Elvis Mazzoni, Pietro Gaffuri
In this paper we suggest a possible answer to the question on why Social Network Systems (SNSs) are important for bridging social capital and for knowledge construction during emerging adulthood.
Innovation, informational literacy and lifelong learning: creating a new cultureeLearning Papers
This article reflects on the impact of informational innovations and their interdependence with lifelong learning. Today, the object of knowledge and learning is increasingly based on digital information, which means we need to make serious efforts to construct a new culture of lifelong learning.
The world as we know it is changing - fast. Unfortunately many of those who have historically worked within education and training, as well as knowledge management fields, have been the slowest to respond to this change. Yet the impact they have on people’s futures is profound.
It is time for us to completely embrace the change that is barrelling towards us, and to let go of the mental chains that have for so long held us back.
It is time to embrace ‘radical education transformation’. A concept which looks to empower people to become relevant through action, not through their preparation for action. We need to stop asking people to repeat what is known, and gladly hand that role over to technology.
Innovation, informational literacy and lifelong learning: creating a new cultureeLearning Papers
This article reflects on the impact of informational innovations and their interdependence with lifelong learning. Today, the object of knowledge and learning is increasingly based on digital information, which means we need to make serious efforts to construct a new culture of lifelong learning.
The world as we know it is changing - fast. Unfortunately many of those who have historically worked within education and training, as well as knowledge management fields, have been the slowest to respond to this change. Yet the impact they have on people’s futures is profound.
It is time for us to completely embrace the change that is barrelling towards us, and to let go of the mental chains that have for so long held us back.
It is time to embrace ‘radical education transformation’. A concept which looks to empower people to become relevant through action, not through their preparation for action. We need to stop asking people to repeat what is known, and gladly hand that role over to technology.
ConnectLearning – an answer for the new challenges?eLearning Papers
Authors: Ulf-Daniel Ehlers, Anne Steinert
The latest reports seem to announce a new world of learning, in which students are connected through technology and internet. The increasing influence of the world wide web has led to fast-paced knowledge cycles and to New Millennium Learners, who are supposed to have different learning styles.
Chapter 1 of "Open Learning Cultures. A Guide to Quality, Evaluation and Asse...Ulf-Daniel Ehlers
THis book aims to provide three things:
- Details the influence of collaborative web-based technology on learning environments and learning behavior
- Provides educators, teachers, lecturers and students with a practical guide to developing customized quality concepts in open learning environments
- Includes guidelines, templates and use cases to facilitate the practical implementation of the methods presentedPresents a concept of quality control and assessments as an integral part of learning processes
I am NOT the author of this book. The author is Dr. George Siemens and it has a Creative Commons License. You can download it for reference. Thank you.
Authors: Claudio Delrio, Thomas Fischer.
For a long time, the evolution of industrial society has been represented in terms of growing functional differentiation between different social spheres. According to this paradigm, the more a social phenomenon is developing, the more it moves from an undifferentiated nature to its differentiation into different social spheres or systems, assuming different functions in each of these.
Authors: Kirsti Ala-Mutka, Yves Punie.
As the share of older people increases, there is a need to improve their well-being and possibilities for integration in the knowledge society. In ageing societies, learning plays a key role in addressing challenges such as increasing social and health costs, re-skilling for employment and participation, and intergenerational sharing of experience and knowledge.
The Impact of Social Networks on Tertiary Educationiosrjce
Since the inception of the Internet and the integration of email technology into our personal and
work lives especially in academics, our ways of communication began to metamorphose. The Internet, which is
consortium computer networks, is transforming educational processes and interpersonal communication
especially through Social Networks. Young people, born into a world of laptops and cell phones, text messaging
and tweeting, continually spend time exposed to digital technology and streaming so much that they perhaps
experience fundamentally different brain development that favors constant communication and multitasking.
Although what is been done by the common ought to be seen as the norm, a popular opinion believes that Social
Networks serve only as distractions to academic achievement by school-age people. Two multiple regression
analyses were done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences computer software which analyzed the
responses of students to questionnaire. It is seen that students who spend more time on Social Networks end up
not having enough Study Time, and so affects their academic achievements. Since Social Network is very
common in our society today, what matters to us now is how Social Networks are used than how much they are
used.
