Schlagwort: higher education

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[publication] Social Media Usage at Universities – How should it be done?

Our contribution to this year WEBIST conference about “Social Media Usage at Universities – How should it be done?” is now online available.
Abstract:

The social media hype these days is omnipresent, encouraging even public institutions to participate. This study seeks to reveal, which factors have to be kept in mind, when doing social media work at universities. It also is an attempt to provide a list of recommendations and possible fields of action to ensure an efficient presence in social web. Therefore we analyzed the present situation of university efforts and evaluated the success by measuring user engagement concerning different aspects of social media activities (e.g. content, publishing time, frequency of activities, existence of visual elements, additional links, etc.) The study shows, that it seems less important how many times a week a university is publishing, or how long the text messages are in detail, but that there is a significant relationship between the contents of a post, the time of its publishing and the used elements, pointing out that users actively perceive and interact with social media activities that encourage contact between both: the profile-owner with the community and the community amongst itself – especially if made in a personal, emotional or funny way, offering people ways to identify with the institution and to connect with it through well-known habits and traditions.

Social Media Usage at Universities – How should it be done? by Martin

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Reference: Frey, J.-C.; Ebner, M.; Schön, M., Taraghi, B. (2013) Social Media Usage at Universities – How should it Be Done?. Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Web Information Systems and Technologies (WEBIST) 2013, SciTePress 2013, Karl-Heinz Krempels, Alexander Stocker (Eds.), pp. 608-616, ISBN 978-989-8565-54-9, Aachen, Germany, 8 – 10 May, 2013

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[presentation] Social Media Usage at Universities – How should it be done?

Our presentation of this year WEBIST conference is now online available:

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[publication] Automated Podcasting System for Universities

The whole podcasting team of our departemt has published our new experiences and developments about our podcasting activities. The publication titled “Automated Podcasting System for Universities” is now published in the new issue of the International Journal of Emerging Technologies for Learning (iJET). Get here the FULL PAPER (you have to register for open access on the plattform).
Abstract:

This paper presents the results achieved at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) in the field of automat-
ing the process of recording and publishing university lectures in a very new way. It outlines cornerstones of the
development and integration of an automated recording system such as the lecture hall setup, the recording hard-
ware and software architecture as well as the development of a text-based search for the final product by method of
indexing video podcasts. Furthermore, the paper takes a look at didactical aspects, evaluations done in this context
and future outlook.

Reference: Grigoriadis, Y., Stickel, C., Nagler, W., Ebner, M., Schön, M. (2013) Automated Podcasting System for Universities, International Journal of Emerging Technologies for Learning (iJET), Vol. 8, 1 (2013), p. 24-32 [.pdf]

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[publication] The Influence of Twitter on the Academic Environment

A draft version of our chapter on “The Influence of Twitter on the Academic Environment” within the book “Social Media and the New Academic Environment: Pedagogical Challenges” is now online available. For the full chapter visit the website.
Abstract:

In the last few years, microblogging has become a phenomenon of our daily lives. Communicating, sharing media files, as well as acting on digital social communities platforms using mobile devices assist our everyday activities in a complete new way. Therefore, it is very reasonable that academic environments are influenced arbitrarily too. In this publication, different settings for the use of microblogging are pointed out – for teaching and learning as well as for further scientific purposes such as professional conferences. It can be summarized that there are different possibilities to use microblogging in an academic context; each of them are new advantages for the academic life. The publication gives a short overview and a first insight into the various ways to use microblogging.

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Reference: Ebner, M. (2013). The Influence of Twitter on the Academic Environment. Patrut, B., Patrut, M., Cmeciu, C. (ed.). Social Media and the New Academic Environment: Pedagogical Challenges. IGI Global. 2013. pp. 293-307.

