I have published extensively in the area of virtual teamworking, capitalising on one of my major teaching commitments at The Open University – the module M253: Team working in distributed environments.

Issues that I have investigated include the identification and dissemination of good practice in encouraging effective team formation and maintenance of effective team dynamics. While the principal motivation for this work has been to improve the experience of students and tutors on M253, I am also interested in the wider context of virtual team working, such as the benefits of alternative environments for the delivery of virtual team working courses.

Finally, in collaboration with Shailey Minocha, we have been studying how Second Life can be used to facilitate socialisation and team building on M253. Our first paper on virtual worlds and their role in virtual team working has been published in the journal Interactive Technology and Smart Education. The paper has the title Supporting distributed team working in 3D virtual worlds: A case study in Second Life.