OER in the Mobile Era: Content Repositories’ Features for Mobile Devices and ...eLearning Papers
Learning objects and open contents have been named in the Horizon reports from 2004 and 2010 respectively, predicting to have an impact in the short term due to the current trend of offering open content for free on the Web. OER repositories should adapt their features so their contents can be accessed from mobile devices. This paper summarizes recent trends in the creation, publication, discovery, acquisition, access, use and re-use of learning objects on mobile devices based on a literature review on research done from 2007 to 2012. From the content providers side, we present the results obtained from a survey performed on 23 educational repository owners prompting them to answer about their current and expected support on mobile devices. From the content user side, we identify features provided by the main OER repositories. Finally, we introduce future trends and our next contributions.
Designing and Developing Mobile Learning Applications in International Studen...eLearning Papers
This paper reports on an international collaboration in which students from different universities designed and developed mobile learning applications, working together in interdisciplinary teams using social and mobile media. We describe the concept, process and outcomes of this collaboration including challenges of designing and developing mobile learning applications in virtual teams.
More Related Content
Similar to Personal Learning Environments for Overcoming Knowledge Boundaries between Activity Systems in Emerging Adulthood
ConnectLearning – an answer for the new challenges?eLearning Papers
Authors: Ulf-Daniel Ehlers, Anne Steinert
The latest reports seem to announce a new world of learning, in which students are connected through technology and internet. The increasing influence of the world wide web has led to fast-paced knowledge cycles and to New Millennium Learners, who are supposed to have different learning styles.
Chapter 1 of "Open Learning Cultures. A Guide to Quality, Evaluation and Asse...Ulf-Daniel Ehlers
THis book aims to provide three things:
- Details the influence of collaborative web-based technology on learning environments and learning behavior
- Provides educators, teachers, lecturers and students with a practical guide to developing customized quality concepts in open learning environments
- Includes guidelines, templates and use cases to facilitate the practical implementation of the methods presentedPresents a concept of quality control and assessments as an integral part of learning processes
I am NOT the author of this book. The author is Dr. George Siemens and it has a Creative Commons License. You can download it for reference. Thank you.
Authors: Claudio Delrio, Thomas Fischer.
For a long time, the evolution of industrial society has been represented in terms of growing functional differentiation between different social spheres. According to this paradigm, the more a social phenomenon is developing, the more it moves from an undifferentiated nature to its differentiation into different social spheres or systems, assuming different functions in each of these.
Authors: Kirsti Ala-Mutka, Yves Punie.
As the share of older people increases, there is a need to improve their well-being and possibilities for integration in the knowledge society. In ageing societies, learning plays a key role in addressing challenges such as increasing social and health costs, re-skilling for employment and participation, and intergenerational sharing of experience and knowledge.
The Impact of Social Networks on Tertiary Educationiosrjce
Since the inception of the Internet and the integration of email technology into our personal and
work lives especially in academics, our ways of communication began to metamorphose. The Internet, which is
consortium computer networks, is transforming educational processes and interpersonal communication
especially through Social Networks. Young people, born into a world of laptops and cell phones, text messaging
and tweeting, continually spend time exposed to digital technology and streaming so much that they perhaps
experience fundamentally different brain development that favors constant communication and multitasking.
Although what is been done by the common ought to be seen as the norm, a popular opinion believes that Social
Networks serve only as distractions to academic achievement by school-age people. Two multiple regression
analyses were done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences computer software which analyzed the
responses of students to questionnaire. It is seen that students who spend more time on Social Networks end up
not having enough Study Time, and so affects their academic achievements. Since Social Network is very
common in our society today, what matters to us now is how Social Networks are used than how much they are
used.
OER in the Mobile Era: Content Repositories’ Features for Mobile Devices and ...eLearning Papers
Learning objects and open contents have been named in the Horizon reports from 2004 and 2010 respectively, predicting to have an impact in the short term due to the current trend of offering open content for free on the Web. OER repositories should adapt their features so their contents can be accessed from mobile devices. This paper summarizes recent trends in the creation, publication, discovery, acquisition, access, use and re-use of learning objects on mobile devices based on a literature review on research done from 2007 to 2012. From the content providers side, we present the results obtained from a survey performed on 23 educational repository owners prompting them to answer about their current and expected support on mobile devices. From the content user side, we identify features provided by the main OER repositories. Finally, we introduce future trends and our next contributions.
