The influence of online teamwork on real-world collaboration.

Abstract

This study examines the effects of virtual teamwork on real life collaboration. Sixty participants (mean age = 22.43), mainly Chinese, played a number guessing game on Microsoft Network (MSN) messenger. After the game, all participants attempted a problem-solving and a group creativity task. Results showed that the experimental groups had a higher score for the problem solving task and the creativity of the selected idea. However, the control group generated significantly more ideas in the group creativity task than the experimental group. This suggests that virtual teamwork may have a positive effect on certain aspect of real world collaboration.