Social Media Tools and Platforms
in Learning Environments
Onlin e social med ia have tran sformed the face of huma n int eraction in the twenty-
first cent ury. From simpl e beginnin gs as a mechanism for shar ing photos, disc uss-
ing com mon intere sts, and supplem enting traditi onal soci al interact ions, they have
become the agent of change in diverse arenas. Nothing escapes social networkin g.
Everythi ng is affected, from the way we do busi ness (E-Com merce) to our involve-
ment with the gover nment (E-Gove rnm ent). So cial tools such as Fa cebook and
Twitter h ave become dominan t drivers of future change in informat ion and networ k
technol ogy alon g with the very functi onality of mode rn societ y.
The doma in of teachi ng and lea rning has always been fertile ground for early
adopters of innovation in computing technol ogy. It is, therefore, n o surpris e that
educa tional practiti oners and theorists have begun to eager ly explore how soci al
media can be harnesse d to describ e and impleme nt new paradigms for commun ica-
tion, lea rning, and educa tion.
Wikis, blogs , microblog s, onlin e groups and forums , podcasts , Web mashups,
virtua l worlds, recommend er/eval uation syst ems, soci al repositories , and social
tagging/ bookmark ing are but a few of the applicati ons enabl ing innov ative beha-
viors that suppor t the acquisi tion, acce ss, man ipulation , proce ssing, retrieval , pre-
sentat ion, and visualiza tion of informat ion within a teachi ng/learni ng space .
Social med ia for educa tion have becom e dynamic , ubiqu itous, distribut ed, real
time, collabo rative, bottom up, man y to man y, valu e based , and personal ized. So me
have ref erred to this moveme nt as Educat ion 2.0 , but it shoul d, mor e likely, be
under stood as an early glimpse of the future of the entire educa tional proce ss.
The editor s’ goal for this book was to iden tify original research in the appl ication
of online social med ia and relat ed tec hnologie s in educa tion, and the eme rging
applica tions that might be found in future Interne t and Web techn ologies (not just
Web 2.0) that could provide educa tional p latforms and policy issues includi ng
privacy, ris k, and secur ity. These arenas are so critica l to the adoption and imple-
mentati on of these applica tions. Furt hermor e, the editor s wan ted to provide an
important refere nce of current uniqu e, innov ative, and effective uses of social
first cent ury. From simpl e beginnin gs as a mechanism for shar ing photos, disc uss-
ing com mon intere sts, and supplem enting traditi onal soci al interact ions, they have
become the agent of change in diverse arenas. Nothing escapes social networkin g.
Everythi ng is affected, from the way we do busi ness (E-Com merce) to our involve-
ment with the gover nment (E-Gove rnm ent). So cial tools such as Fa cebook and
Twitter h ave become dominan t drivers of future change in informat ion and networ k
technol ogy alon g with the very functi onality of mode rn societ y.
The doma in of teachi ng and lea rning has always been fertile ground for early
adopters of innovation in computing technol ogy. It is, therefore, n o surpris e that
educa tional practiti oners and theorists have begun to eager ly explore how soci al
media can be harnesse d to describ e and impleme nt new paradigms for commun ica-
tion, lea rning, and educa tion.
Wikis, blogs , microblog s, onlin e groups and forums , podcasts , Web mashups,
virtua l worlds, recommend er/eval uation syst ems, soci al repositories , and social
tagging/ bookmark ing are but a few of the applicati ons enabl ing innov ative beha-
viors that suppor t the acquisi tion, acce ss, man ipulation , proce ssing, retrieval , pre-
sentat ion, and visualiza tion of informat ion within a teachi ng/learni ng space .
Social med ia for educa tion have becom e dynamic , ubiqu itous, distribut ed, real
time, collabo rative, bottom up, man y to man y, valu e based , and personal ized. So me
have ref erred to this moveme nt as Educat ion 2.0 , but it shoul d, mor e likely, be
under stood as an early glimpse of the future of the entire educa tional proce ss.
The editor s’ goal for this book was to iden tify original research in the appl ication
of online social med ia and relat ed tec hnologie s in educa tion, and the eme rging
applica tions that might be found in future Interne t and Web techn ologies (not just
Web 2.0) that could provide educa tional p latforms and policy issues includi ng
privacy, ris k, and secur ity. These arenas are so critica l to the adoption and imple-
mentati on of these applica tions. Furt hermor e, the editor s wan ted to provide an
important refere nce of current uniqu e, innov ative, and effective uses of social
media in education for teachi ng and learni ng that might stim ulate discussi on,
innov ation, and future researc h.
The cont ributing chapt er auth ors were challenged with such quest ions as:
l
How can social media truly enri ch and enhanc e learning and tea ching exper i-
ences in ways not otherw ise possibl e?
l
What can be learned from current case stud ies of state-of-th e-art social com put-
ing/m edia syst ems or platfo rms being used in the learnin g/teaching setting?
l
What are the necessary policies to bala nce security, privacy, and risk issues in
usin g social media for educa tion?
l
How can learni ng be integrated in a d istributed and ubiqu itous social com puting
envi ronment?
l
What methods can be u sed to assess and eval uate learning and teachi ng through
social media?
l
What theories, paradigms, and models are applicable for the support of soci al
com puting in education?
l
How mi ght soci al med ia for education be affected by technolo gical changes such
as “sm art” mobil e devices, ubiqu itous networ ks, rich interface s, and clou d
com puting?
