Web 2.0 and Social Software: Challenges and Complexity of Communication in Education

Author(s):  
Helle Mathiasen ◽  
Lynne Schrum
Keyword(s):  
Web 2.0 ◽  
2010 ◽  
pp. 100618101207066-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Sandars ◽  
Matthew Homer ◽  
Godfrey Pell ◽  
Tom Crocker

2012 ◽  
pp. 408-429
Author(s):  
Teresa Torres-Coronas ◽  
María Arántzazu Vidal-Blasco

In the present landscape of technological change there is increasing awareness of the need to support the acquisition of digital competences. In this chapter, we address how digital competences can be developed through formal learning. We show how to design a web 2.0 learning experience that was undertaken at Universitat Rovira i Virgili1 and which developed both digital competences and management knowledge. In particular, the case presented focuses on the field of gender equality within the framework of labor relations in a non-real company created for this purpose, “Quadratonics SA”. Through Quadratonics’, web 2.0 tools and social software students improve their digital competences and, at the same time, are exposed to the most up-to-date innovations in ICT. Our final reflection is that higher education academics should continue to expand their awareness of web 2.0 applications and the role they can play in optimizing learning and knowledge creation among students, who will be the digital workers of the future.


2013 ◽  
pp. 1134-1151
Author(s):  
Thomas Ryberg ◽  
Lone Dirckinck-Holmfeld ◽  
Chris Jones

In this chapter, the authors explore perspectives on the notion of “digital natives” and present a case in which Web 2.0 technologies were introduced to students. They discuss studies critical of the generational metaphor, and argue that it should not be uncritically assumed that there is a generation of digital natives, but that young people may need to develop skills often associated with the digital natives. The authors present a case reflecting these pedagogical aims, involving an online Web 2.0 learning environment called Ekademia. The findings of the case reflect a gap between the researchers’ intentions and the actual outcomes. In particular, the learning environment failed to provide sufficient scaffolding for the students, who needed more support than was assumed. It is therefore suggested that educational use of social software technologies should have stronger connections to curricular activities, involve a more concerted pedagogical effort, and be supported by a higher degree of institutionalization.


2010 ◽  
pp. 305-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jürgen Dorn

Social software is a class of information systems supporting the establishment and management of online communities for people in performing certain tasks. One of the first application types were bulletin boards. Social software may provide different services for community members such as finding members with similar interests, finding information on interesting subjects, discussing common problems, or simply the storing of private or publicly-accessible documents. Another similar term, collaborative software, applies to cooperative work systems, and is applied to software that supports working functions often restricted to private networks. Web 2.0 is a term coined only recently, and with this concept promoters try to focus on the change of use of the Internet. While Web 1.0 was a medium where few users published information in Web sites and many users read and surfed through these publications, in Web 2.0 many users also publish their opinions, information, and documents somewhere in the Internet. By motivating large communities for submissions and by structuring the content, the body of the aggregated information achieves considerable worth. A good example for such a community project is Wikipedia, where thousands of contributors deliver millions of articles, forming an encyclopaedia that is worth millions of dollars.


Author(s):  
Jon Dron

This book offers an exploration of the ways that a learning trajectory is determined, and, in particular, how an online learning environment can affect that trajectory. It provides suggestions about how, primarily through technologies that underlie what is vulgarly known as “Web 2.0,” networked learning environments should be constructed to give control to learners if they need it, as they need it, and when they need it.


Author(s):  
Teresa Torres-Coronas ◽  
Ricard Monclús-Guitart ◽  
Araceli Rodríguez-Merayo ◽  
M. Arántzazu Vidal-Blasco ◽  
M. José Simón-Olmos

Web 2.0 technologies are playing an important role in building social capital through increasing flows of information, and building on knowledge and human capacity of learning. The purpose of this chapter is to show the role that social software, a component of Web 2.0 technologies, can play in higher education and adult learning. This chapter focuses on the role of Web 2.0 technologies in promoting learning. New learning paradigms and pedagogical applications are also discussed.


Author(s):  
Sarah Guth

This chapter discusses the potential of social software and Web 2.0 tools to enhance language learning in a blended learning context. It describes an English as a Foreign Language course that introduces students to several Web 2.0 tools with the aim of helping them develop their own Personal Learning Environment. As students become familiar with the almost endless opportunities for accessing and participating in authentic language on the Web today, they must also learn to find appropriate resources, filter unsuitable materials, manage this information overload, and decide which tools best suit their own learning style. The chapter argues that accompanied with the right pedagogical approach, these tools enhance learning by allowing students to engage in self-directed learning and gain skills and resources that are transferable to their informal, lifelong language learning.


Author(s):  
Hak-Lae Kim ◽  
John G. Breslin ◽  
Stefan Decker ◽  
Hong-Gee Kim

Social tagging has become an essential element for Web 2.0 and the emerging Semantic Web applications. With the rise of Web 2.0, websites that provide content creation and sharing features have become extremely popular. These sites allow users to categorize and browse content using tags (i.e., free-text keyword topics). However, the tagging structures or folksonomies created by users and communities are often interlocked with a particular site and cannot be reused in a different system or by a different client. This chapter presents a model for expressing the structure, features, and relations among tags in different Web 2.0 sites. The model, termed the Social Semantic Cloud of Tags (SCOT), allows for the exchange of semantic tag metadata and reuse of tags in various social software applications.


Author(s):  
June Abbas

With the emergence of Web 2.0, libraries have started employing social software applications (such as blogs, tagging, social networking, and wikis) to engage readers, encourage user-contributed content, and connect with user populations in novel ways. However, little research has been conducted on the applications of Web 2.0 technologies within public libraries. This chapter focuses on the applicability of social software in a library setting and examines the use of such innovative techniques as live tagging, social cataloging, and social bookmarking. The chapter evaluates the potential of social software tools for facilitating collaboration between librarians and library patrons; it addresses the concerns expressed by the library and information science community related to the issues of trust, authority, accuracy, responsibility, and ethics in the context of the Library 2.0.


2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 235-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allie Lustigman

AbstractAllie Lustigman from Linklaters updates the information collated from a survey of the internal use made by law firms of social software tools and provides an insight into how blogs, RSS feeds and wikis are also being implemented for external use for clients.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document