Virtual Communities A place for everyone Shannon Ritter - Social Networks Adviser Penn State World Campus, The Pennsylvania State University

http://cyber.law. harvard .edu/questions/ELIFall08

collaboration

largest collaboration on YouTube participatory interactive 67,000 + views

NMC Horizon Report collaboration w/ NMC and ELI Grassroots video Collaboration webs Mobile Broadband Data mashups Collective intelligence Social operating systems

One tool to rule them all? Won’t ever happen.

Communities are diverse

What works for one… may be a disaster for another choice = good

learners have: different needs different goals different technology different responsibilities they need options

How can we build communities for students that never see each other?

Second Life: virtual representation of actual campus spaces academic advising virtual events for students

Challenges: “buy-in” it’s a ‘game’ who else is doing it the conversation

thon

Facebook: student interaction with classmates and staff announcing events more personalized contact

Flickr: allows us to capture and share moments with students and their families graduation, homecoming, pep rallies, office events

YouTube

twitter:

Things to remember: choose the right tool options take the risk

learning spaces are all around us

There’s room for everyone in our virtual communities we > me always

demo and questions