Twitter Chat as an Informal Learning Tool

This case study focuses on Twitter as an informal learning tool. Specifically, the authors examine user-created Twitter chats using one specific chat, #sachat, as a case study. #sachat is a weekly one-hour chat held on Twitter and populated by higher education professionals in the field of student affairs (e.g. college admissions, advising, housing, new student orientation). The authors contrast this chat with other ways in which student affairs and higher education professionals are using Twitter. Using methods of computer-mediated discourse analysis, they then discover and elicit defining characteristics of #sachat. Finally, the authors offer thoughts on why this chat seems to be successful as an informal learning resource, how it compares to other uses of Twitter by professionals, and implications for other communities interested in using Twitter or similar tools to create informal learning.

Designing a New Performing Arts Education through Constructing a Global Theatre

This chapter proposes a new learning infrastructure of performing arts education called Global Theatre. Global Theatre connects students and theatres over the Internet and creates a unique environment to share performing arts. It enables students to enjoy performing arts together, deepen intercultural understanding, and communicate with a global audience in synchronized time, regardless of location and distance. Global Theatre consists of three basic elements: a learning program focused on performing arts; a collaborative community formed by a university, theatre space, and performing group; and an ICT platform that realizes live appreciation of performing arts. In this chapter, two experimental implementations are carried out. The authors conducted a translated play shared by Thailand and Japan in 2009, and an international collaborative play shared by Thailand, Japan, and Malaysia in 2010. Through those experiments, the effectiveness of this new learning environment for performing arts is discussed from the perspective of the three basic elements of this structure.

Interactive Trivia of Laws of the Game as a Resource for Training FIFA Football Referees

This chapter presents the interactive trivia game developed by the TECMERIN research group in collaboration with the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) as an online educational resource to facilitate the learning process for football referees and assistant referees. The interactive trivia model uses a total of 1500 multiple-choice questions. This research explains the structure and dynamics of the game, the technology used, its structure, and the theoretical basis. The model has been tried out by eleven international referee instructors in order to test the user experience as felt by the participants. The results obtained show great satisfaction in the game as an educational resource and confirm the immediate possibility of extrapolating the model to other areas of sport.

Informal Online Learning through the Mediterranean Youth Technology Club

The Mediterranean Youth Technology Club is a bridge building initiative designed to empower and educate youth, providing them with tools that would enable them to become socially and culturally responsible leaders. Within MYTecC youth simultaneously follow three different but complimentary curricula: English, Social-Virtual, and Technology in an informal educational setting, extensively using Web 2.0 tools. Two MYTecC cycles have been finalized, and a new one is in the process of being initiated. The current study evaluates the effectiveness and impact of MYTecC. It aims to capture the overall MYTecC experience from students’ and instructors’ perspectives. Additionally, it measures the development of youth’s social-cultural and leadership skills, skills and knowledge developed, as well as attitude changes. Finally, it evaluates the role of Web 2.0 tools in achieving the above.

Social Media Encourages Sense of Belonging among Off-Campus University Students

Research has shown that students who live off-campus during the academic year experience greater difficulty with social integration, and are at higher risk of dropping out. The aim of the present study was to explore patterns that may give an indication of the extent to which the use of social media websites can help social and academic integration among students who are living off-campus. A survey was distributed among a cohort of 370 first year undergraduate students, measuring their sense of belonging to the institution and their attitudes towards student life. Students who lived on-campus and who used social media websites reported a stronger sense of belonging than students living off-campus. A significant interaction effect indicated that using social media websites reduced the difference in sense of belonging between students living on- and off-campus. Scores on the attitude scale were significantly related to sense of belonging. The results suggest that online networking can aid social integration among students who do not have the advantage of the face-to-face interaction that takes place in residential life on-campus.

Connecting First Year Students to Formal and Informal Learning Experiences

This case study, an honors first year seminar from the University of Florida, USA, demonstrates the benefits and challenges of these developments in education. The case expands the definition of formal, informal, and online learning communities in the context of a first year seminar.

Participatory Architecture

Web 2.0 is currently pressing how museums represent themselves and educate their patrons. Major Western national museums increasingly desire such engagements, merging the digital with the educational and promising unprecedented outreach and scope. In the Global South, however, Information Communications Technology (ICT) challenges abound, including a lack of sustainable contemporary technology and the needed expertise to employ it, but Web 2.0 offers much for the educational possibilities of Global South museums, particularly with respect to oral traditions and cultures. This case study presents both the possibilities and problematics of conceptualizing a Museum Web 2.0 site for the Uganda National Museum (UNM) in Kampala.

Making Connections

In their personal lives, many students are using social media to create, communicate, and connect with others from around the world. Yet, the research suggests that students’ use of these tools in an academic setting is often minimal, at best. This chapter examines the use of social media by students to extend the learning beyond the formal boundaries of one fully online course. Using a social media tool, the students were instructed to follow individuals affiliated with the topics covered with this course throughout the semester. The purpose of this activity was to provide students with informal learning opportunities and enable them to make connections with individuals in the field. While a small number of students initially expressed frustration with the tools, as well as the quality and quantity of the content, the majority stated that this activity led to a greater understanding of the course topic.

E-Learning and Web 2.0 Case Study

The authors, two faculty members with experience in online and blended learning at a Midwestern United States (US) medical school graduate leadership program, recognized the need for a critical thinking, literature-based course to explore the role of gender in health care leadership models. Acknowledging that such seminars are often mixed with cultural, social, and organizational bias, the faculty members set out to create and implement a hybrid course that blended formal, non-formal, and informal learning in a collaborative group seminar using Web 2.0 tools along with traditional teaching methodology. The Community of Inquiry model formed the pedagogical foundation of the course. This chapter will describe the planning, decisions, implementation, and outcomes of the course, including technical and logistical issues. Included are discussions of the role of gender in both health care leadership and online learning to demonstrate the strengths, opportunities, and limitations of the course.

Blending Storytelling with Technology in the Professional Development of Police Officers

Policing is a storytelling profession. Storytelling is a linguistic medium for the sharing of experiences, values, and culture. Organizations have a need to promote the sharing of experiences from senior to junior members. Organizations desire to ensure that proper values and culture are reinforced during this sharing process. Technology affords a tool for the sharing, and for the mediation of what is shared. This study focuses on a case where technology was used for the direct sharing of experiences. This sharing was done through the use of storytelling in the form of video presentations delivered in an e-learning course. Participants viewing these videos reported feeling a sense of engagement and immersion in the experiences of the teller. Participants reported that stories aid their retention and recall of the content of them. Other storytelling professions will benefit from using similar approaches.