An Experiment in ICT Mediated Group Creativity

Abstract

This paper describes an experiment aimed to evaluate the influence of the environment in an “iLab” (Innovation Laboratory) on the divergent thinking of a group of students. The philosophy behind the concept of iLab starts from the assumption that the convergent influence of an “extraordinary environment”, a special communication application, and appropriate moderation techniques is capable to foster the creativity of the participants, and to enable a certain “collective intelligence”. In our experiment, the group of 20 students was assigned the task to find as many new ideas as possible of ICT solutions for improving the quality of life of people with various disabilities. The ideas produced during the session were recorded and analyzed in terms of originality, feasibility, and utility using the FCA (Formal Concept Analysis) methodology. This paper presents the results of the experiment.