Enhancing Learning with Social Software

1. Enhancing Learning with Social Software Podcasts & Wikis & Blogs… Oh My! Susan Connell & Jerry Marino Edited by Minjuan Wang

2. What is Social Software (1)? • Computer-mediated communication • Web 2.0 • Web is 2-way medium, interactive by nature • Everyone is a publisher and a contributor • Gives added dimensions to instruction, learning, and performance

3. Essence of Web 2.0 • Not really new technology • New way to perceive & use the web • Ubiquitous access with new devices • New tools & desktop-akin interaction facilities • Information & (web) services • Architecture of participation B.J. Krämer • eLearning R&D‘08 3

4. Social Networking Term Network of Social Relations first coined by John Barnes in 1954 Social network: social structure made of nodes (individuals or organizations) tied by relationships representing a tangle of interactions, e.g., an acquaintance network (sociology) an association of interest groups (economy) a network of friends or like-minded (Web 2.0: MySpace, Piczo, ... B.J. Krämer • eLearning R&D‘08

5. Quality of Relationships in Social Networks Sociology Trust, advice, resources, services, … Business, politics Loose organization, shared interest, targeted cooperation B.J. Krämer • eLearning R&D‘08

6. What is Social Software (2)? • Enables people to connect & collaborate • Facilitates formation of online communities • Variety of interactions, user-created content: • 1-to-1 (Chat, Instant Message, E-mail) • 1-to-many (Blogs, Podcasts) • Many-to-many (Wikis, Discussions)

7. Instant Messaging(IM) Blogs/Weblogs (Blogger) Wikis(Wikipedia) Internet Chat(Breeze) Podcasting Forums (BB Discussion) Social network services (Meetup) Social guides Social bookmarks (Furl) Social citations (CiteULike) Social Libraries (Folksonomy) Social Shopping (eBay) Peer-to-peer social networks (Limewire, Napster) Collaborative real-time editing (Writely) Virtual presence (MySpace) Virtual worlds and Massively-Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) Other Specialized Apps Types of Social Software

8. Social Software: Quick Comparison

9. Technolust (Dodge, 2006) • Tendency to lunge after every cool new technology • Temporary insanity, blindness • Excitement, then disappointment http://webquest.sdsu.edu/geotelewiki/

10. What is a Blog? • Website where regular entries are made in reverse chronological order • Online journal or diary • Typically offers commentary or a particular subject or theme (politics, travel, profession) • Can include images & links to other sites or other places within the blog • May allow reader comments/discussion

11. Types of Blogs • Personal(http://webquest.org/bdodge/ • http://blog.online-edu.org/minjuan/ ) • Topical(http://dailykos.com/ • http://chronicle.com/news/ • http://gizmodo.com/) • News(http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6210240/ • http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/news/) • Collaborative (also known as collective or group) (http://educational.blogs.com/edbloggerpraxis/collaborative_blog/index.html) • Directory Blogs • collections of numerous of web sites with interesting content in an easy to use and constantly updated format • Corporate/Marketing/Advertising(http://www.boeing.com/randy/ • http://www.microsoft.com/Communities/blogs/) • Advice(http://elsaelsa.com/ • http://www.pfadvice.com/ ) • Plogs- Personalized blog based on reader’s interest

12. Amazon Plog • http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/002-9891416-3748056?ie=UTF8&nodeId=16385881 • authors of books you have purchased on Amazon • discover products that have just been released, track changes to your orders and much more.

