Posts tagged pedagogy

Aca-article: Using Web 2.0 Tools to Enhance Learning in Higher Education - A Case Study in Technological Education

In this paper, we explore the possibility of using social networking tools to support teaching practice in technological courses.

Authors: Chi-Un Lei, Tomas Krilavicius, Nan Zhang, Kaiyu Wan and Ka Lok Man

Published in Proceedings of the International Multiconference of Engineers and Computer Scientists 2012 Vol II, IMECS 2012, March 14-16, Hong Kong.

Access the article here.

Abstract

Pedagogy with Web 2.0 technologies is shown to facilitate the teaching-learning process through content sharing and idea collaboration. In this paper, we explore the possibility of using social networking tools, to support teaching practice in technological courses. In our study, we utilized 1) Facebook Page as a platform to share content, experiences and news of a general engineering course, and 2) blog as a collaborative writing tool to express thoughts and opinions in a common core (general education) course. After our one-semester (threemonths) study, we found that Facebook Page is an easy-touse and familiar tool for students to share and exchange ideas among classmates, peers and public.

Index Terms: Information technology in education, general education, Facebook, social media network, blog, technological education, higher education

Call for Proposals: Social Media and the New Academic Environment - Pedagogical Challenges

Proposal Submission Deadline: October 30, 2011.

A book edited by Dr. Bogdan Patrut, Dr. Monica Patrut, and Dr. Camelia Cmeciu ”Vasile Alecsandri” University of Bacau and “Danubius” University of Galati, Romania. To be published by IGI Global: http://redir.ec/SocialMediaBook

Introduction

The term Social Media refers to the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into an interactive dialogue. Social media are a collection of Internet-based applications based on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, as A. Kaplan and M. Haenlein observed. These applications enable the creation and exchange of user-generated content. In fact, the social media represent the media for social interaction, as a superset beyond social communication.

Social media include Internet forums, weblogs, social blogs, microblogging, wikis, podcasts, photographs or pictures, video, rating and social bookmarking. There are different types of social media: collaborative projects (e.g. Wikipedia), blogs and microblogs (e.g. Twitter), content communities (e.g. Youtube), social networking sites (e.g. Facebook), virtual game worlds (e.g. World of Warcraft), and virtual social worlds (e.g. Second Life) (Kaplan & Haenlein). Technologies include: blogs, picture-sharing, blogs, wall-postings, email, instant messaging, music-sharing, crowdsourcing, and voice over IP, to name a few.

Besides commercial and entertainment applications, the social-media services and technologies have entered nowadays in educational areas as well. In recent years, social media have become scholar media, new means by which scholars communicate, collaborate, and teach. There are a lot of research studies that reveal the importance of using social networks, wikis, virtual communities in teaching and learning.

Objective of the Book

This book will aim to provide relevant theoretical frameworks and the latest empirical research findings in the area of social media, directly concerning the pedagogical challenges of the recent years. It will be written for professionals who want to improve their understanding of the strategic role of social media at different levels of the education in the information and knowledge society. So, it will present social media at the level of the learning centered on student, at the level of teaching courses and seminars/labs, at the level of the research activity of the academic staff, and also, at the level of the management and collaboration between the academic networks and organizations, of teams and work groups, of information systems and, finally, at the level of individuals as actors in the postmodern educational process.

The ultimate goal is to produce a high-quality publication that will make its mark in its field and provide professional recognition for every contributor.

Target Audience

The target audience of this book will be composed of professionals and researchers working in the field of social science, education sciences, computer science, information and communication sciences, and knowledge management in various disciplines, e.g. teaching, e-learning, management, sociology, pedagogy, psychology, adult education, computer science, and information technology. Moreover, the book will provide insights and support executives in educational institutions concerned with the management of expertise, knowledge, information and organizational development in different types of academic communities and environments.

