Connect with the Community (Activity)

Title	Getting connected with the community
Overview	learners should get familiar with different communication tools (such as iRC, TitanPad, Skype etc.) that are commonly used by the Open Source community.
Prerequisite Knowledge
Learning Objectives	In this activity learners will: - familiarize with different communication tools (such as iRC, TitanPad, Skype etc.) that are freely available for everyone. - explore interactions and find out how different open source software development communities (HFOSS in particular) use these tools to perform efficient communications among their members.

PART 1: iRC

IRC, which stands for Internet Relay Chat, is an essential tool used by open source software developers. It allows members of the community, or those interested in becoming involved in the community, to communicate 24/7, regardless of their geographic location. IRC is much like Instant Messaging with a group. Bear in mind that ‘talking’ is not always a requirement. You will learn a great deal by ‘listening’, especially in the beginning.

• Choose a client from below
  • Web-based client: http://webchat.freenode.net
  • Web-based client: https://kiwiirc.com/client/irc.freenode.net
  • Windows: HydraIRC (http://www.hydrairc.com)
  • Linux: Konversation (http://konversation.kde.org)
  • Mac OS X: Colloquy (http://colloquy.info)

• Everybody should then
  • Connect to the server via the command: /server irc.freenode.net
  • Join our own (newly created) channel via the command: /join #chooseYourOwnChannel

• Now let’s chat
  • each student should write at least one line, and use at least one command!
  • A list of useful iRC commands can be found here. http://www.ircbeginner.com/ircinfo/ircc-commands.html
  • Commands on using the Meetbot can be found here. https://wiki.debian.org/MeetBot

PART 4: Discussions

• Describe the difference between synchronous and asynchronous communication.
• Compare the HCI issues in individual interaction with group interaction.
• Discuss several issues of social concern raised by collaborative software.
• Discuss the HCI issues in software that embodies human intention.

Deliverables:

A paper with students' findings, or a blog post.

Additional Information:

Knowledge Area/Knowledge Unit	HCI/Collaboration and Communication
Topic	The are several topics: - Asynchronous group communication, e.g., e-mail, forums, social networks - Synchronous group communication, e.g., chat rooms, conferencing, online games - Social media, social computing, and social network analysis - Online collaboration, 'smart' spaces, and social coordination aspects of workflow technologies - Online communities
Level of Difficulty	EASY
Estimated Time to Completion	50-120 minutes
Materials/Environment
Author	Razvan A. Mezei
Source	50 ways
License	Licensed CC BY-SA

Suggestions for the Open Source Project:

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