Virtual environments, virtual works, virtual lives?

Abstract

Technological advances mostly in Internet and mobile technologies affect our lives in myriad ways. Globally, these technologies are used in many environments; the usage of these technologies also creates virtual environments. The concepts of time, place, language and boundaries disappear; many people from different countries and cultures can communicate with each other and work together. However, besides its benefits, working with many different people brings many problems to be solved such as time synchronization, language gaps, and cultural differences. To observe the problems of virtual environments as a case study, a virtual study group has been established between Turkish and American student groups. In this paper, the observations of this group study will be presented. (c) 2006 PICMET.