AskEris--A Many-to-One Communication Platform for Higher Education

In recent years much research has been conducted examining the opportunities of using modern Web 2.0 applications in teaching. Today, wikis, forums, pod casts or classical email communication are widely used media through which students can get in touch with their instructors or can discuss certain topics with each other. However, the usage of so-called many-to one communication, where a number of persons transmit their messages to one recipient, has been considered only rarely. In this paper, we present Asker is -- an innovative many-to-one communication platform for higher education. It bases on previous investigations regarding various communication forms and their use in higher education. In this article, we describe its development and benefits. Finally, we provide insights into the evaluation of Asker is. Due to the positive results of this evaluation, Asker is was forwarded to the internal university computer center, which integrated Asker is into the university-wide document and communication platform.