Promoting Digital Competences through Social Software

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.

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.


Author(s):  
Teresa Torres-Coronas ◽  
M. 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 paper, the authors address how digital competences can be developed through formal learning. The authors examine and demonstrate the design of a web 2.0 learning experience implemented at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili, which developed both digital competences and management knowledge. The authors argue 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, the digital workers of the future.


2022 ◽  
pp. 71-91
Author(s):  
Pedro Isaias ◽  
Paula Miranda ◽  
Sara Pífano

Each new technology, tool, or resource that is introduced in higher education practice with the promise of enhancing the students' learning experience and/or increasing their academic performance is subjected to meticulous scrutiny. In the early days of Web 2.0's implementation in the context of higher education, many educators expressed their concerns and were reluctant to embrace it. As it slowly proved its pedagogical value and an increasingly higher number of teachers began to incorporate it in their teaching practice and courses, the body of evidence speaking to its advantages increased and offered other educators the confidence and proof they required to do the same. This chapter examines Web 2.0 in the context of higher education by debating both its benefits and shortcomings and presenting cases of actual implementation. The cases in question pertain to the use of YouTube, Wikis, and Twitter as valuable resources in the development of different types of skills and to support the acquisition of knowledge.


Author(s):  
Afaf Mubarak Bugawa ◽  
Andri Mirzal

This article describes how the use of Web 2.0 technologies in the field of learning is on the rise. By their nature, Web 2.0 technologies increase the interactivity between users where interactivity is considered to be a key to success in traditional classrooms. This article reviews recent studies in the field of Web 2.0 technologies for learning and their impacts on the learning experiences and investigates relationship between Web 2.0 technologies and pedagogy in higher education on student learning. Key findings about the impacts of using social networks like Facebook, Twitter, blogs and wikis on learning experiences are also discussed. Web 2.0 technologies' characteristics and the rationale of Web 2.0 technologies in learning will also be explored.


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.


2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 130-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Rogers-Estable

Abstract This study analyzed current uses of emerging Web 2.0 technologies in higher education with the intent to better understand which tools teachers are using in the classroom. A total of 189 faculty in higher education from three western US universities were invited to participate, with 54 completing the survey. The survey included open-ended questions as well to offer an alternative analysis approach. In this study, the respondents claimed that the intrinsic factors of a lack of time and training were the main barriers to use, and reported positive views of Web 2.0 use in class, with 75% saying that these tools would benefit students and 83% saying they would benefit teacher-student interactions. In contrast to these results only 44% of the respondents used at least 4 of the 13 listed Web 2.0 tools with students. The reported uses did not match with the reported benefits, and this would support the results that extrinsic factors (time, training, support), instead of intrinsic factors (beliefs, motivation, confidence) are the main barriers to faculty in this study using more Web 2.0 in education. The top five Web 2.0 tools used, in order of preference, follow: (a) video sharing with tools like YouTube; (b) instant messaging; (c) blogs; (d) social communities, such as Facebook; and (e) podcasts or video casts. This data was originally submitted to the Abraham S. Fischler School of Education in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Imathiu

Although the curricula content for similar study disciplines may differ from one higher education institution to another and from one country and/or region to another, it is without any doubt that for all, they promote active learning rather than passive learning. A recent shift has been observed where emphasis is placed on student-centered, collaborative and practical participation of learners in knowledge creation in a learning environment which is more engaging and stimulating. This has particularly been made possible by emerging educational technology mediation tools that does not only promote hands-on learning but also make the whole learning experience fun. Most of these technological tools have been effectively used by More Knowledgeable Other (MKO) in scaffolding the learners, and they have also been directly used by learners themselves as their MKO in addressing Vygotsky’s concept of Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) which is defined by Vygotsky1 as ‘the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem-solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers’. This literature reviews how YouTube as an example of Web 2.0 technology has been used as a mediation tool to facilitate teaching and learning in higher education.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document