SOCIAL SOFTWARE:
COLLABORATIVE LEARNING
AND RESEARCH PRACTICES
LAURA BLANKENSHIP
NITLE WORKSHOP
JANUARY 14, 2008
GETTYSBURG COLLEGE

INTRODUCTIONS
WHO ARE YOU?
WHAT DO YOU DO?
HOW DO YOU USE SOCIAL SOFTWARE IN YOUR
TEACHING? IN RESEARCH?
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO LEARN TODAY?

ZOOMING IN

DEFINITIONS
WHAT IS SOCIAL SOFTWARE?
WHAT DOES COLLABORATIVE LEARNING INVOLVE?
WHAT ABOUT COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH?

EXPLOITING THE PHILOSOPHICAL
OVERLAP
SOCIAL SOFTWARE LIBERAL ARTS

MILLENNIAL STUDENTS? DIGITAL
NATIVES?

DISCUSSION
WHY USE SOCIAL/COLLABORATIVE METHODS?
SEPARATING/INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGY AND
PEDAGOGY
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO SUPPORT PEDAGOGY WITH
TECHNOLOGY?

THE SOCIAL SOFTWARE
LANDSCAPE

A STARTER LIST
• blogs • YouTube
• wikis • flickr
• wikipedia • vimeo
• instant messaging • smugmug
• Facebook • citeUlike
• MySpace • LibraryThing
• Ning • Second LIfe
• Netvibes • mmporg's
• del.icio.us • There
• mag.nol.ia • RSS
• diigo • LinkedIn
• digg • Voicethread
• skype • More?

COMPONENTS OF SOCIAL
SOFTWARE
A FLICKER EXAMPLE: http://flickr.com/photos/
missyv110/3117430163/

QUESTIONS/COMMENTS
WHAT QUESTIONS DO YOU HAVE SO FAR?
TAKE A BREAK.

BLOGS
WHAT IS A BLOG? SOME DEFINITIONS
HTTP://WWW.COMMONCRAFT.COM/BLOGS
WHAT BLOGS DO YOU READ?

ANATOMY OF A BLOG
1. TITLE
2. DATE HEADER
3. POST TITLE
4. POST CONTENT
5. POST AUTHOR
6. TIME STAMP
7. LINK TO
COMMENTS
8. TRACKBACK
9. AUTHOR PROFILE
10. BLOGROLL
(LINKS TO OTHER
BLOGS

EXPLORING BLOG CONTENT
BLOG SEARCH ENGINES
TECHNORATI, GOOGLE BLOG SEARCH
ACADEMIC BLOG SITES
BLOG WIKI, BLOG ABOUT PEER-REVIEWED RESEARCH
CLASS BLOG SITES
EDUBLOGS, UMW’S BLOG SITE, BRYN MAWR’S BLOG
SITE
GO PLAY, TELL ME WHAT YOU FIND

COLLECTIVE WRITING: USING
BLOGS IN TEACHING
WHAT IDEAS DO YOU HAVE FOR USING BLOGS,
ESPECIALLY HAVING YOUR OWN CLASS BLOG?
BLOGGING WITHIN A COURSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
EXAMPLES OF COURSES USING BLOGS
HTTP://HUMANRIGHTS4ALL.BLOGSPOT.COM/
HTTP://BLOGS.BRYNMAWR.EDU/
HTTP://UMWBLOGS.ORG/COURSES/

WIKIS: COLLABORATIVE WRITING
WHAT IS A WIKI?
HTTP://WWW.COMMONCRAFT.COM/VIDEO-WIKIS-
PLAIN-ENGLISH

WIKIPEDIA: FRIEND OR FOE

USING WIKIPEDIA
LOOKING AT EDITS AND DISCUSSION
RECENT RNA JOURNAL DECISION
HTTP://WWW.NATURE.COM/NEWS/2008/081216/FULL/
NEWS.2008.1312.HTML (BEHIND PAYWALL)
HTTP://SCIENCEBLOGS.COM/CLOCK/2008/12/
RNA_WIKI.PHP (SNIPPET WITH THE MONEY QUOTE)
WIKINEWS

USING WIKIS
GO INTO A WIKI AND PLAY AROUND.
GOOGLE DOCS AS WIKI
PBWIKI.COM
WIKISPACES.COM
WETPAINT.COM
CONFLUENCE
EXAMPLES OF WIKI ASSIGNMENTS
GLOSSARY
WRITING/EVALUATION ASSIGNMENT
EDITING WIKIPEDIA
COLLABORATIVE ESSAYS

SOCIAL BOOKMARKING:
MANAGING INFORMATION
WHAT IS SOCIAL BOOKMARKING?
HTTP://WWW.COMMONCRAFT.COM/BOOKMARKING-
PLAIN-ENGLISH
SOCIAL BOOKMARKING SITES
DELICIOUS, DIGG, DIIGO
CITEULIKE, CONNOTEA
LET’S TRY ONE

USING SOCIAL BOOKMARKING IN
TEACHING AND RESEARCH
TAGGING
CLASS AND RESEARCH TAGS
INSTRUCTOR PUSHED MATERIALS
STUDENT COLLECTED MATERIALS
EXAMPLES: MICHAEL WESCH

