Developing Cooperative Environment Web Services based on Action Research Renate Motschnig-Pitrik, Michael Derntl, Juergen Mangler University of Vienna Department of Computer Science and Business Informatics Rathausstrasse 19/9, 1010 Vienna, Austria {renate.motschnig, michael.derntl, juergen.mangler}@univie.ac.at Abstract. Current technology has disappointed many users of cooperative learning environments by its complexity and only slow and tough adaptability to specific users’ requirements. In order to compensate for these deficiencies, we use Action Research to guide us in a process in which we co-develop and improve open source, Web service based modules that directly and intuitively support learning, cooperation, and facilitation processes based on users’ experi- ences. In this paper we characterize selected services, sketch our environment and propose an accompanying research procedure that allows us to assess and cyclically improve and extend our tools to closely match both their underlying didactics and users’ needs. 1 Introduction Several commercial tools supporting cooperative learning do not fully perform as expected. They tend to offer extensive functionality and hence are sophisticated in both their use and installation in a given environment. Often, they fail to support their users in their specific didactic designs or cooperative endeavors. Based on this obser- vation, our goal is to develop a pool or toolbox of open source modules that support cooperative, blended learning in academic as well as industrial environments. Appro- priate web support modules (such as discussion forums, shared workspaces, or col- laborative text production) have the potential to improve cooperation and communica- tion in these knowledge-based environments and the potential to include some of the tacit and informal knowledge. In general the proposed models support organizational knowledge gathering and management processes. By intention, we resist the tempta- tion to implement an extensive set of services that are universally applicable. Instead, we focus on a well-defined set of interpersonal and educational values that we strive to support in our facilitative way of conducting courses. In brief, these values stem from a Person-Centered [15, 16], humanistic perspective and can be acquired through self-initiated learning, experiential learning, whole-person learning, solving authentic problems, learning from peers, active involvement of participants in all aspects of teaching/learning [12]. In this paper we focus on the strategy and accompanying research procedure while developing Cooperative Environment Web Services (CEWebS) [9] incrementally.