Contrasting Time Mode and Sensory Modality in the Performance of Computer Mediated Groups Using Asynchronous Videoconferencing Kristine L. Nowak University of Connecticut kristine.nowak@uconn.edu James Watt Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute wattj@rpi.edu Joseph B. Walther Cornell University jbw29@cornell.edu with Carrie Pascal, Scott Hill, and Michael Lynch Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Contrasting Time Mode and Sensory Modality in the Performance of Computer Mediated Groups Using Asynchronous Videoconferencing Abstract This research examined the question of whether perceptions of media as inferior to face to face are socially or technologically determined. It takes advantage of a recently developed asynchronous videoconferencing system to compare the perceptions and outcomes of group projects done in a multi-cue asynchronous media to those of face to face groups. Participants engaged in collaboration over 5 weeks to develop group oral reports. Measures of social presence, conversational involvement, perceived effectiveness, and ratings of group project quality were compared between communication conditions. Results showed significant differences favoring face-to-face communication for several perceptual variables, but not for perceived or actual effectiveness. Results are discussed with respect to their pertinence for several theories, and for their illumination of some historical theoretical and measurement biases in computer-mediated communication research. 1. Introduction: Examining Temporal, Spatial, and Modal Effects in Mediated Communication What do people need and what do people think they need in order to collaborate? Are the answers to these questions the same or are they different—do perception and reality concur or diverge? Is the way people utilize telecommunication systems governed primarily by socially determined rules, or by limitations in the features of the interface, in other words, are they socially or technologically determined? On the one hand, communication technology has long been able to facilitate coordination among group members and provided the added benefit of breaking the barriers of space and time. In other words, the technology allows it. However, there seems to be a price for utilizing these systems. The price to pay for this spatiotemporal independence has been the availability of communication cues to the identity of others, and cues to the meaning they are trying to convey, the absence of either of which can strain communication effectiveness and frustrate the social relations of those involved. There is also the question of social appropriate use of technology that influences people’s perceptions of the interaction. Nardi [18] argues that face-to-face communication is necessary at least in order to provide a foundation for future distributed work, and that face-to-face cues provide irreplaceable means to signal attention and provide a zone in which collaboration can occur. Yet the thrust of collaboration system development has historically sought the means by which users independent of each in time and space can work together effectively and harmoniously despite the Proceedings of the 37th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences - 2004 0-7695-2056-1/04 $17.00 (C) 2004 IEEE 1