EDUCAUSE | Social Computing and Contributed by Organizations or Campuses

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.

Emergency Alerts via Facebook and MySpace Are New Ways to Reach Students

ckeller — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:54:48 -0500

"Colleges are experimenting with Facebook and other social networks to notify students about emergencies like crimes and floods—and get vital information in return. Most emergency-alert systems send out warnings. But social networks give students a chance to add on-the-scene reports or trade information if trouble hits. In addition to cell-phone and e-mail alerts, the social networks also give colleges yet another way to reach students in a crisis."

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.

Social Network Sites Face US Ban

drupal — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 11:37:53 -0500

A bill introduced by Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) that aims to restrict social networking Web sites in schools and libraries passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 410-15. The Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA) would require organizations that receive funds under the federal E-Rate program to install Internet filters that would block access to sites such as Facebook and MySpace. The FCC would be responsible for defining what sites would be covered by the law.According to the American Library Association (ALA), about two-thirds of U.S. libraries would be subject to the law. Supporters of the legislation said that children who use such Web sites become targets of sexual predators. Opponents of the law said it is overly broad and would prevent computer users from accessing a number of unrelated sites, such as Amazon, blogs, wikis, and even news sites. Leslie Burger, president of the ALA, said, "DOPA is redundant and unnecessary legislation," noting that the Children's Internet Protection Act already requires institutions to block Web content considered harmful to children. The bill now goes to the Senate.

The IT Manager's Guide to Social Computing

drupal — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 12:30:34 -0500

The author gives an overview on the many aspects of social computing.

The Many Faces of Facebook

drupal — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 15:21:55 -0500

"Social networking, event announcements, roommate vetting, law enforcement, and recently a bit of job browsing … Facebook.com has an impressive array of uses."

An Academic Blog for Students

drupal — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 15:10:20 -0500

Beginning this fall, all incoming students in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania will keep blogs of their academic interests and development. Unlike typical blogs, the Penn blogs will not be public. Access is limited to the student, the student's advisor, and, under certain circumstances, authorized university officials. Penn has a long-standing practice of requiring students to complete questionnaires to help guide their academic careers, and the popularity of online forums such as Facebook prompted university officials to introduce the blog format for the questions.Students will be required to make a small number of entries. Beyond that, they can keep the blog as current as they choose. The blog entries will be part of a student's academic record and cannot be changed later. The introduction of the blogs follows a pilot program last year involving 300 freshmen.

Envisioning a Transformed University

drupal — Thu, 23 Mar 2006 15:53:53 -0600

Change is coming, and the biggest mistake could be underestimating how extensive it will be. Rapidly evolving information technology (IT) has played an important role in expanding our capacity to generate, distribute, and apply knowledge, which in turn has produced unpredictable and frequently disruptive change in existing social institutions.

Integrating Tradition and Technology

drupal — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 12:06:31 -0600

This video is from Cornell University's University Computer Policy and Law Program's (UCPL) speaker series.

Information technology has catalyzed the creation of new forms of communication, self-expression, and collaboration. The distributed cognition enabled by social networking, podcasting, and videoblogging aligns well with the habits of today's learners. And, with the Web as learners' information resource, no learner is ever far from information resources. This presentation explores how well education is keeping pace with user expectations, IT capabilities, learning principles, and cultural shifts.

Podcast Series from Fordham University's Regional Educational Technology Center

drupal — Thu, 23 Feb 2006 14:05:19 -0600

Fordham University's Regional Educational Technology Center has published a podcast series with 26 episodes (they go up weekly) and it is one of four podcast series that they are producing at this time.

Campuses Make Way for the Worldwide Wiki

drupal — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 13:08:34 -0600

Do you wiki? Almost sounds suggestive, doesn't it? But while it is a trend on college campuses, where it may be bordering on a craze among the millennial generation, you can still get blank stares when you ask a grayer general audience about wikis.

The Age of the Smart Cell Phone

drupal — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 15:30:44 -0600

As text messaging overtakes cell networks, converged devices emerge and e-mail moves to the keypad.

Virtual Dissection and Physical Collaboration

drupal — Wed, 18 May 2005 16:25:06 -0500

This paper explores how software can be designed for individual use or for collaboration in the physical or virtual world, focusing on physical collaboration. The case study explored is the design and use of frog and human dissection simulation software. Since socialization has traditionally played an important role in the dissection laboratory experience, yet dissection simulations do not typically incorporate any online or offline interactions, the idea of virtual dissections or other types of educational software for physical collaboration is proposed.

Social Bookmarking Tools (II)

drupal — Wed, 18 May 2005 11:00:13 -0500

The authors discuss Connotea, a free online reference management and social bookmarking service for scientists, created by Nature Publishing Group.

Social Bookmarking Tools (I)

drupal — Wed, 18 May 2005 10:53:46 -0500

The authors give a general overview of social bookmarking tools.