This is the home page for the MIT-Portugal Program: Collaboration Tools and Projects space. I hope this will serve as a way to facilitate our discussions of which resources would be valuable for MIT-Portugal Program graduate students (both PhD and Masters/DFA). I would like to understand the collaboration challenges you face, as part of your work towards the degree (for example, team projects) and as part of your desire to develop your professional career. Hopefully this will also be fun.
My rationale: who you are, why you are important, and how MIT-Portugal can help you succeed
There are approximately 100 grad students working at 7+ Portuguese institutions on MIT-Portugal Program degrees. About 60 MIT grad students are also funded by the program, working on its research and educational projects with MIT faculty. Taken together, this group represents probably the biggest investment ever by Portugal in developing highly qualified people in science and engineering who are intended to lead change in academia, industry, and society--in Portugal and around the world. I and other faculty and staff working for the Program would like to see the mega-group of grad students, that is from all seven degree programs and four different focus areas, achieve more of a sense of identity as a group, and to share ideas and experiences. We hope to support such an effort through collaboration resources and programs.
Some tools and why we might use them
I have been thinking about our work on collaboration in something of a matrix structure. There are some tools that can facilitate group collaboration, community, and networking. And, there are some specific content or program areas which seem particularly relevant to your group. I hope to have your help in identifying both the tools and the content, how they should go together, and how these can make your work in MITP and your careers more effective.
Wikis
Wikis are webpages like this: a shared collaboration space which designated users can edit, and which provide an additional channel for sharing and editing documents, keeping a history of our interactions (such as meeting notes/minutes). Discussions with those who study the use of wikis suggest that they can help make collaborations among 10 or more people , especially when not everyone shares a first language, more effective and their impact more enduring. For those of you working on Program-mandated projects, of course these spaces are open to you -- as many as you need -- for doing whatever you would like to do. I hope also to have wikis serve you as a forum for working in programmatic areas such as leadership, teamwork etc., as detailed below.
Blogs
Probably all of you know what blogs are: "weB LOGS" or diaries for people to informally share information, pictures, etc. on whatever professional or personal topic they choose. I have been interested in blogs as a way to tell the many amazing stories emerging from your experiences getting to, and being part of, our Program. MIT uses blogs extensively as part of its recruitment/admissions program (students volunteer to blog as a way to tell stories about life at MIT from various angles) and also to feature the research/service experiences of students. For the more publicly-minded amongst you, blogging could be an opportunity to tell your own story and thus establish another way to raise the profile of you and/or members of teams you are working in.
Chat/IM
All of you are no doubt more expert than I am in using audio or text chat (instant messaging). A professional application of chat which may be useful for our program is as a second channel to accompany videoconferences, which are heavily used as a means of delivering lectures, seminars and other events. Having a chat in English and/or Portuguese among audience members in a videoconference can help users participate more fully, ask questions of each other or the speaker, and creates a record that can be useful as part of an archive of our work.
Second Life
Second Life is a web-based 3-D virtual world. Users create animated representations of themselves called "avatars," and use them to interact with people in all sorts of ways. Regular people are using SL to buy and sell goods, develop real estate, and socialize. Companies are using it to market their goods, meet with clients, and collaborate as a way to supplement audio/video conferencing. Dr. Irving Wladawsky-Berger, formerly head of research for IBM and a leader in the adoption of virtual worlds for collaboration, is now a visiting professor at MIT Engineering Systems Division and is helping us move our collaboration ideas forward. He and his IBM colleagues argue that collaboration in SL, either in the corporate or academic arenas, offers participants a broader range of "sociable" connections than a simple videoconference. When a videoconference starts, someone begins the agenda and at the end it's over. In SL, when people gather in one place for a meeting, there is more of an opportunity to chat, form community, and arrange further discussions.
Why use SL for the MITP students? Some ideas are: facilitate group projects, such as those required in EDAM (product development) and Bio Engineering (iTeams); serve as a platform for programs, such as leadership development; allow wider participation in a guest lecture than videocon would permit; gatherings with Portuguese researchers all over the world.
See below for some links to MIT sites on SL and other resources. To visit SL go to http://secondlife.com/whatis/;
Ideas for content and programs
Leadership
An important goal of MITP is to have its educational programs produce people capable of leading change in their fields. In one focus area, Bio Engineering, students have had in-person leadership training with MIT Prof. Dava Newman. Prof. Newman is interested in expanding this program to other students when possible, and certainly intensive in-person experiences like this are of great impact. But several groups within MIT wish to experiment with leadership initiatives delivered through virtual means, particularly such virtual worlds as Second Life, or as a hybrid of in-person and virtual delivery. I am exploring such opportunities and hope to develop a sense through initial meetings with MITP students what leadership qualities they think are most necessary/helpful in your work and professional/personal development; what leadership roles you have had so far; and how you could see leadership programs integrated into your work in the Program.
Kat Donnelly: Potential Leadership Program: Please see this page: http://scripts.mit.edu/~mpp-ses/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page#Potential_Leadership_Program_Please_Review_and_Comment
Team building and effective work in teams
Two of the four focus areas require their students to do work in teams, often at a distance. Effective teamwork is increasingly vital as a skill for researchers and those who lead research-intensive projects. Yet these skills are not always taught explicitly in one's first or second degrees. I would like to explore what aspects of teamwork have been most necessary or missing for you so far in the Program.
Connection to young researchers worldwide
MITP looks to raise the international profile of the research conducted in Portugal, and between Portugal and MIT. For those of you who are Portuguese, various networks of Portuguese researchers around the world are eager to connect with you, such as PAPS and FIIP (see links below). I hope that the virtual platform we develop to support and disseminate your work makes such connections more possible. Of course connecting to MIT and to other international networks is also a goal.
Legal issues for business and entrepreneurship
Prof. John Akula of the Sloan School of Management at MIT teaches law classes to MBA students, MIT undergraduates, and this January to MIT-Portugal Transportation Systems students. These issues are very relevant to all of you interested in pursuing technological innovation / entrepreneurship, product development, and a range of other paths which have legal implications. Check out Prof. Akula's page and consider whether this could be an interesting type of program to experience virtually (or in person/hybrid): http://web.mit.edu/jakula/www;
Related info
Visit this page for more information on the EDAM Doctoral Program
MIT PORTUGAL EDAM Doctoral Program
And here is a video of a panel discussion at MIT entitled: "A Genius for Change, and the Passion to Do It." It is led by Dr. Amy Smith, one of the leading innovators at MIT in the area of applying engineering solutions to challenges in the developing world, and integrating these projects into MIT educational programs. I hope that someday the work of the MIT-Portugal students will also be recognized as innovative, excellent, and creating new opportunities in the world.
http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/521/