EDUCAUSE | Social Computing and Web 2.0

Practical Applications of Social Software

drupal — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 09:49:24 -0600

Social software includes a variety of tools to develop and share text, image, audio, and video files as well as organize resources others create: blogs, wikis, RSS aggregators, podcasts, vodcasts, and more. While the quantity of options can be overwhelming, this workshop will provide an overview of different tool types along with step-by-step demonstrations and effective examples so participants can learn what these terms mean and fine-tune their understanding of social software. A discussion of practical uses of social software in teaching and learning will follow with examples. Participants will also brainstorm how these tools can enhance communication among IT staff and between IT staff, faculty, and students. Select social software resources will be created for this workshop group both for practice and to continue discussion well after the session ends. Participants will be surveyed in advance for a tailor-made program to benefit them the most.

Crafting a Campus Identity: First-Year Students, Residential Life, and Social Networking

drupal — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:22:11 -0600

This session reports on a study exploring the relationship between the use of social networking applications and campus life. Online survey data from 3,000 first-year students living on campus describes how students use Facebook to create academic and social identities. We will discuss the institutional implications of social networking on recruitment, retention, and campus academic technology.

Social Media and Education: The Conflict Between Technology and Institutional Education, and the Future

drupal — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 10:10:01 -0500

Today's technology enables users to form and join communities of common interest to learn and share information. In opposition to the privileged learning spaces of higher education, social media encourage learners to seek out their own answers and construct knowledge as a community rather than as individuals. Twitter, Flickr, Facebook, and Second Life offer new learning spaces, but how do they fit into the learning expectations of institutions?

The Tower and the Cloud: Higher Education in the Age of Cloud Computing

ckeller — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 17:04:56 -0500

The emergence of the networked information economy is unleashing two powerful forces. On one hand, easy access to high-speed networks is empowering individuals. People can now discover and consume information resources and services globally from their homes. Further, new social computing approaches are inviting people to share in the creation and edification of information on the Internet. Empowerment of the individual -- or consumerization -- is reducing the individual's reliance on traditional brick-and-mortar institutions in favor of new and emerging virtual ones. Second, ubiquitous access to high-speed networks along with network standards, open standards and content, and techniques for virtualizing hardware, software, and services is making it possible to leverage scale economies in unprecedented ways. What appears to be emerging is industrial-scale computing -- a standardized infrastructure for delivering computing power, network bandwidth, data storage and protection, and services. Consumerization and industrialization beg the question "Is this the end of the middle?"; that is, what will be the role of "enterprise" IT in the future? Indeed, the bigger question is what will become of all of our intermediating institutions? This volume examines the impact of IT on higher education and on the IT organization in higher education.

Sharing Your Notes Online — and Getting Paid for It

ckeller — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 11:18:28 -0500

A new Web site brings social networking and ad revenues to the traditional note-taking service, but the model could raise copyright issues.

Deciphering Social Networks

ckeller — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 09:18:37 -0500

Adoption and usage data regarding social networking trends by consumers has convinced many business and IT leadership teams that social network sites, and their technological underpinnings, can be viewed as viable usage models to satisfy the communication, information sharing, and collaboration needs of the enterprise. In addition, strategists believe that the technology that supports such sites should be considered a credible technological model to help guide internal deployments. Higher education institutions should be careful, however, that they don't blindly adopt solutions simply because they are popular at the moment. Strategists unfamiliar with the field of social networks beyond its technological aspects should pay attention to issues such as:

How culture influences awareness of, and engagement in, social networks
How social networks can be structured in different ways with, or without, technology as a mediation method
How relationship dynamics influence participation (e.g., politics)

Links to documents within this file might require secure access to restricted Web sites.

