Penn State University’s John Carroll, PhD, who is the Edward Frymoyer Chair Professor of Information Sciences and Technology, will speak Sept. 26, 2005 from 11:30 a.m. - 12:45 p.m., room 3720, Guttenberg Information Technologies Center (GITC).  The title of his talk is “Understanding and Supporting Awareness in Computer-Supported Collaborative Work.” 

Mary Beth Rosson, PhD, professor of information sciences and technology, Penn State University, will speak in the same location at 1 p.m. Her talk is entitled “Objects For End Users.” 

Rosson strongly believes that it is increasingly possible for end users—people without any programming experience who eventually use the software—to build their own versions with the aid of high-level tools.   Rosson will emphasize that concepts useful to concepts useful to software engineers have similar benefits for end users. Amateur programmers who attend should be able to take away information not only for creating better spread sheets, web design or visual simulations but also tips on  using JAVA, FORTRAN, COBOL and more.   

Carroll will describe a framework for understanding groupware, also known as computer-supported cooperative work.  Carroll will focus on the impact of activity awareness, common ground, groups of people or communities that practice, social capital, and human development.  His analysis will include a scenario from emergency management with the implications and future directions for system design.

The technical definition of groupware is computer-based systems that support groups of people engaged in a common task or goal and that provide an interface to a shared environment. 

“The increased availability of computer networks and the trend towards virtual teams working together online has led to the increased use of such systems,” said Carroll. The systems can range from two people working on a memo to disaster management. 

Carroll’s research interests include methods and theory in human-computer interaction, as applied to networking tools for collaborative learning and problem solving, and the design of interactive information systems. He has written or edited 14 books and is editor-in-chief of the ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interactions.   

Rosson’s research interests include scenario-based design and evaluation, the use of network technology to support collaboration, especially in learning contexts and the psychological issues associated with use of high-level programming languages and tools.  She is author of Usability Engineering: Scenario-Based Development of Human-Computer Interaction (Morgan Kaufmann, 2002).