Effects of Social Networking in Academic Literacy:Myths & Truths
George DafoulasBusiness Information Systems Department
School of Engineering & Information SciencesMiddlesex University
Agenda
"The only thing constant is change itself."
Heraclitus 500 B.C
A.The concept of digital citizenship
B.Social networking
C.Web 2.0
D.MUD (not literally...)
Digital citizenship – what is it?
Similar to citizenship, only better…
No fees
No 24 question test
However it comes easier through naturalisation!
Connecting to each through various networks should (in theory) improve our information fluency, knowledge of the domain, command of associated technologies and further develop our understanding of / communication with younger generations.
New set of skills in educational environments in terms of:
Critical thinking
Problem solving
Decision making
How do I become a digital citizen?
Forget about old fashioned constructivism, domain specific paradigms, student centred approaches and rigid learning style classification.
Profile focused
Activities classified according to individual interests
Each member tailors its individual learning space
Web based platforms are now called traditional VLE!
Game like interfaces encouraged
Mobile applications are demanded
Size matters – the smaller the better (bite sized learning / can it fit in an i-phone screen?)
Defining Social Networks
A social network is defined by its people and their connections.
Could be viewed as a description of the social structure between actors, mostly individuals or organisations. It indicates the ways in which they are connected through various social familiarities ranging from casual acquaintance to close familiar bonds.
Web Based Social Networks (WBSN)
Using the Web as the medium for social networking
Maintaining own profiles and lists of friends
Underlying concepts of WBSN
The network is accessible via a web browser.
Relationships between social network members should be explicitly stated.
System users should be able to view the member relationships and browse through the social network’s paths.
Users should be able to create and manipulate relationships with other users.
Typical student information
Name Geography Status Gender
Year Course Residence Birthday
Place of birth County Post code Schools
Email Screen Name Phone number Address
Personal website Sexual Preference Relationships Political Views
Interests Clubs Favorite Movies Favorite TV Shows
Favorite Books Favorite Quotes About Me Job Type
Company Job Title Job Description Work History Pictures
Applications Gadgets used Games News
Activities Alerts Views on study University critique
What do I think of my professor…! (my favourite)
Who is there?
Friends
Lecturers
Students
Administrative staff
Others (watch out for them…)
Why are we there?Objectives of different users
FriendsDropping a line
Supporting initiatives
Becoming a group member
Inviting people
Messaging
Updating contacts
Keeping in touch
Viewing new content
Catching up with latest news
OthersAttempting to locate individuals
Looking up personal details
Assaulting (predators)
Stalking (cyber-stalking)
Harassment (cyber-bullying)
Maintaining tabs for individuals and groups
Selling divulged information
Why are we there?Objectives of different users
StudentsExpanding their social network
(making more friends)
Integrating campus / programme module / seminar group / rooms
Learning more about others
Sharing common interests
Inviting others to social groups
Recruiting to academic events
Working together
Warning others (test next week!)
LecturersKeeping the pace with students
Verifying student excuses
Spying (in a good sense, not)
Establishing rapport
Offering an alternative communication channel
Understanding student development
Understanding student needs
Why are we there?Objectives of different users
AdministratorsUnderstanding student
development
Identifying student needs
Providing pastoral services
Increasing student involvement
Keeping up with the student pulse
Using for disciplinary evidence
Any more views?What about those Exec
members?