Burton Group (www.burtongroup.com) provides technically in-depth research and advisory services for colleges and universities, government agencies, and commercial enterprises. Burton Group's practical and unbiased research and advice helps technologists make smart IT infrastructure decisions in increasingly complex environments. Burton Group covers directories, identity management, application platforms, architecture, and network and telecom infrastructure topics. Like ECAR, Burton Group is an unbiased advocate for the user and more than 80% of Burton Group's clients are user organizations rather than suppliers. EDUCAUSE member institutions can become users of Burton Group research services through EDUCAUSE pricing. Burton Group is an ECAR partner and can be contacted by email at slesueur@burtongroup.com or by telephone (801-373-5767).

7 Things You Should Know About Ning

gdobbin — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:54:04 -0500

Ning is an online service that allows users to create their own social networks and join and participate in other networks. No technical skill is required to set up a social network, and there are no limits to the number of networks a user can join. Users of Ning social networks have access to functionality similar to that of more well-known social networks, such as Facebook and MySpace. Various features allow users to read news or learn about related events, join groups, read and comment on blog entries, view photos and videos, and other activities as set up by the network creator. RSS feeds let users subscribe to updates from specific parts of the social network.

In addition to the "7 Things You Should Know About…" briefs, you may find other ELI resources useful in addressing teaching, learning, and technology issues at your institution. To learn more, please visit the ELI Resources page.

Many Students Loosely Joined: Social Software to Support Distance Education Learners

ckeller — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 11:18:22 -0600

Over the past decade, colleges and universities have increasingly turned to the web to increase student access, expand course offerings, and reach out to adult learners through online courses. The growth of distance and online education has been mirrored by a similar explosion in social software tools such as Facebook, Second Life, blogs, wikis, Flickr, and a host of Web 2.0 competitors that offer new ways for us to learn with and from each other. As our Web 2.0 toolbox grows, so do faculty and administrator concerns about control, privacy, assessment, and the effectiveness of these tools in the classroom.

In this seminar, Anderson will highlight an educational model for distance and online learning that leverages social software to help both learners and educators determine the most effective tool and granularity of application for their learning needs. He will also demonstrate a number of current and emerging tools and share practices that promise to help us learn from and with each other with an emphasis on social learning that includes groups, networks, and the collective.

7 Things You Should Know About Flickr

ckeller — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 09:50:19 -0600

Flickr is a photo-sharing website where anyone can upload and tag photos, browse others' photos, and add comments and annotations. Users can create photo sets and collections to manage content and participate in topical groups to cultivate a sense of community. Although Flickr is ostensibly for photos, the site might more aptly be described as a venue for sharing experiences and building relationships. The site provides the tools, but the value derives from the contributions of the user community -- photos, comments, ratings, and organization -- and the connections that the site facilitates between individuals. In this way, Flickr embodies what has come to be known as Web 2.0 technology.

The "7 Things You Should Know About..." series from the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) provides concise information on emerging learning technologies. Each brief focuses on a single technology and describes what it is, where it is going, and why it matters to teaching and learning. Use these briefs for a no-jargon, quick overview of a topic and share them with time-pressed colleagues.
In addition to the "7 Things You Should Know About..." briefs, you may find other ELI resources useful in addressing teaching, learning, and technology issues at your institution. To learn more, please visit the ELI Resources page.

Supporting Knowledge Creation: Using Wikis for Group Collaboration

ckeller — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 09:59:51 -0600

This research bulletin examines the wiki philosophy and how it fits within the Web 2.0 context. While wikis offer a number of benefits for supporting knowledge creation in collaborative groups, the literature suggests a strong need to establish conventions to enable long-term success. Based on an extensive literature review, the results of a research project into blog and wiki use in Australian libraries, and evaluations of the wiki installation of the RUBRIC Project sponsored by the Australian Commonwealth Department of Education, Science, and Training, the bulletin also examines how wiki technology can enable the online collaborative process.

Citation for this work: Watson, Kate, and Chelsea Harper. "Supporting Knowledge Creation: Using Wikis for Group Collaboration" (Research Bulletin, Issue 3). Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research, 2008, available from http://www.educause.edu/ecar.

