STAY CONNECTED: SOCIAL SPACES & SOCIAL MEDIAAUGUST 28, 2009

Luba IskoldTerry CollingsJosh Suchow

PRESENTATION OUTLINEStay Informed

Start Planning

Collaborate with Colleagues

STAY INFORMED

What’s new at the LLC? People

Hardware 20 PCs 2MACs Microsoft Lifecom VX-5000 Webcams Digital Camera Canon HighSpeed Document Scanner SR2050C

Software Courseware Skype VLC Player

START PLANNING

Projects in progress: Dish Network TV Kiosk

Social media and online collaboration Student-led presentations:

Skype-October Facebook-November YouTube-December Podcasting & RSS Feeds- February Twitter- March Best Practices: Faculty and student show and tell-April

GOING BEYOND THE CLASSROOM

What are all these technologies? Why do we need to know about them? How can the new technologies

be used for pedagogy? Connecting with students and colleagues in new

ways? Making language learning and teaching more

enjoyable? Expanding the study of languages and cultures

beyond the classroom?

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: CLARIFICATION OF TERMS

Social Interactions Definition: Dynamic, changing sequences of

social actions between individuals or groups

Types of Social Interactions Spontaneous - not planned Regular - very common Planned - scheduled

WHERE DO SOCIAL INTERACTIONS OCCUR? Social Spaces

Definition: The purpose of campus social spaces is to promote social interaction among students, staff, faculty, etc.

Information Grounds Definition: Social settings in which people share

everyday information while attending to a focal activity

Fisher et al., 2004 introduced the concept of ‘information grounds’ The findings of their study suggest

'Information grounds' play an intrinsic role in facilitating communication among people

Social spaces with information flow may enhance learning and interaction

KIOSKDefinition:

Unattended multimedia kiosks dispense public information

via computer screens.

Either a keyboard, touch screen or both areused for input.

ONLINE COLLABORATION: BRIEF OVERVIEW

Synchronous tools “Same time-different place” mode for

communication and collaboration Examples: Audio/Video/Web conferencing, Chat,

Instant messaging, Skype Advantages:

Engage people instantly, at the same point in time

Drawbacks: Require same-time participation Different time zones and conflicting schedules

can create communication challenges

ONLINE COLLABORATION: BRIEF OVERVIEW

Asynchronous tools “Different time-different place" mode for

communication and collaboration Examples: E-mail, Discussion boards/BlackBoard,

Web logs (Blogs), Streaming audio/video, LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter, Facebook, Online calendars

Advantages: Involve people from multiple time zones Capture the history of the interactions of a group Collective knowledge easily shared and distributed

Drawbacks: Require discipline to use for ongoing communities of

practice e.g., people typically must take the initiative to "login"

to participate

ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORKING

How can we integrate Skype into our teaching?

What is Skype? Introduced in July 2004 Within a year, more than

100 million people downloaded the software

By late 2008, an average of 10 million users were using Skype simultaneously

ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORKING How can we integrate

Facebook into our teaching?

What is Facebook? Free online social networking

directory that connects people Launched in 2004 by

undergraduates at Harvard, led by Mark Zuckerberg

Similar to books of faces distributed to freshmen

Open to anyone with a valid email address

Privacy settings prevent strangers from accessing users’ personal information

Enables photo, video, message sharing

ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORKING How can we integrate

Twitter into our teaching? What is Twitter?

Free social messaging utility for staying connected

To chirrup To speak rapidly and in a

tremulous manner: twittering over office gossip

To giggle nervously To tremble with nervous

agitation or excitement The light chirping sound made

by certain birds A similar sound, especially light,

tremulous speech or laughter Agitation or excitement; flutter

COLLABORATE WITH COLLEAGUES

Terry Collings Presentation of GroupWise Calendar

REFERENCES

Karen E. Fisher, Carol F. Landry and Charles Naumer.

Social spaces, casual interactions, meaningful exchanges: 'information ground' characteristics based on the college

student experience. The Information School, University of Washington Box 352840, Seattle, Washington, USA