Topics

Recommended topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Academic applications for podcasting
• Academic events through social-media (Eventful, The Hotlist, Meetup.com, Upcoming, Eventseer, AllConferences)
• Analytics for social media
• Budgeting for social media in academic organizations
• Case studies for successful social media commuting and presenting
• Communication, both internal and external
• Diagramming and visual collaboration in educational institutions
• Document Managing and Editing Tools: Docs.com, Dropbox.com, Google Docs, Syncplicity
• Executive and employee social media education and training
• How do universities deal with social media obstacles/shortcomings
• Impact of social media on the quality of the didactic process
• Integrating social media and traditional media within the academic environment
• Livecasting for education
• Location-based social networks (Facebook places, Foursquare, Geoloqi, Google Latitude, Gowalla, The Hotlist)
• Mobile social media and mobile teaching/learning
• Photography and art sharing (deviantArt, Flickr, Photobucket, Picasa, SmugMug, Zooomr) and the new education
• Social bookmarking (or social tagging): CiteULike, Delicious, Diigo, Google Reader, StumbleUpon, folkd
• Social media tools for schools and universities
• Social networking used in the new academic environment (ASmallWorld, Bebo, Cyworld, Diaspora, Facebook, Google+, Hi5, Hyves, IRC, LinkedIn, MySpace, Ning, Orkut, Plaxo, Tagged, Tuenti, XING, Yammer)
• Social news: Digg, Mixx, Social i my2i, Newsvine, NowPublic, Reddit
• Teaching through presentation sharing (Prezi, scribd, SlideShare)
• The use of Content Management Systems for education (Drupal, Joomla, Plone, Siteforum, Wordpress)
• The advertising of universities using social media
• Using blogs (Blogger, Drupal, LiveJournal, Open Diary, WordPress, Xanga) for educational purposes
• Using microblogging (Google Buzz, Identi.ca, Twitter) for communicating academic events
• Using video sharing for education (Dailymotion, Metacafe, Nico Nico Douga, Openfilm, sevenload, Viddler, Vimeo, YouTube)
• Using wikis (PBworks, Wetpaint, Wikia, Wikimedia, Wikispaces) in Science Classes

Submission Procedure

Researchers, and practitioners (including professors, teachers, lecturers, public relations and advertising specialists, students, PhD students etc.) are invited to submit on or before October 30, 2011, a 2-3 page chapter proposal clearly explaining the mission and concerns of his or her proposed chapter. Authors of accepted proposals will be notified by Novemver 15, 2011 about the status of their proposals and sent chapter guidelines. Full chapters are expected to be submitted by February 28, 2012.  In a full chapter, the contributor can extend the ideas and the topics presented in the 2-3 page proposal. The full chapters (containing 8,000 - 12,000 words and formatted accordingly with a template we will provide) must be written in American English. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a double-blind review basis. Contributors may also be requested to serve as reviewers for this project.

Publisher

This book is scheduled to be published by the IGI Global (formerly Idea Group Inc.), a prestigious international publisher of the “Information Science Reference” (formerly Idea Group Reference), “Medical Information Science Reference,” “Business Science Reference,” and “Engineering Science Reference” imprints. For additional information regarding the publisher, please visit www.igi-global.com. This publication is anticipated to be released in 2012.

Important Dates

• October 30, 2011: Proposal Submission Deadline
• November 15, 2011: Notification of Acceptance
• February, 28, 2012: Full Chapter Submission
• May 15, 2012: Review Results Returned
• June 15, 2012: Final Chapter Submission
• July 15, 2012: Final Deadline

Inquiries and submissions can be forwarded electronically (Word 2003 document) or by mail to:

Dr. Bogdan Patrut

Department of Mathematics, Informatics, and Education Sciences

“Vasile Alecsandri” University of Bacau, Romania

Tel.: +40 234 20 60 90  GSM: +40 728 88 22 88, +40 741 63 81 82

E-mail: bogdan(at)edusoft.ro

Web: www.edusoft.ro/bogdan