The International Collaborative Environment (ICE)

This paper describes the various software modules of the International Collaborative Environment (ICE), a system implemented as a collection of components written in Java. The system allows groups to collaborate, both synchronously and asynchronously, and perform a variety of tasks over the Internet. The components, all of which are shared by users in the same group, include chat, whiteboard, editor, file sharing, help, web browser and desktop sharing tools. Although many of these components are available in commercial software products, this particular system is unique because it is platform independent and has record keeping capabilities. Thus, users (or instructors) can collect and analyze data about how groups use the system and compare that usage with success or failure of performance on different tasks. The current project using ICE involves groups of students at the University of North Texas (UNT) in Denton, Texas collaborating with students at Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara, Turkey. A student enrolled at UNT is paired with a student at METU, and each student pair is asked to use ICE to perform a variety of different programming tasks. A description of the system and an example of how it is used is presented below.