Designing and Developing Mobile Learning Applications in International Studen...eLearning Papers
This paper reports on an international collaboration in which students from different universities designed and developed mobile learning applications, working together in interdisciplinary teams using social and mobile media. We describe the concept, process and outcomes of this collaboration including challenges of designing and developing mobile learning applications in virtual teams.
This paper reports on the current challenges the professional sector faces when going mobile. The report discusses the role of mobile devices in the workforce and addresses challenges like compatibility, security and training. It also provides a comprehensive review of the mobile landscape, and reviews current best practices in mobile learning.
Standing at the Crossroads: Mobile Learning and Cloud Computing at Estonian S...eLearning Papers
This paper studies the impact of mobile learning implementation efforts in Estonian school system – a process that has created a lot of controversy during the recent years. Best practices in mobile learning are available from the entire world, forcing schools to keep up the push towards better connectivity and gadgetry. Even in the best cases where the schools are provided with the necessary tools, the process has met a lot of scepticism from teachers who are afraid to implement new methods. Teachers are often cornered with the ‘comply or leave’ attitude from educational authorities, resulting in a multi-sided battle between involved parties.
We have surveyed students, teachers, parents and management at five Estonian front-runner schools to sort out the situation. The results show different attitudes among students, school leaders and staff – while all of them mostly possess necessary tools and skills, teachers almost completely lack motivation to promote mobile learning. We propose some positive and negative scenarios – for example, we predict major problems if teacher training will not change, e-safety policies are inadequately developed or authorities will continue the tendency to put all the eggs into one basket (e.g. by relying solely on closed, corporate solutions for mobile learning platforms).
M-portfolios: Using Mobile Technology to Document Learning in Student Teacher...eLearning Papers
We briefly analyse the enhancement of eportfolio processes defined by Zubizarreta (2009) with the introduction of mobile technology. We give some examples of appropriation of mobile device usage in eportfolio processes carried out by student teachers. These examples become the evidence of the enhancement possibilities of one of the portfolio processes defined by Zubizarreta (2009), that of documentation.
GGULIVRR: Touching Mobile and Contextual LearningeLearning Papers
The quest of today’s learning communities is to creatively uptake and embed the emerging technologies to maintain the pace of change, of learning content and platforms, while satisfying learners’ needs and coping with limited resources. As information is delivered abundantly and change is constant, education focuses on driving 21st century fluency.
Project GGULIVRR, Generic Game for Ubiquitous Learning in Interactive Virtual and Real Realities, initiates the study of ubiquitous learning, investigating mobile and contextual learning, challenging small devices with sophisticated computing and networking capacities, testing the pervasive internet and exploring intelligent tags.
The goal of project GGULIVRR is to present learning communities a framework enabling learners to practice and enhance 21st century skills while generating and playing mobile contextual games.
Project GGULIVRR entices learners to get in touch. To play the contextual game one needs to physically go to a ‘touchable’ location, where real objects are tagged with an intelligent tag. By touching a tag one gets in touch with the contextual content. Through playing and developing GGULIVRR games one meets other gamers and developers as the project format induces interdisciplinarity, inter-social and intercultural communication and collaboration empowering local people to unlock contextual content with a minimal technical threshold.
Reaching Out with OER: The New Role of Public-Facing Open ScholareLearning Papers
Open educational resources (OER) and, more recently, open educational practices (OEP) have been widely promoted as a means of increasing openness in higher education (HE). Thus far, such openness has been limited by OER provision typically being supplier-driven and contained within the boundaries of HE. Seeking to explore ways in which OEP might become more needs-led we conceptualised a new ‘public-facing open scholar’ role involving academics working with online communities to source and develop OER to meet their needs.
