The Role of Social Networking Sites for Language Learning in UK Higher Education

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 35-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Billy Brick
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Peer Review ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Language Education ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Uk Higher Education

This paper seeks to assess the potential for Social Networking Sites (SNSs) to play a role in language learning in the UK Higher Education (HE) sector. These sites are characterised by certain features including learning materials, synchronous and asynchronous video and text chat facilities, a peer review feature, and some sites also incorporate an award system, in the form of points (http://www.livemocha.com) or ‘berries’ (http://www.busuu.com). This serves to motivate participants by rewarding them for their progress and for their peer review activities. In order to consider if, or how, to integrate SNSs into the UK HE curriculum it is important to consider the views of practitioners and learners towards such sites and whether they consider them to have a potential role in HE language education. The paper will report on the outcomes of two small research projects which have sought to establish the view of both practitioners and students towards SNSs in the HE context. When considered overall the practitioners were more positive about the site than the learners.

The Role of Social Networking Sites for Language Learning in UK Higher Education

2014 ◽  
pp. 1745-1764
Author(s):  
Billy Brick
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Peer Review ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Text Chat ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Uk Higher Education

This paper seeks to assess the potential for Social Networking Sites (SNSs) to play a role in language learning in the UK Higher Education (HE) sector. These sites are characterised by certain features including learning materials, synchronous and asynchronous video and text chat facilities, a peer review feature, and some sites also incorporate an award system, in the form of points (http://www.livemocha.com) or ‘berries' (http://www.busuu.com). This serves to motivate participants by rewarding them for their progress and for their peer review activities. In order to consider if, or how, to integrate SNSs into the UK HE curriculum it is important to consider the views of practitioners and learners towards such sites and whether they consider them to have a potential role in HE language education. The paper will report on the outcomes of two small research projects which have sought to establish the view of both practitioners and students towards SNSs in the HE context. When considered overall the practitioners were more positive about the site than the learners.

scholarly journals Knowledge Transfer Openness Matrix Facilitating Accessibility in UK Management Education Teaching

2017 ◽  
pp. 230-252
Author(s):  
Jonathan D. Owens ◽  
Usman Talat
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Empirical Investigation ◽  
Management Education ◽  
Learning Technologies ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Uk Higher Education

This is an empirical investigation considering how the Knowledge Transfer Openness Matrix (KTOM) could facilitate accessibility and Knowledge Transfer (KT) for the UK Higher Education (HE) Management Education Teaching when utilising learning technologies. Its focus is where learning technologies applications currently assist the KT process and support accessibility for the HE teacher and learner. It considers the philosophy of openness, focusing on its usefulness to support accessibility within UK HE Management Education Teaching. It discusses how the openness philosophy may assist the KT process for the HE teacher and learners using learning technologies. In particular, the potential to support accessibility within HE Management Education Teaching environments is appraised. There appear several implications for both teachers and learners. These are characterized in the proposed KTOM. The matrix organises KT events based on the principles of the openness philosophy. The role of learning technologies in events is illustrated with regard to teaching and learning accessibility.

Immersive Education Spaces using Open Wonderland From Pedagogy through to Practice

2011 ◽  
pp. 190-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Gardner ◽  
Adela Gánem-Gutiérrez ◽  
John Scott ◽  
Bernard Horan ◽  
Vic Callaghan
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Mixed Reality ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Background Information ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Uk Higher Education

This chapter presents a case study of the use of virtual world environment in UK Higher Education. It reports on the activities carried out as part of the SIMiLLE (System for an Immersive and Mixed reality Language Learning) project to create a culturally sensitive virtual world to support language learning (funded by the UK government JISC program). The SIMiLLE project built on an earlier project called MiRTLE, which created a mixed-reality space for teaching and learning. The aim of the SIMiLLE project was to investigate the technical feasibility and pedagogical value of using virtual environments to provide a realistic socio-cultural setting for language learning interaction. The chapter begins by providing some background information on the Wonderland platform and the MiRTLE project, and then outlines the requirements for SIMiLLE, and how these requirements were supported through the use of a virtual world based on the Open Wonderland virtual world platform. The chapter then presents the framework used for the evaluation of the system, with a particular focus on the importance of incorporating pedagogy into the design of these systems, and how to support good practice with the ever-growing use of 3D virtual environments in formalized education. Finally, the results from the formative and summative evaluations are summarized, and the lessons learnt are presented, which can help inform future uses of immersive education spaces within Higher Education.