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[publication] Automated Podcasting System for Universities

Our publication about “Automated Podcasting System for Universities” at this year ICL 2012 conference is now online available.
Abstract:

This paper presents the results achieved at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) in the field of automating the process of recording and publishing university lectures in a very new way. It outlines cornerstones of the development and integration of an automated recording system such as the lecture hall setup, the recording hardware and software architecture as well as the development of a text-based search for the final product by method of indexing video podcasts. Furthermore, the paper takes a look at didactical aspects, evaluations done in this context and future outlook.

Automated Podcasting System for Universities

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Reference: Grigoriadis, Y., Stickel, C., Nagler, W., Ebner, M., Schön, M. (2012) Automated Podcasting System for Universities. 15th International Conference on Interactive Collaborative Learning. ICL 2012, Villach, Austria

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[publication] New Forms of and Tools for Cooperative Learning with Social Software in Higher Education

Sandra and I wrote a summary of different tools and forms of cooperative learning with Social Software in higher education. It was just published in the book “Encyclopedia of Computer Science” (ed. Robert T. Abrams).

Our abstract:

Since the new generation of Internet technology, called Web 2.0, has been introduced, a change of how users are dealing with the World Wide Web has been get into going. If access to the Web is available, today nearly anyone can actively participate and communicate online. Of course this recent evolution of the Web influences also the field of education. Former e-learning was mainly characterized by the use of content offered within learning management systems. Nowadays so called “Social Software” enables new possibilities and didactical approaches. In this chapter we give a short overview of how Social Software can support cooperative learning and how new technologies can enhance higher education in a meaningful new way. After a short introduction to the basics of cooperative learning different Social Software applications are classified and described. Practical examples are presented to show the general usage. In the end we conclude that these technologies have great impact on teaching and learning, as it will help to enhance education at universities.

Within the paper, we distinguished different forms of Social Software:

Social Software can be distinguished concerning their main purposes

  • Social presence and communication including discussion forums, Web chats, (micro-) blogging, (micro-) podcasting, and live streaming;
  • Collaborative development including tools that allow a collaborative work and development as the Wiki technology; or
  • Collaborative enrichment of content such as social bookmarking, social tagging, and rating.

Then we went on with a short description of different teaching settings (formally organised learning), where cooperative learning can be used:

1. Distance learning setting

The learners are distributed and do not meet in reality before and while learning and working together. The online communication is not always, but often asynchronous;

2. Blended learning setting

The learners meet in reality and additionally online but normally not parallel. The online communication usually is asynchronous;

3. Classroom group work setting – with 10 to 25 learners

Every learner additionally and parallel to “real” communication participates through networked computers or mobile phones on the group interaction

4. Lecture hall learning setting

The learners use networked computers or mobile phones to facilitate interaction and feedback loops in big groups of more than 40 people parallel to a (interactive) lecture.

In the paper we list tools and their usage and how it already worked (or not) within cooperative learning settings. We came to the conclusion (amongst other aspects!!):

The use of technology in education strongly depends on the questions how we can improve the quality of education and how we can benefit from it. For example, digital collaboration with the help of Wiki systems leads to new possibilities that had not been imaginable within a paper-based learning scenario. Furthermore tagging enhances learner’s content in a new meaningful way and makes the content shareable und reusable. Micro-blogging as described in previous chapters must be seen as a complete new form of communication – talking to a cloud, without knowing if anyone will read or even react to it.

As cooperative learning is very often a part of open educational practices, where learners have the possibilities to organize their own learning within their groups as active partners, changes of learning and teaching behavior is not only a matter of such new tools. Also the existing learning culture within the institution or the teaching abilities and attitudes of lectures are (amongst others) crucial aspects of teaching in higher education that has to be taken into account for a successful implementation or usage of such new tools for cooperative learning (cf. Schaffert, 2009).