Who's Afraid of Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and the Big Bad CMS? A Digi-Drama About Fear 2.0

drupal — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 13:00:53 -0600

Web 2.0 tools have the power to transform education. Such a transformation requires that faculty, students, and institutions take risks. With those risks comes fear, which is often unarticulated. How do you tackle this fear and make real change? Join us to face this fear together in a multimedia, interactive miniplay.

ELI In Conversation: George Siemens and Michael Wesch Talk About Future Learning.

gbayne — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 01:48:53 -0600

In this podcast we feature a conversation between George Siemens, Associate Director of the Learning Technologies Centre at the University of Manitoba. and Michael Wesch, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University It was recorded at the ELI 2008 Annual Meeting.

Michael Wesch presented a session entitled, "Human Futures for Technology and Education" at the ELI 2008 Annual Meeting. He also produced a video, which is referenced in this conversation, entitled "The Machine is Us/ing Us".

George Siemens presented a session entitled, "Connectivism" at the ELI 2008 Annual Meeting.

Sophisticated and Productive Tools for Higher Ed: Web 2.0

drupal — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 08:56:19 -0600

Higher education can benefit from the web 2.0 revolution, from simple tools that allow groups to communicate to combining databases that produce an entirely new product. Social networking, wikis, blogs, RSS feeds, videoblogs, and extensive use of multimedia are changing the way we process and use information.

Facebook Use on Campus: A Social Capital Perspective on Social Network Sites

ckeller — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 17:16:12 -0600

Presentation at the Sixth Annual ECAR Symposium, December 5-7, 2007, in Boca Raton, Florida. This talk reviews scholarship on social networking sites, focusing on the use of Facebook among undergraduate students. Nicole Ellison discusses findings from a recent study examining user practices and the social capital implications of Facebook use, demonstrating evidence of positive outcomes from some kinds of use. Educational applications of related technologies, such as blogging, is briefly discussed.

How to Cite This Work: Ellison, Nicole. "Facebook Use on Campus: A Social Capital Perspective on Social Network Sites." Presentation at the ECAR Symposium, Boca Raton, FL, December 5-7, 2007, available from http://www.educause.edu/ecar.

Analyzing & Improving Online Communities

ckeller — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 16:46:34 -0600

Presentation at the Sixth Annual ECAR Symposium, December 5-7, 2007, in Boca Raton, Florida. Successful online communities must be able to attract and retain a core of active participants. In this presentation, Robert Kraut will describe how the relationship between communities and new members develops. Because the relationship is especially fragile during newcomers' initial interactions, the success of these interactions is likely to determine whether the relationship survives. Kraut's analysis of over 200,000 messages from almost 25,000 newcomers to 99 Usenet groups shows that newcomers are much more likely to continue participating if their initial posts received replies, especially socially positive ones. Longitudinal studies and three field experiments show that introductions referencing commitment to the group increase the likelihood of getting a reply, while introductions emphasizing connections to the topic of discussion do not. This research both increases our understanding of a new social phenomenon and informs intervention that can improve the integration of newcomers into online communities.

How to Cite This Work: Kraut, Robert. "Analyzing & Improving Online Communities." Presentation at the ECAR Symposium, Boca Raton, FL, December 5-7, 2007, available from http://www.educause.edu/ecar.

The Social Web

ckeller — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 16:40:50 -0600

Presentation at the Sixth Annual ECAR Symposium, December 5-7, 2007, in Boca Raton, Florida. The social web is reflecting a radical change in the nature of publishing: the who, what, why, and how of authoring is changing in ways not imagined even five years ago. In this talk we explore the new terrain of publishing and collaboration by visiting social web sites, and through online videos and even confessionals. We explore three key question areas: (1) Why is this happening? What are the technological and social drivers? (2) What does the social web mean for the future of authoring? Who will be in control? (3) Should information professionals support or resist these changes? How?