A NOTE ON RSS
REALLY SIMPLE SYNDICATION
GLUE THAT HOLDS IT ALL TOGETHER
HTTP://WWW.COMMONCRAFT.COM/RSS_PLAIN_ENGLISH
USING A READER
USING A WEB-BASED PORTAL
IGOOGLE, NETVIBES
EMBEDDING ON A BLOG

A NOTE ON TAGGING
FOLKSONOMY
A WAY OF ORGANIZING INFORMATION
TAG CLOUDS
WORDLE (EXTRACTING TAGS)

QUESTIONS/COMMENTS
QUESTIONS SO FAR?
SLOW DOWN!? SPEED UP?
CONCERNS, ETC.
1, 2, 3, BREAK! LET’S EAT!

SOCIAL NETWORKING
FACEBOOK
HOW MANY OF YOU ARE ON FACEBOOK?
HOW CAN FACEBOOK BE USED FOR EDUCATION?
OTHER SOCIAL NETWORKING TOOLS
TWITTER AND RELATED APPS (SHOW TWITTER 3D)--
YAMMER
LINKED IN
NING
CROWDSOURCING

EXAMPLES OF SOCIAL
NETWORKING IN EDUCATION
JSTOR SEARCH IN FACEBOOK
25 FACEBOOK APPS FOR EDUCATION (HTTP://
WWW.COLLEGEDEGREE.COM/LIBRARY/COLLEGE-LIFE/15-
FACEBOOK-APPS-PERFECT-FOR-ONLINE-EDUCATION)
SHARING WEBCASTS, NOTES, ETC. VIA SOCIAL
NETWORK SITES/GROUPS

IMAGES: FLICKR, ETC.
PHOTO SHARING SITES
THE COMMONS ON FLICKR
(HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/
COMMONS/)
USING THE NOTES/
COMMENTS
NOT ONLY A THING IN
ITSELF, BUT USED FOR
PHOTOBLOGGING AND
EMBEDDING IN OTHER
SITES
GEOTAGGING
FLICKRVISION (HTTP://
FLICKRVISION.COM/)

FLICKR: ONE COOL EXAMPLE
SMARTHISTORY
FLICKR GROUP PLUS
PODCAST AND OTHER
RESOURCES
WEB SITE: HTTP://
SMARTHISTORY.ORG

AUDIO: PODCASTING
WHAT PODCASTS DO YOU LISTEN TO?
ITUNES/ITUNES U
OTHER SOURCES FOR PODCASTS
NPR, LEARNOUTLOUD.COM, PODCASTALLEY.COM
LIBRAVOX (OPEN SOURCE AUDIO BOOKS)

CREATING PODCASTS
ONLINE TOOLS
ODEO, HIPCAST, GCAST
DESKTOP TOOLS
AUDACITY, GARAGEBAND
A PARTIAL LIST: HTTP://WWW.MASTERNEWMEDIA.ORG/
AUDIO_MUSIC_PUBLISHING/PODCASTING/PODCASTING-
AND-AUDIO-EDITING-TOOLS-GUIDE-20070311.HTM
LET’S TRY ONE.

VIDEO
YOUTUBE
FINDING VIDEO IN YOUTUBE
CREATING PLAYLISTS
OTHER PLACES FOR VIDEO
HTTP://WWW.TED.COM/
HULU.COM
VIMEO.COM
XTRANORMAL.COM

POTENTIAL VIDEO ASSIGNMENTS
GROUP VIDEO PROJECTS
INTERVIEWS
SKITS
TV SHOWS (NEWS, REALITY)
DEMONSTRATIONS/EXPLANATIONS
ONE EXAMPLE: UNIVERSITY OF PUGET SOUND (HTTP://
ITECH.UPS.EDU/SHOWCASE/LYNETTE-CLAIRE-FILM)

OTHER SOCIAL MULTIMEDIA
TOOLS
VOICETHREAD
SLIDESHARE
SKYPE
DIMDIM

GAME: A FOUR LETTER WORD?

VIRTUAL WORLDS/GAMING
GAMING AS A
METAPHOR FOR
LEARNING
FRAMEWORK VS.
FACTS
ATTITUDES OF GAMERS
FAILURE AND
LEARNING

SECOND LIFE
SLED (SECOND LIFE IN
EDUCATION)--HUGE
GROUP OF EDUCATORS
USING SL
HTTP://
SLEDUCATION.WIKISPA
CES.COM/
EDUCATIONALUSES

INTERESTING PLACES IN SECOND LIFE

WRAP-UP
WHAT QUESTIONS/ISSUES DO YOU STILL HAVE?
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO TRY THIS SEMESTER? NEXT
SEMESTER?
WHAT INFORMATION/HELP DO YOU NEED TO GET
STARTED?

HOW TO FIND THE RESOURCES
ME: LBLANKEN@GMAIL.COM
RESOURCE LINKS POSTED AT HTTP://
EMERGINGTECHNOLOGIESCONSULTING.COM/2009/01/12/
SOCIAL-SOFTWARE-IN-TEACHING-AND-RESEARCH/
ALSO CHECK NITLE.ORG