13. Blog Affordances (Dodge, 2005) • Easy publishing • Self-expression • Personality • Audience • Peer feedback • Community of learners • Chronology • Reflection • Reduce transactional distance (Saba, 1988)

14. Uses of Blogs in Teaching (1) Design ideas for teaching • Learning Journals • Collaboration with teams or distant classrooms • Role playing • Topical information sharing

15. Uses of Blogs in Teaching (2) • Facilitate critical thinking and knowledge construction • Component for formal and informal learning • Take a critical and reflective stance • Develop writing and communication skills • Develop both autonomy and community

16. What is a Wiki? • Type of website that allows users to add, remove & edit content, • Derived from Hawaiian term for “quick,” also interpreted as acronym “What IKnow Is…” • Simplifies creation of HTML pages to facilitate collaboration • Ideal for hierarchical information • Incorporates internal & external links and indexing functions • Can include graphics • See Wikipedia.org and wikiindex.com

17. Wiki Software • Free & fee providers • Use your server or theirs; web or intranet • Public or password-protected • Examples: • Wikispaces.com • Seedwiki.com • JotSpot.com • Pbwiki.com • OddWiki

18. Wiki: Examples • Wikispaces: http://blog.wikispaces.com/2010/01/styling-your-wiki-has-never-been-easier.html • Best Educational Wikis of 2009 http://blog.wikispaces.com/2010/01/best-educational-wikis-of-2009.html

19. Wikispaces Private Label Bridges Cultures • http://www.wikispaces.com/site/privatelabel/case-study-bridge The BRIDGE Project, an intercultural project between Australia and Indonesia, uses Wikispaces Private Label to bridge cultural divides and foster communication among educators in the two countries. 

20. Use Wiki to Collaborate on Projects • How to teach large online classes http://bestpracticesonlineclass.wikispaces.com/ • A wiki from our Games & Simulation class: http://670.wikispaces.com/Vacation+For+All • An ITS summer project on evaluation tools: http://fevatools.wikispaces.com/

21. Wikis Affordances (Dodge, 2005) • Easy publishing • Collaboration • Peer feedback • Editing / Refinement / Clarification • Organizing & chunking • Objectivity • Specialized Knowledgebases

22. Uses of Wikis in Teaching • Collaborative Documents • Micropedias: focused reference • Individual or collective knowledge management • Branching Stories • Exegesis • Learning Management Lite: post assignments, feedback, peer review

23. Instant Messaging & Chat • Informal communication • Peer-to-peer or small group • Can include video • Examples: • AOL AIM • MSM Messenger • Yahoo Messenger • iChat

24. IM as a Collaboration Tool • Expedites short informal communication • Team-building • Collaborative aid for teams that may be in disparate locations • Component of collaborative tools such as Breeze or WebEx

25. IM/Chat Affordances • Collaborative development • Instant feedback • Supports learning and coaching initiatives

26. What is Podcasting? • Digital recording … • Made available on the Internet for downloading to a portable audio player or PC with Podcast client (e.g. iTunes) • Programs can be downloaded manually or automatically whenever there is a new episode via RSS (Really Simple Syndication) • Downloads can be played, replayed, archived

27. Podcasting Affordances (Dodge, 2005) • Self-expression • Collaboration • Personality • Sense of audience • An actual audience • Planfulness • Ubiquitous learning

28. Podcasting and Pedagogy (1) • Record lectures or supplementary material for time-shifted listening/viewing • Audio references (recordings of noteworthy speeches, conferences, bird calls, etc.) • Guest Lectures/Interviews

29. Podcasting and Pedagogy (2) Possible student activities: • ???????? • Soundscapes • Magazines, Radio Shows • Re-enactment, role playing • Interviews: experts, topics, man-on-the-street • Use in conjunction with blogs to afford feedback

30. Legal Implications of Social Software (Wang, 2006) • Defamation • Intellectual Property (Copyright/Trademark) • Trade Secret • Right of Publicity • Publication of Private Facts • Intrusion into Seclusion

31. Why Use Social Software? • Aid to collaboration • Foster team-building • Facilitate knowledge management • Address various learning styles • Enhance knowledge transfer • Time-shift content • Encourage participation from those with language limitations or other issues • Cultivate use of new technologies used in modern personal and business communication

32. Now Lets’s Compare!!!

33. Social Software: Quick Comparison