Collaboration Platforms for Virtual Student Communities

Abstract

Since its inception, the Internet has served as a virtual meeting place for people sharing common interests. These electronically supported interest groups are nowadays called Virtual Communities. Networked computers are used to support direct communication and indirect information exchange, and to provide awareness and match-making services. The use of member profiles adds a new dimension to the support of the interaction between community members. Information about the members is needed to introduce the members to each other and to empower individualized services. The paper describes the research design of two empirical platform projects, one of them carried out in Germany, the other one in German-speaking Switzerland. Both projects are targeted at students and their respective needs for information, interaction and exchange.