EDUCAUSE | Contributed by Organizations or Campuses; Articles, Papers, and Reports; and Social Computing

Wi-Fi 'illegal images' politician defends legislation

ckeller — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 10:58:14 -0600

The Democratic sponsor of a bill forcing anyone with an open Wi-Fi connection to report illegal images--or pay fines of up to $300,000--says a recent Internet outcry over the legislation misses the point.

Rep. Nick Lampson of Texas, who drafted the bill that the House of Representatives approved this week, said through a spokesman on Thursday that he didn't actually mean to target Americans who happen to have Wi-Fi access points at home. The legislation also covers social-networking sites, domain name registrars, Internet service providers, and e-mail service providers such as Hotmail and Gmail.

Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship

ckeller — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 10:21:21 -0600

Social network sites (SNSs) are increasingly attracting the attention of academic and industry researchers intrigued by their affordances and reach. This special theme section of the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication brings together scholarship on these emergent phenomena. In this introductory article, we describe features of SNSs and propose a comprehensive definition. We then present one perspective on the history of such sites, discussing key changes and developments. After briefly summarizing existing scholarship concerning SNSs, we discuss the articles in this special section and conclude with considerations for future research.

Sharing, Privacy and Trust in Our Networked World: A Report to the OCLC Membership

ckeller — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 17:11:59 -0500

The practice of using a social network to establish and enhance relationships based on some common ground—shared interests, related skills, or a common geographic location—is as old as human societies, but social networking has flourished due to the ease of connecting on the Web. This OCLC membership report explores this web of social participation and cooperation on the Internet and how it may impact the library’s role, including:

The use of social networking, social media, commercial and library services on the Web
How and what users and librarians share on the Web and their attitudes toward related privacy issues
Opinions on privacy online
Libraries’ current and future roles in social networking

The report is based on a survey (by Harris Interactive on behalf of OCLC) of the general public from six countries—Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States—and of library directors from the U.S. The research provides insights into the values and social-networking habits of library users.

Well, if They’re Already Using It ...

ckeller — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 11:30:16 -0500

College representatives at Educause conference ponder outsourcing e-mail to Google and how to embrace students’ Facebook habits.

Student Expectations Study

ckeller — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 11:47:43 -0500

These are key findings from online research and discussion evenings held in June 2007 for the Joint Information Systems Committee. The Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) commissioned Ipsos MORI to undertake research among prospective university students to understand a number of issues:

current levels of ICT (Information and Communications Technology) provision at school/college
expectations of ICT provision at university
any difference between expectation of ICT provision and that which is provided by HE institutions

These objectives helped to explore the hypothesis that there is a mismatch between student expectations of what they will be able to do and what Higher Education (HE) institutions can and do offer in terms of ICT. This study will form part of an overarching piece of research being undertaken by JISC to examine this hypothesis and inform HE institutions of student expectations of ICT provision.

Texting, Facebook Used to Alert Students

ckeller — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 10:37:04 -0500

"As the school year starts, colleges around the country are applying the lessons of Virginia Tech and using high technology to get the word out fast in a crisis. "

Facelifts for the Facebook Generation

ckeller — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 14:33:14 -0500

Institutions of higher education are increasingly turning to web 2.0 technologies such as facebook, blogging, podcasting and photo sharing sites to market their schools to the net generation.

Forget Friending — Roommate Me

ckeller — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 11:13:12 -0500

"For the first time, incoming students at San Francisco State U. can select who they want to live with by searching online profiles."

Second Life: It's not a game

drupal — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 09:53:47 -0600

"Fortune's David Kirkpatrick reports on why IBM's Sam Palmisano and other tech leaders think Second Life could be a gold mine."

Teens and media: a full-time job

drupal — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 12:24:11 -0600

Results of the 2006 Teen Trend study indicate that U.S. teenagers spend more than 72 hours per week using electronic media, which includes the Internet, television, cell phones, video games, and music. The study, which is in its third year, was conducted by the Harrison Group and sponsored by VNU Business Media. Jim Taylor, vice chairman of the Harrison Group, said that the prevalence of these forms of media causes teens to see themselves as stars of their own reality television shows."Teen life," he said, "has become a theatrical, self-directed media production." Among specific findings of the study: 68 percent of teens have profiles on social networking sites, about 75 percent spend two to three hours a day listening to or downloading online music, and about half of the teens who download music believe that it is legal.