Additionally, we have to bear in mind that such tools are not built especially for learning settings. It is up to the researchers and every single user to find out whether learners can benefit from it or not. (…)

Reference: Schaffert, S., Ebner, M. (2012) New Forms of and Tools for Cooperative Learning with Social Software in Higher Educatio, In: Encyclopedia of Computer Science, R. T. Abrams (Ed.), Nova Publishers, Hauppauge NY, p. 537-552

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[presentation] Web 2.0 in Higher Education

My last presentation at this year ED-Media Conference was about “Web 2.0 in Higher Education” – it is a rather “traditional” one, which I did every year for the graduate student stream (ok, some slides were changed a little bit):

Web 2.0 in Higher Education

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View more presentations from Martin Ebner

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[publication] New Forms of and Tools for Cooperative Learning with Social Software in Higher Education

Sandra and I wrote a summary of different tools and forms of cooperative learning with Social Software in higher education. It was just published in the book “Computer-Assisted Teaching: New Developments” (ed. by Brayden A. Morris and George M. Ferguson).

Our abstract:

Since the new generation of Internet technology, called Web 2.0, has been introduced, a change of how users are dealing with the World Wide Web has been get into going. If access to the Web is available, today nearly anyone can actively participate and communicate online. Of course this recent evolution of the Web influences also the field of education. Former e-learning was mainly characterized by the use of content offered within learning management systems. Nowadays so called “Social Software” enables new possibilities and didactical approaches. In this chapter we give a short overview of how Social Software can support cooperative learning and how new technologies can enhance higher education in a meaningful new way. After a short introduction to the basics of cooperative learning different Social Software applications are classified and described. Practical examples are presented to show the general usage. In the end we conclude that these technologies have great impact on teaching and learning, as it will help to enhance education at universities.

Within the paper, we distinguished different forms of Social Software:

Social Software can be distinguished concerning their main purposes

  • Social presence and communication including discussion forums, Web chats, (micro-) blogging, (micro-) podcasting, and live streaming;
  • Collaborative development including tools that allow a collaborative work and development as the Wiki technology; or
  • Collaborative enrichment of content such as social bookmarking, social tagging, and rating.

Then we went on with a short description of different teaching settings (formally organised learning), where cooperative learning can be used:

1. Distance learning setting

The learners are distributed and do not meet in reality before and while learning and working together. The online communication is not always, but often asynchronous;

2. Blended learning setting

The learners meet in reality and additionally online but normally not parallel. The online communication usually is asynchronous;

3. Classroom group work setting – with 10 to 25 learners

Every learner additionally and parallel to “real” communication participates through networked computers or mobile phones on the group interaction

4. Lecture hall learning setting

The learners use networked computers or mobile phones to facilitate interaction and feedback loops in big groups of more than 40 people parallel to a (interactive) lecture.

In the paper we list tools and their usage and how it already worked (or not) within cooperative learning settings. We came to the conclusion (amongst other aspects!!):

The use of technology in education strongly depends on the questions how we can improve the quality of education and how we can benefit from it. For example, digital collaboration with the help of Wiki systems leads to new possibilities that had not been imaginable within a paper-based learning scenario. Furthermore tagging enhances learner’s content in a new meaningful way and makes the content shareable und reusable. Micro-blogging as described in previous chapters must be seen as a complete new form of communication – talking to a cloud, without knowing if anyone will read or even react to it.

As cooperative learning is very often a part of open educational practices, where learners have the possibilities to organize their own learning within their groups as active partners, changes of learning and teaching behavior is not only a matter of such new tools. Also the existing learning culture within the institution or the teaching abilities and attitudes of lectures are (amongst others) crucial aspects of teaching in higher education that has to be taken into account for a successful implementation or usage of such new tools for cooperative learning (cf. Schaffert, 2009).

Additionally, we have to bear in mind that such tools are not built especially for learning settings. It is up to the researchers and every single user to find out whether learners can benefit from it or not. (…)

Reference: Schaffert, Sandra & Ebner, Martin (2010). New Forms of and Tools for Cooperative Learning with Social Software in Higher Education. In: Brayden A. Morris & George M. Ferguson (Ed.), Computer-Assisted Teaching: New Developments. Nova Science Pub, p. 151-165.