How to Cite This Work: Riedl, John. "The Social Web." Presentation at the ECAR Symposium, Boca Raton, FL, December 5-7, 2007, available from http://www.educause.edu/ecar.

Teaching and Learning with Web 2.0

ckeller — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 12:58:50 -0600

Since the 1990s, we’ve been putting our Web courses in boxes, mastering enterprise course management systems, and striving for single sign-on seamless integration between all Web-enabled business and academic environments in each of our colleges and universities. Sometime around the turn of the century, however, explosive innovation on the open Web began to turn a “read only” environment into a “read/write” environment. With the development of RSS as a syndication platform, the read/write environment began to support and foster a very powerful, loosely coupled information architecture across the World Wide Web. In 2004, a group led by Tim O’Reilly gave this phenomenon a name: Web 2.0.

In this seminar, Campbell will explore the concepts behind Web 2.0, some of the individual tools and services (Flickr, Facebook, Second Life, del.icio.us) that are commonly listed under this rubric, and the implications of this phenomenon for teaching and learning, particularly in higher education. He will also present several ways in which he and his colleagues have used Web 2.0 tools and services, both as teachers and in their own learning, and comment on the good, the bad, and the ugly results. If time permits, he will also speak to the relationship between Web 2.0 and the open source software movement. Finally, he’ll offer some thoughts on what Web 3.0 might look like, and why educators should care.

Social Software in Higher Education: Isolated Accidents or the Start of Something Big?

drupal — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 13:39:00 -0600

Blogs, wikis, and networking tools appear to gain widespread acceptance. How are higher education professionals using social software tools in their practice? Is there any convergence with what students using them bring to the institution? We will invite participation to explore these questions and determine if there are international differentiators.

Teaching and Learning Experiences in a User-Created Virtual World

drupal — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 09:49:43 -0600

Second Life is a user-created virtual world simultaneously played by thousands of people around the world. In this session, we’ll share our experiences of teaching in Second Life. Using the interaction combinations integration model we developed as a framework, we will describe our projects, outcomes, and recommendations.

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.

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.

Emerging Worlds: Transformative Technologies for Teaching and Learning

ckeller — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 09:19:26 -0500

Web 2.0 projects have rapidly expanded into a world of social media. From blogs to podcasts, millions of people have published and shared a growing amount of digital content. At the same time virtual worlds have grown in popularity, from massively multiplayer games like World of Warcraft to metaverse projects like Second Life. How do these two movements apply to higher education? Where do Web 2.0 and the metaverse connect? What trends are emerging for the near future?

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.

The Disruptive Nature of Technology

drupal — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 13:21:07 -0500

Web 2.0 and other emerging technologies invite exploration, innovation, and building with “small pieces loosely joined.” Yet those opportunities can disrupt traditional academic processes that undervalue amateur participation, discourage faculty from venturing outside their realm of primary expertise, and look to “enterprise solutions” for administrative convenience. Can the academy include “half-baked ideas” in its core mission and processes? This session will address these issues from the perspectives of an insider (teacher, scholar, and administrator) and an IT professional outside the academy. Brief introductory remarks will be followed by robust discussion.

Human Futures for Technology and Education

ckeller — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 10:41:14 -0500

Presentation at the Sixth Annual ECAR/HP Summer Symposium for Higher Education IT Executives, June 11-13, 2007, Boulder, Colorado. In January 2007, Michael Wesch released a video on the history of the Web called "The Machine is Us/ing Us." The video quickly tracks the transformations of the Web from its beginnings as a place to retrieve information into a vibrant user-generated and user-organized platform of RSS feeds, blogs, wikis, social networks, and folksonomies that encourage, enhance, and capitalize on collaboration. At the video's end, Wesch suggests that these transformations require us to begin rethinking virtually everything, from authorship and copyright to our sense of identity and selfhood. These new technologies also have profound implications for education. What possibilities and challenges do they bring to our teaching? What should we be teaching to students who are habituated to a new media environment where Google and Wikipedia are always at their fingertips? How are these technologies changing the way students learn and assess information? In short, we need to rethink how we teach, what we teach, and whom we think we are teaching. For this presentation, Wesch creates another video in the same genre as "The Machine is Us/ing Us." Like the earlier video, this video quickly tracks the important moments in the history of education and attempts to capture the possibilities and challenges of the current moment in such a way as to pose and clarify some of the most important questions facing us as educators today.