Services (T&L experts, CLQE staff)
Alumni
Parents
Social networks: educational benefits
Retrieving contacts and friends
Supporting group interaction
Overcoming geographic dispersion
Grouping common interested parties
Establishing alumni relations
Affecting recruitment decisions
Providing a virtual space
Having a sense of belonging
Finding new learning friends
Forming curriculum based social networking
Enhancing the learning experience
Exploring personal views
Engaging in group exploration
Establishing a social presence
Social networks: main concerns
Personal data are highly visible
Self-portrayal of each member
Profiles accessible by unaffiliated parties
Time management issues
Copyright of uploaded content
Authorising illustrations
Questionable content
Code of conduct implications
Authentication & IP tracking
Identity theft
Messages and ad links
Virus or malware threats
Information misuse
Information sold to third party
Legal implications
Social networks: Myths & Truths
MYTH TRUTH
Computer use can be tracked (cookies, spyware)
Inappropriate and illegal content may harm others
Advertisers may use information to solicit emails
Personal information can lead to id theft
Liability of using materials inappropriately
Impact of using the public domain (Oops too late)
Addiction to checking for news and updates
Violating the student conduct code
Spying academics in search for fake excuses
Spying employers in search for fake CVs
Harassment, stalking, assault & slander
Viruses, malware, spyware, dangerous links
University boundaries no longer protect content
1 of 3
Case study: Facebook
Create and update a profile
Sustain a list of friends
Join groups or create your own
Maintain group member lists
Make announcements
Communicate through discussions
Notification for associated events
Share applications (from quizzes to games)
Case study: MySpace
Profile feels more like a web page
Interface is more customisable suiting individual needs
Functionality suffers as it is more profile centred rather than network oriented
More specific in its use to update on individual profile changes
Frequently used in a blog mode/fashion
Case study: Tweeter
Tweets of a few characters – focused
Prompt report on events and activities
Followers learn about one’s journal notes
Keep updated with news from people you follow
A bite out of the blogging concept
Tweet away in your class – some examples
Support student data collection by suggesting who to follow (scientific data, historical facts and specialised knowledge)
Creative writing and collaborative editing of a story structure
Use twitter poll to develop thematic polls
Build up complex concept through the class network of tweets
Ensure concise questions are asked and waffle is avoided in answers
Create online repositories and bookmarks lists, eliminating duplication of entries
Compile factual information such as FAQ and lecture summaries
Disseminating research findings
Bite out of formative assessment and progress monitoring
Debating on discussions set by instructors
Linking with GoogleEarth to locate resources (e.g. induction)
Events and announcements
Future work: social networks and knowledge management
People
Technology ProcessesKM
Social network analysis
Information architecture
Knowledge Management
Systems
Relationship between people and content
Web 2.0: 30 years of evolving communication
Source: Morgan Stanley
1975
Landline Phone
2005Mobile VoIP IM
BlogsEmail
Pace of innovation across communication devices, services
and networks continues to increase
Platforms become:DynamicInteractiveEngagingSyndicated
Cuene.com/mima
Web 2.0: Evolution Towards a Read/Write Platform
Web 1.0(1993-2003)
Pretty much HTML pages viewed through a browser
Web 2.0(2003- beyond)
Web pages, plus a lot of other “content” shared over the web,
with more interactivity; more like an application than a
“page”
“Read” Mode “Write” & Contribute
“Page” Primary Unit of content “Post / record”
“static” State “dynamic”
Web browser Viewed through… Browsers, RSS Readers, anything
“Client Server” Architecture “Web Services”
Web Coders Content Created by… Everyone
“geeks” Domain of… “mass amatuerization”
Case study: Flickr
Social network for sharing photos
Combination of a social network with user generated content
Users can collaborate on photo projects and use each others’ tags to find new photos
Also has an API for web services to integrate photo collections with blogs and other apps
Case study: Del.icio.us
Site using a “Folksonomy” to organise bookmarks
A “folksonomy” is a spontaneous, collaborative work to categorise links by a community of users.
Users take control of organise the content together.
