glossary term:

COLLABORATION

Collaboration is a communication process and/or work activity involving two or more people. It differs from cooperation, in which tasks are divided up and done in parallel in a coordinated way. In viewing a collaborative process, one focuses on the group as the level of analysis, rather than on the individuals involved. Thus, there can be a collaborative understanding existing in the discourse that took place within the group; this collaborative understanding may stand in a complex relationship to the individual understandings in the minds of the participants. 

In Peters' analysis, the idea of collaboration comes up in discussing social thinkers like Hegel and Dewey. However, collaboration is never considered as a possible alternative to Peters' focus on the alternative of dialog and broadcast.

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This page last modified on December 19, 2002 by Gerry.Stahl@colorado.edu