Ideas expressed in the area of community and life communications

Communications spaces

Different spaces have different contexts for communications activities. Communications availability and functionality will increase as new technology becomes available.
How can you manage your personal spaces? (eg. Dorm rooms, offices, homes) How do you create, adapt, and manage shared spaces? (eg. Dorm common areas, meeting rooms, family areas, public areas) Various types of virtual meeting spaces were identified:

• Campus window back to dorms
• A "virtual Killian Court" meeting space
• Remote cultural representations to allow people sense group dynamics
• Pre-admissions and post-graduation access
• Virtual office hours - more access to faculty - formal/informal, synchrounous/asynchronous

Locating people

How do you locate the people you want to communicate with? How do you meet new people that you might want to communicate with? Tools that were identified include:

• Social networking tools
• Privacy management tools
• Pervasive wireless access
• Systems to capture context

Social implications

There was much focus on the social implications of advanced communications capabilities. Issues include:

• How do you accommodate different interaction modes - eg. "on-stage" vs. "off-stage
• Does access imply an obligation to work
• What are the appropriate uses of different media
• How do you structure an on-line community
• How can you support learning at your own pace