Second Life: Reaching into the Virtual World for Real-World Learning

ckeller — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 07:44:23 -0500

This research bulletin examines the current state of Second Life in relation to the educational environment. Although literature about virtual worlds dates back many years, this bulletin reflects on more recent publications that discuss both technological and pedagogical issues. Content is drawn from interviews with educators and innovators who are already involved in building campuses, teaching classes, and providing resources to those using Second Life.

7 Things You Should Know About Twitter

ckeller — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 11:33:10 -0500

Twitter is an online application that is part blog, part social networking site, and part cell phone/IM tool. It is designed to let users describe what they are doing or thinking at a given moment in 140 characters or less. As a tool for students and faculty to compare thoughts on a topic, Twitter could be used academically to foster interaction and support metacognition.

Using Social Software to Enhance IT Operations

ckeller — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 09:31:19 -0500

This research bulletin offers representative examples of social software in action within IT organizations at three institutions -- Duke University; the University of California, San Diego; and the University of Washington. It illustrates ways in which social software tools enhance staff communication and collaboration, and how the tools can support more robust applications such as content management systems.

7 Things You Should Know About Wikipedia

ckeller — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 16:39:24 -0500

Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia anyone can add to or edit. A highly popular resource, Wikipedia has become a primary research tool of college students, and it may help them develop comparative research skills. However, since Wikipedia’s entries don’t undergo verified expert review, many academics are concerned about its use for academic purposes.

Securing “Web 2.0” Technologies

drupal — Thu, 03 May 2007 12:54:18 -0500

Web 2.0 applications, especially client-side processing, Extensible Markup Language (XML) syndication, mashups and shared content, and social networking, bring unique vulnerabilities to our institutional environments. This Burton study clarifies the attack objectives and techniques that must be specifically defended against as risks increase, as well as the role of application security in the risk management process.

Links to documents within this file might require secure access to restricted Web sites.

Virtual Learning Environments in 3D

drupal — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 10:00:05 -0500

Virtual Learning Environments in 3D We've passed through Web 1.0, entering the architecture of participation. Wikis and other read/write Web 2.0 capabilities provide a collective voice and opportunities for collaboration. They remain, however, fundamentally textual. Emerging now is the Web with shape and form--the 3D virtual world (VW). As education becomes global, will immersive 3D VWs learning spaces provide a persistent new home campus? Discuss.

How Choice, Co-Creation, and Culture Are Changing What It Means to Be Net Savvy

drupal — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 10:10:43 -0600

Technology and the way information is created, used, and disseminated have changed, as has the definition of "net savvy"

The World Is Flat: Using Blogs and Skype to Create Communities of Learners and Cultural Literacy

drupal — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 17:18:40 -0600

This session will discuss how social software and Web 2.0 tools have been used on campus to connect learners and countries, to encourage cultural literacy, and to create communities of practice and mutual apprenticeship to create quantifiable learning outcomes for writing and language students both in and outside the classroom.

Web 2.0 Applications

drupal — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 14:34:22 -0500

The evolving technologies committee is charged with identifying and monitoring evolving technologies and their impact on higher education institutions. This submission is on Web 2.0 Applications.

Web 2.0: A New Wave of Innovation for Teaching and Learning?

drupal — Mon, 06 Mar 2006 10:51:33 -0600

Web 1.0 has demonstrated immense powers for connecting learners, teachers, and materials. How much more broadly will this connective matrix grow under the impact of the openness, ease of entry, and social nature of Web 2.0?