Social media and Web 2.0

Both social media and Web 2.0 denote a loose amalgam of emergent tools and technologies characterised by:

a dynamic social element; and
an emphasis on content sharing and collaboration.

Tools in use at Kingston University include:

Second Life
Blogs
Wikis
Podcasting
Digital video

There are also a number of third-party social media/Web 2.0 services that we believe have a role to play in HE.

Second Life

Second Life (SL) is an example of a multi-user virtual reality world (MUVR). Your agent in this virtual world is an avatar that you create and customise and which can interact with other people's avatars through online text or voice chat.

Second Life offers an innovative environment for course content delivery (eg video, audio, text, image galleries) or for synchronous collaboration on group tasks. It is, however, a more unsettling space that may well stimulate us to engage more fully with the new possibilities of the digital. To date, Second Life has been used in HE to create more immersive educational experiences including role playing and simulations within virtual, including:

gallery spaces;
clinical environments complete with equipment, working anatomical models and patients;
recreations of conventional teaching spaces (eg lecture theatres); and
replicas of sites of historical (eg Elizabethan theatres), artistic (eg the Sistine Chapel) or conceptual (eg inside a computers or a human cell) interest.

Blogs

A blog is an online journal. Implicit in the structure of a blog is an ownership model whereby a primary author creates content (eg expresses an opinion), which is then commented upon by others. Interaction takes the form of commentary produced by the online audience relating to primary content. The implicit ownership model tends to be individual although group blogs are possible.

Key features of blog posts include:

arranged in reverse date order;
automatically archived;
can integrate a range of media;
can be tagged (ie assigned keywords);
can be searched; and
can be individually linked to.

Blogging has a potentially useful role in higher education insofar as they:

facilitate making reflection public;
allow the creation of a reference repository;
enable comments from readers; and
support dialogue and interaction.

Blogs are available in both Blackboard and One Community and we have a Kingston University installation of the WordPress blogging software that has been used for a variety of special projects (eg Curating) and module-specific learning initiatives (eg Renaissance Poetry and Prose).

Wikis

A wiki is a website that is the result of collaborative content creation, development and organisation. Ownership of a wiki is shared by members of the group and interaction takes the form of negotiation over the content and structure of the site within that group.

The term wiki is also used to refer to the software that enables online collaboration. Wiki software offers easy-to-use html editing tools that allow users to create web pages, embed images, add hyperlinks and so on.

The main characteristics of a wiki are:

easy-to-use interface that allows users to upload and edit entries through their web browser;
facility for the originator of a wiki to determine who has edit rights; and
version control that automatically saves earlier pages (therefore retrievable in the event of a mistake or disagreement).

Wikis are available in Blackboard, plus One Community has a 'Pages' tool that is similar in functionality. We also have a Kingston University installation of the MediaWiki for special projects such as the Academic Skills wiki.

Podcasting

Podcasts are audio files made available for downloading and transferring onto a portable media player or suitably equipped phone. Podcasts, like other types of digital file, can be subscribed to using 'podcatching' software such as Apple's iTunes.
In an educational context, podcasts can be used for many purposes, including:

lectures (summary or complete);

training that can be used in contexts which would otherwise be impractical (eg describing how to work through an example, which the student can then do while sitting in front of a computer or other equipment);

walking tours that describe a location or object, which the students can then pause and rewind though as they arrive in different areas;
preludes to lectures or tutorials (eg to tell students what is coming up, to remind them of what will be expected of them and to give tips on how to tackle assessments);
feedback on assessment (individual, group or whole cohort);
admin-related information (eg assessment deadlines or field trip arrangements);
interviews (eg with guest speakers, students interviewing academic staff as well as other students);
personal reflections on recent developments related to course content;
authentic audio (eg foreign-language extracts or testimony); and
music or other audio examples as relevant.

Audacity, open source audio recording software, is available from the University's network (All Programs > Multimedia) or as a free download and allows you to record and edit podcasts. Blackboard has a podcasting tool that enables you to create a 'feed' of podcasts to which users may subscribe. As of September 2010, Kingston University has a presence on Apple's iTunes U.

Digital video

The pedagogic arguments for using video in learning and teaching resources are similar to those for other forms of media – information delivered using strong aural and visual improves understanding. Video has additional strengths in two key areas:

illustration ('narrative visualisation', 'dynamic modelling') – for example, of a process difficult to represent textually, such as of how something works or performs; and
validation and motivation – for example, showing how it's done in real life, bringing real-world scenarios and contexts into the classroom.

Some common categories of video use you might consider include: