Most technology-based learning in the cases treated here makes very little use of technology mediated collaboration (cf. 4.2.3 & 4.3.6). A number of signs point, however, to an increased need for the use of CSCW. In the context of the global economy in an information-based society, the ability to work collaboratively at a distance will become an increasingly vital asset. The drive for increased innovation also calls for wide-scale cross-disciplinary collaboration on a flexible basis that only computer supported collaborative working can make possible. Wider use of CSCW in learning would not only create a basis on which subsequent use of CSCW in working could be built, but would also help to actively extend our existing knowledge-base by tapping in on rich informal peer-exchange along lines similar to those used by JITOL.
As Hannes Lubich points out[23], there is insufficient contact between developers of CSCW systems and the end-users. Means should be found to encourage an on-going dialogue between users of co-operative working systems and those whose job is to design them.
[23] Op Cit Pg 60