Communications of the ACM
A Made-to-Measure Social Network For the Academic World
Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) researchers have developed Graaasp, an academic social network that responds to the specific needs of the academic world concerning project management and knowledge sharing.
The Graaasp project, which recently went online, is designed to be as simple as possible to use while remaining an extensive tool for scientists and students. The main difference between Graaasp and other social networks is that Graaasp focuses on the activities that bring users together, rather than the users themselves. Graaasp accommodates several different types of elements, including contacts, private and public subspaces, multimedia resources, and Web applications.
In addition to applications that can be found anywhere on the Web, Graaasp also provides applications that are specifically developed to fit the needs of teaching.
"Our students can thus perform their practical work online, using a small piece of software that can be found in Graaasp," says EPFL scientist Denis Gillet. He notes that "now that the basic platform is functional, we're expecting an organic pattern of adoption, directly involving the users."
From Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne
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