Tags are descriptive words applied by users to links (tags are searchable)
My Tags uses any words a user is using to describe links in a way that makes sense to him/her
Case study: Wikipedia
Collaborative creation of articles
Authors are classified according to their credibility
Collaborative editing and versioning
Difficult to control
History and page editing options
Hyper-texting critical to link associated information
Case study: RSS
Really Simple Syndication emerged in past five years
Enables users to get “feeds” of data from content publishers via a browser or special newsreader tool
Items come to user free of spam, on-demand, and in an easy to digest format
Feeds contain news and stories
A small summary is included in the feed
Users can read the full content of some stories within their browser or desktop app without going to originating website
RSS examples
Case study: Blogs
Blogging is a form of journalism (highly debatable)
Self organised, loosely structured journal
Thematic classification of blogs
Fostering discussion
Frequently the cause for problems
Cuene.com/mima
Blogging opportunities
Blogging / Blogs RSS / Feeds
Drive Traffic to the Site
• Improves placement and relevance in search engines•Could generate repeat visits to site•Generates interest in deeper engagement
•Generate “reminder” traffic•“Push” key product or promotion out to audience, to drive traffic back to your site• Broaden reach through syndication, driving more traffic back to your site
Improve Customer Experience
• Helps explain products, service, approach•Provides “support” through direct customer Q & A• Generate deeper insite into user attitudes and behaviors
• Feeds make it easier to stay connected and aware, driving convenience• More information = more competence = more control
Drive Conversions
•Generate “trial” usage•Blogs and post drive deeper engagement and helps overcome objections
• Drives frequency, which may lower the barrier to awareness and trial
Case study: the best of the rest
Podcast (audio) versus Vodcast (video)
Wiki versus Blike (wiki – blog combined)
Blog versus Klog (knowledge blog with selective release)
MUD (Multi-User Dungeon / Dimensions)
MOO (MUD, Object Oriented)
Web 2.0: Myths & Truths
MYTH TRUTH
Too many tools to become familiar with
Need to be more careful with my posts
The students will eventually outpace me
Technology overload for both students and me
Technology outranks the curriculum
Expensive to keep up with latest technologies
Not suitable for my non-technical class
Difficult to shift back to classroom mode
I no longer need my office space
Must be connected 24-7
I need to go back to school to learn all that
There is no strategy behind all these initiatives
Good idea but difficult to sustain
2 of 3
Dealing with the social networking burden
Source: Forrester Research
Dealing with the social networking burden
Source: Forrester Research
FacebookPlaxo
Relationships are explicit and difficult
to handle
Dealing with the social networking burden
Source: Forrester Research
Relationship mapping is
permission based
Future work: student perspective
Web 1.0 (VLE)
Do not feel connected to the lecturer
Need more reflective tasks
There is no human element
Too much typing is needed
Everything is text based
I miss my lecturer’s voice/point
Feel isolated from rest of class
Web 2.0 (podacts)
Podcasts for all modules
Add-on facility to VLE
Voice pattern is key
Link to content
Upgrade to vodcast
Create portable files
Enable student podcast submissions
MUD: Second Life University campuses
Work in progress…Education delivery requirements in 3D VLE
A shift towards a new set of education delivery requirements in 3D VLEs through:
1. Identifying characteristics for successful and effective e-learning sessions in virtual worlds.
2. Setting educational spaces for learning modes / purposes.
3. Designing spaces architecturally.
4. Selecting suitable educational techniques / approaches to conduct the e-learning sessions.
1a. Some characteristics for a successful virtual learning experience
1b. Some characteristics for an effectivevirtual learning experience
2. The DaCT village – learning modes
AmphitheatreAmphitheatre
Seminar hallSeminar hall
ClassroomClassroom
ShapesShapes
TextureTexture
ColourColour
4. Educational techniques
Video 1 – changing shapes / remote tutorial
Video 2 – questionnaire object / face to face
Video 3 – changing colour / lecture slides
Video 4 – various buildings / searching digital evidence
Video 5 – delivering a session
Video 6 – collecting data
Future work:Stages of e-learning delivery via 3D VLEConception – early ideas of how the learning environment
should be, are used to form the virtual world in accordance to any identified requirements and specifications provided
Action – identifying behavioural patterns of the learners and how these may declare patterns of use for each element designed as part of the virtual world.
Fusion – experiencing a continuous development of the learning relationship till the point that learners become part of the virtual world and the virtual world itself becomes the learning experience.
Questions
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