play for communication, collaboration and virtual sociability
• To enable students to understand and analyze various forms of computer-mediated communication (chat, forums, email, websites…) and computer supported collaboration (groupware, virtual communities, virtual teams…)
• to analyze sociability of internet-based social representations and cooperation forms

The course includes but is not limited to the following topics:

• Differences between virtual and physical communication
• Virtual organizations, virtual teams
• Special Affordances of Social Media/Enterprise 2.0
• Sociology and psychology of virtual groups and online communities
• Usability and sociability
• Identity, social presence, social awareness
• Conflicts and performance of virtual teams
• Methods to study online social networks and online collaboration

The course is based on classic and recent research papers as well as a few book chapters, including:

• Bouman, Wim; de Bruin, Bolke; Hoogenboom, Tim; Huizing, Ard; Jansen, René; and Schoondorp, Mark, 2007, "The Realm of Sociality: Notes on the Design of Social Software. Proceedings International Conference of IS, ICIS 2007. (14 pages)

• Fernback, J. (2007): Beyond the diluted community concept: a symbolic interactionist perspective on online social relations. New Media Society 2007; Vol9(1), pp.49–69 (21 pages)

• Cheney, G.; Christensen, L.T.; Zorn, T.E.Jr; Ganesh, S. (2010): Chapter 12: The Meanings and Uses of Organizational Communication Technologies. In: Cheney, G.; Christensen, L.T.; Zorn, T.E.Jr; Ganesh, S. (2010): Organizational Communication in an Age of Globalization: Issues, Reflections, Practices. Waveland Press, IL, USA., p.359-386.

• Nonnecke, B., & Preece, J. (2001). Why lurkers lurk. Proceedings Americas Conference on Information Systems AMCIS 2001. (10 pages)

• Driskell, J. E., Radtke, P. H., & Salas, E. (2003). Virtual teams: effects of technological mediation on team performance. , (4), 297.

• Treem, J. W., & Leonardi, P. M. (2012). Social Media Use in Organizations. Communication Yearbook 36, 36, 143.

  Wasko, M., and Faraj, S. (2005) "Why should I share? Examining social capital and knowledge contribution in electronic networks of practice." MIS quarterly, p.35-57.