The Role of Learning Analytics in Global Higher Education

2016 ◽  
pp. 282-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kijpokin Kasemsap
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Learning Analytics ◽  
School Administrators ◽  
Information Age ◽  
Educational Data Mining ◽  
Educational Performance ◽  
Strategic Goals

This chapter presents the role of learning analytics in global higher education, thus illustrating the theoretical and practical overview of learning analytics; learning analytics and educational data mining (EDM); learning analytics and learning management system (LMS); learning analytics and Course Signals; learning analytics and knowledge perspectives; learning analytics and social networking sites; and the significance of learning analytics in global higher education. The application of learning analytics is critical in global higher education that seeks to serve the school administrators and students, increase educational performance, sustain competitiveness, and fulfill expected accomplishment in global higher education. The chapter argues that applying learning analytics has the potential to improve educational performance and reach strategic goals in the information age.

scholarly journals Narratives of Students about the Role of Social Networking Sites in Higher Education Institutes

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 84-100
Author(s):  
Sidra Saeed ◽  
Iqra Saeed ◽  
Dr. Warda Gul
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Daily Routine ◽  
Online Forums ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Online Lectures ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Depth Interviews

Social Networking Sites (SNS) such as Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, blogs, Twitter and other educational sites have become an essential part of daily routine at the tertiary level of education. The purpose of this study is to investigate how SNS enable social interaction as well as sharing of knowledge among students. Hence, this study explored students’ perception of educational activities conducted via SNS and their experience of using SNS in higher institutes. The study adopted a qualitative approach and focused on interpreting students’ narratives regarding the use of SNS in higher education. For this purpose, in depth interviews and focus group discussions were conducted from university students. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data generated from the narratives of the participants. The findings showed that SNS plays an important role in distance education as they help students to attend online lectures delivered from the online forums of various universities. Students use SNS for various learning purposes, such as to access online libraries, e-learning, to download e-books and to find research articles from various authentic sites.

scholarly journals How effective are web 2.0 language learning sites in facilitating language learning?

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Billy Brick
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Web 2.0 ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
New Phenomena

This article discusses the new phenomena of Social Networking Sites (SNSs) for language learning and their implications for higher education. The strengths and weaknesses of these sites are identifi ed and the potential to integrate some of the features of SNSs for language learning into the HE curriculum and the implications of this for educators are also discussed.

scholarly journals Editorial

ReCALL ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-152
Author(s):  
JUNE THOMPSON
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Higher Education Funding ◽  
Academic Journal ◽  
Step Down ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The University ◽  
Uk Higher Education ◽  
Teaching Initiative

This issue of ReCALL represents something of a watershed in the journalÕs history, for a number of reasons. First of all I have to report that Professor Graham Chesters has decided that he wishes to step down as co-editor, and I would like to thank him here for all his work for the journal over the years. Back in 1990 when Graham and I were involved with the Computers in Teaching Initiative Centre for Modern Languages (CTICML) at the University of Hull, funded by the UK Higher Education Funding Council, one of the required ‘deliverables’ was a regular Newsletter, designed to inform university language lecturers about developments in the use of new technologies in language learning. It soon became apparent that some of the material that was being submitted for publication was far too substantial for a Newsletter, yet merited dissemination among our readers. It was Graham who saw the potential need for a new academic journal in this field, and thus ReCALL was born. I still blush to see my attempts at desk-top publishing in those early issues!

scholarly journals Course leadership in small specialist UK higher education – a review

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (7) ◽  
pp. 1174-1183
Author(s):  
Nieky van Veggel ◽  
Philip Howlett
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Education Sector ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Course Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Uk Higher Education

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review the literature with regard to the course leader in small and specialist higher education in the UK. Design/methodology/approach First, the role of the course leader is explored, followed by an evaluation of the barriers to effective course management. This is then followed by a discussion of mitigating solutions to the barriers identified. Course leadership is then reviewed in the context of small and specialist higher education. Finally, areas for future research are suggested. Findings Course leadership in the UK is a role with wide ranging responsibilities, but is under-appreciated by the higher education sector. Various barriers have been identified, and some solutions proposed, in the literature, but problems remain. Originality/value Course leadership is an underappreciated area with little academic literature available, even though issues have been reported since the 1990s. This paper critically evaluates and summarises the issues, and shows that they are still current. It also proposes solutions and areas of further research so that issues can be resolved for betterment of the higher education sector.

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