The cont ributing chapter auth ors met our chal lenge. Reader s of this book will
find int eresting and provoc ative chapter s on:
l
Parad igms and methodo logies – Za genczyk/Bos man , Jeffer y/Bani-Sa lameh,
Aga rwal, Albors-Gar rigos/ Ramos Carrasco, Ife nthaler/Pirn ay-Dum mer, Jahnke ,
Sigala
l
Policy – Liu/Feng, McN aught/La m/Kwok/ Ho
l
Virtual educa tional space s – Shollen/ Brunner , Clarke
l
Assess ment – Or tega/Agui llo, Purcha se/Letch, Gao/Rau, Li/Ma
l
Mobi le learni ng spaces – Madjar ov/Bouc elma, Chang/L u/Chu
l
Socia l factors – Hernand ez-Se rrano, Kouf aris/Ben bunan-Fic h, Yamad a/Ki ta-
mura, Ca meron/F inlayso n/Wotzko
l
Case stud ies and appl ications – Denecke /Stew art, Rice/Rob inson/Caro n, Samp-
son/ Zervas/Kal amatianos , Nosko/W ood, Bailey/ Franke
All authors are thanked not only for their outstanding cont ributions but also for
their patience, assist ance in p eer review, and stric t adherence to d eadlines. It is their
work that defines the valu e and importanc e of this volume.
The editor s than k Ralf Gerstner of Spri nger for his belief in the valu e of this
book and his suppor t in its produc tion; James Henri , Sandy Tse, and Mary Ho for
their copy editing effort s; and other membe rs of the proj ect program committee
who provided valu able review s and advice.
This book is insp ired by the OAS ISS and the Socia l Medi a project s that were
funde d by the Educatio n Bureau (ED B) under the Qua lity En hanceme nt Grant
Schem e (Q EGS). In addition, special thanks goes to EDB of Hong Kong SAR for
its support.
innov ation, and future researc h.
The cont ributing chapt er auth ors were challenged with such quest ions as:
l
How can social media truly enri ch and enhanc e learning and tea ching exper i-
ences in ways not otherw ise possibl e?
l
What can be learned from current case stud ies of state-of-th e-art social com put-
ing/m edia syst ems or platfo rms being used in the learnin g/teaching setting?
l
What are the necessary policies to bala nce security, privacy, and risk issues in
usin g social media for educa tion?
l
How can learni ng be integrated in a d istributed and ubiqu itous social com puting
envi ronment?
l
What methods can be u sed to assess and eval uate learning and teachi ng through
social media?
l
What theories, paradigms, and models are applicable for the support of soci al
com puting in education?
l
How mi ght soci al med ia for education be affected by technolo gical changes such
as “sm art” mobil e devices, ubiqu itous networ ks, rich interface s, and clou d
com puting?
The cont ributing chapter auth ors met our chal lenge. Reader s of this book will
find int eresting and provoc ative chapter s on:
l
Parad igms and methodo logies – Za genczyk/Bos man , Jeffer y/Bani-Sa lameh,
Aga rwal, Albors-Gar rigos/ Ramos Carrasco, Ife nthaler/Pirn ay-Dum mer, Jahnke ,
Sigala
l
Policy – Liu/Feng, McN aught/La m/Kwok/ Ho
l
Virtual educa tional space s – Shollen/ Brunner , Clarke
l
Assess ment – Or tega/Agui llo, Purcha se/Letch, Gao/Rau, Li/Ma
l
Mobi le learni ng spaces – Madjar ov/Bouc elma, Chang/L u/Chu
l
Socia l factors – Hernand ez-Se rrano, Kouf aris/Ben bunan-Fic h, Yamad a/Ki ta-
mura, Ca meron/F inlayso n/Wotzko
l
Case stud ies and appl ications – Denecke /Stew art, Rice/Rob inson/Caro n, Samp-
son/ Zervas/Kal amatianos , Nosko/W ood, Bailey/ Franke
All authors are thanked not only for their outstanding cont ributions but also for
their patience, assist ance in p eer review, and stric t adherence to d eadlines. It is their
work that defines the valu e and importanc e of this volume.
The editor s than k Ralf Gerstner of Spri nger for his belief in the valu e of this
book and his suppor t in its produc tion; James Henri , Sandy Tse, and Mary Ho for
their copy editing effort s; and other membe rs of the proj ect program committee
who provided valu able review s and advice.
This book is insp ired by the OAS ISS and the Socia l Medi a project s that were
funde d by the Educatio n Bureau (ED B) under the Qua lity En hanceme nt Grant
Schem e (Q EGS). In addition, special thanks goes to EDB of Hong Kong SAR for
its support.
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