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Briefly discuss the following issues for the paper that you have read: 1. what did you find 1.1. interesting about the article? Especially the idea of open vs closed systems. 1.2. not interesting about the article? The article could have benefited from some editing (esp. for redundancy) and more concrete examples. 2. what do you consider the main message of the article? Open systems which support collaboration and learning are an important area of HCI research for the future. 3. are themes discussed in the article which you would like to know more about? I would be very interested to hear about other visions HCI researchers have had that are radically different from the normal monitor and keyboard interaction, as the EDC is. 4. what did you find interesting about the “EDC” system? To me, the most interesting thing about the EDC is the fact that it allows designers to combine two very powerful and complementary techniques: building physical models of systems in space, and building computational models that are active through time. In the EDC the integration between the two is still problematic, and the capability for physical modeling in particular is still pretty rough in terms of granularity, flexibility, usability. The idea seems very powerful though and amply demonstrates its usefulness to designers. I can easily imagine future systems based on the same concept but using more powerful materials (building blocks with embedded processors and sensors replacing magnetic chessmen, perhaps?) becoming very useful tools for collaboration and learning. 5. do you know of other papers, ideas, and systems which are closely related to the article and the “EDC” system? 6. what do the article and the associated system say about 6.1. design Design is often an essentially collaborative process and systems supporting design must support effective collaboration. 6.2. learning Symmetries of ignorance exist in collaborative situations and learning is a necessary part of collaboration; systems supporting collaboration must support learning by exposing the tacit knowledge of participants in useful ways. 6.3. collaboration Differing perspectives, goals, and knowledge bases among participants in a design activity can be a valuable resource. 6.4. innovative media to support these activities? Open systems are needed to support collaborative design. 7. do you have any ideas how this research could / should be extended (based on your own knowledge and experience)? I was/am most excited about EDC’s potential as a learning and teaching tool for classrooms.
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