Supporting Peer Help and Collaboration in Distributed Workplace Environments
In IJAIED
9 (2): "Special Issue on Computer Supported Collaborative Learning "
Publication information
Abstract
Increasingly, organizations are geographically distributed with activities coordinated
and integrated through the use of information technology. Such organizations face constant
change and the corresponding need for continual learning and renewal of their workers. In this
paper we describe a prototype system called PHelpS (Peer Help System) that facilitates workers
in carrying out such “life long learning”. PHelpS supports workers as they perform their tasks,
offers assistance in finding peer helpers when required, and mediates communication on taskrelated
topics. When a worker runs into difficulty in carrying out a task, PHelpS provides a list
of other workers who are ready, willing and able to help him or her. The worker then selects a
particular helper with PHelpS supporting the subsequent help interaction. The PHelpS system
acts as a facilitator to stimulate learning and collaboration, rather than as a directive agent
imposing its perspectives on the workers. In this way PHelpS facilitates the creation of
extensive informal peer help networks, where workers help one another with tasks and opens up
new research avenues for further exploration of AI-based computer-supported collaborative
learning.
