This link has been bookmarked by 12 people . It was first bookmarked on 16 Feb 2009, by Rene Meijer.
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Allison Kipta"The term ‘social software’ covers a range of software tools which allow users to interact and share data with other users, primarily via the web. Social networking web sites such as MySpace, Facebook, Flickr, and YouTube are examples of some of the tools that are being used to share and collaborate for a variety of educational, social and other communicative purposes. Educational institutions are increasingly making use of social software tools. Studies are needed of: how activities can be designed to include such tools; what are the benefits and problems associated with their use; and the role of these tools in enhancing the learning and teaching experience. Therefore, in this project, our aim is to collate data for 8-12 case studies from higher and further education institutions where social software tools have been employed.
Aims and objectives
The goal of this study is to produce a report with 8-12 case studies which have used social software to support and engage learners, or have embedded the social software within the pedagogy of a course or a programme. The study will involve identifying suitable case studies in the UK Higher and Further Education (HE and FE) sectors and collecting evidence of the effective use of social software in supporting and enhancing student learning and engagement, and disadvantages, if any, of using such software.
Project methodology
The project will use the case study methodology: the data elicitation and analysis will be guided by a case study template. During the development of the case studies, the team will focus on: benefits that the learners and educators perceive with these tools; design of activities and the challenges involved to situate the tool(s) in the context and learning outcomes; experiences of the educators: obstacles faced by students and educators; and accessibility issues and how they are being (or have been) addressed. The findings from these case studies will be consolidated in a report, together with recommendations.
Anticipated outputs and outcomes -
Megan PooreMinocha, Shailey
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Studies are needed of:
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how activities can be designed to include such tools; what are the benefits and
problems associated with their use; and the role of these tools in enhancing the
learning and teaching experience. - 4 more annotations...
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Andrew StewartThe goal of this study is to produce a report with 8-12 case studies which have used social software to support and engage learners, or have embedded the social software within the pedagogy of a course or a programme. The study will involve identifying suitable case studies in the UK Higher and Further Education (HE and FE) sectors and collecting evidence of the effective use of social software in supporting and enhancing student learning and engagement, and disadvantages, if any, of using such software.
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Steve BonehamCase studies including discussion of problems faced by institutions starting to use social software for teaching and learning
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Kristina Hoeppnerdownloadable; downloads also include the Social Software Study Plan which provides details about the setup of this study as well as release forms
Page Comments
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This study examined the use of social software in the UK further and higher education sectors to collect evidence of the effective use of social software in enhancing student learning and engagement.
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This study provides insights about the: educational goals of using social software tools; enablers or drivers within the institution, or from external sources which positively influence the adoption of social software; benefits to the students, educators and institutions; challenges that may influence a social software initiative; and issues that need to be considered in a social software initiative.
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Our investigations have shown that social software tools support a variety of ways of learning: sharing of resources (eg bookmarks, photographs), collaborative learning, problem-based and inquiry-based learning, reflective learning, and peer-to-peer
learning. Students gain transferable skills of team working, online collaboration, negotiation, and communication, individual and group reflection, and managing digital identities. Although these tools enhance a student’s sense of community, sharing and collaboration brings in additional responsibility and workload, which some students find inflexible and rather ‘forced’. The study found that students have concerns about privacy and the public nature of the tools for their academic activities.
*Initiating new ways of learning
*Recording group discussions
*Giving control to students
*Simulating work environments and providing transferable skills to the students
*Peer-to-peer learning
*Critiquing each other’s work
*Reflective learning
*Problem- and inquiry-based learning
*Collation of resources
*Skills Development
*Team working and online collaboration skills
*Organising a virtual class
*Immediate (instantaneous) support from the educator and fellow students
*Creating a digital identity
*Improving the effectiveness of face-to-face tutorials and seminars
*Fostering community building and participation of students in university-wide initiatives
*Social engagement
*Decision making by individual educators or a small team of educators
*Fitting the initiative with the technology-enabled learning or strategy at the institution
*University’s VLE and availability of suitable tools
*Existing usage of tools within the institution
*Internal champion or mentor
*An internal successful initiative, which is also well documented or communicated
*Word-of-mouth and personal recommendation for choosing the tool
*Constraints of the in-house tools and storage space
*Ease of integration with the institution’s VLE or existing systems
*Usability and specific function of the tool(s)
*Students’ familiarity with the tools
*Giving control to the students
*Open source solutions and access to the developer community
*Promotion of the initiative
*Facility of technology-rich physical learning spaces and availability of equipment
Educational benefits
*Increase in retention of the students
*Better understanding of students’ needs
*Socialisation
*Collaborative learning
*Team working or working in groups
*Engaging students
*Development of a community
*Becoming aware of different approaches to learning
*Problem solving
*Inspirational learning
*Reflective learning
*Sense of achievement
*Sense of control and ownership
*Early feedback or interventions before formal assignments and quick turn-around time for feedback
*Peer-to-peer support and feedback
*Being conscious that the educator and fellow students can see their online work
*Visibility of artefacts being created
*Integration of multimedia assets
Social and other benefits
*Student engagement in university initiatives
*Adding novelty and excitement to the learning and teaching environment
*Overcoming communication difficulties in face-to-face environments
*Overcoming isolation and geographical distances
*Interacting across multiple physical locations
*Experience with social software tools helps to foster cross-institutional collaborations
*Being ‘green’
*Non-educational benefits or effect on employability
*Support and community building outside the course environment:
*Students’ positive perceptions of the institution and the educators involved in the initiative
*Wider impact of the initiative
Positive implications beyond the initiative
*Developing skills for independent learning
*Communication and collaboration skills for online environments
*Improvement in departmental rankings
*Informal relationships between educators and students
*Development of transferable skills for studies and workplace
*Development of communities of practice
*Development of alumni communities
*Portability of resources
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