To explore the scope for this role we focused on the voluntary sector, which we felt might particularly benefit from such collaboration. We evaluated four representative communities for evidence of their being self-educating (thereby offering the potential for academics to contribute) and for any existing learning dimension. We found that all four communities were self-educating and each included learning infrastructure elements, for example provision for web chats with ‘experts’, together with evidence of receptiveness to academic collaboration. This indicated that there was scope for the role of public-facing open scholar. We therefore developed detailed guidelines for performing the role, which has the potential to be applied beyond the voluntary sector and to greatly extend the beneficial impact of existing OER, prompting institutions to release new OER in response to the needs of people outside HE.
Managing Training Concepts in Multicultural Business EnvironmentseLearning Papers
Companies that need training and development services increasingly often operate in a context that consists of more than just one country, language and culture. While business operations are becoming international, companies expect their service providers being capable of catering them where needed. Succeeding in a very complex multinational customer-tailored training project takes more than a good concept. The concept must be flexible so that when language and cultural changes vary from country to country they do not endanger the content to be delivered. There can be several localised versions of the training concept under simultaneous delivery. Challenge is how to manage the concept.
Reflective Learning at Work – MIRROR Model, Apps and Serious GameseLearning Papers
This report discusses the initial results of a 4-year FP7 research project that developed a theoretical model and worked on the creation and evaluation of a range of ‘Mirror’ apps based on our Mirror reflection model. The findings divulge how the apps and serious games can facilitate reflectionº at work, by empowering employees to learn by reflection on their work practice and on their personal learning experiences.
SKILL2E: Online Reflection for Intercultural Competence GaineLearning Papers
The project SKILL2E aims to equip students on international work placements with intercultural competences. The model proposes a double loop learning cycle in which a shared online diary using guided questions is used for reflection. Preliminary results illustrate how this collaborative approach is conducive to the development of intercultural competences.
Experience Networking in the TVET System to Improve Occupational CompetencieseLearning Papers
This paper aims at considering the development and strengthening of networks in (T)VET systems as a means of improving employability and mobility of workers, through a system where occupational competences, required by the Labour Market, described in terms of Learning Outcomes that can be assessed and validated in all different contexts (formal, non formal and informal) developed following quality standards, will be abreast with changes and innovations of the global context requirements, in order to respond to those shortcomings that limit the potential growth of countries with serious implications for the participation in global markets, job growth, economical and social stability.
Leveraging Trust to Support Online Learning Creativity – A Case StudyeLearning Papers
The insights shared through this article build on data collected in real life situations. The work described here attempts to understand how trust can be used as leverage to support online learning and creative collaboration. This report explores this understanding from the teacher perspective. It examines trust commitments in an international setting within which learners from different European countries collaborate and articulate their learning tasks and skills at a distance. This research endeavour aims to recognize both individual and group vulnerabilities as opportunities to strengthen their cooperation and collaboration. We believe that by understanding how to assess and monitor learners’ trust, teachers could use this information to intervene and provide positive support, thereby promoting and reinforcing learners’ autonomy and their motivation to creatively engage in their learning activities.
The results gathered so far enabled an initial understanding of what to look for when monitoring trust with the intention of understanding and influencing learners’ behaviours. They point to three main aspects to monitor on students: (1) their perception of each others’ intentions, in a given context, (2) their level of cooperation as expressed by changes in individual and group commitments towards a particular activity; and, (3) their attitudes towards the use of communication mediums for learning purposes (intentions of use, actual use and reactions to actual use).
Innovating Teaching and Learning Practices: Key Elements for Developing Crea...eLearning Papers
This paper looks at how to innovate teaching and learning practices at system level. It describes the vision for ‘Creative Classrooms’ and makes a consolidated proposal for their implementation, clarifying their holistic and systemic nature, their intended learning outcomes, and their pedagogical, technological, and organisational dimensions for innovation. ‘Creative Classrooms’ (CCR) are conceptualized as innovative learning environments that fully embed the potential of ICT to innovate learning and teaching practices in formal, non-formal and informal settings.
The proposed multi-dimensional concept for CCR consists of eight encompassing and interconnected key dimensions and a set of 28 reference parameters (‘building blocks’). At the heart of the CCR concept lie innovative pedagogical practices that emerge when teachers use ICT in their efforts to organize newer and improved forms of open-ended, collaborative, and meaningful learning activities, rather than simply to enhance traditional pedagogies, such as expository lessons and task-based learning.
A preliminary analysis of two existing cases of ICT-enabled innovation for learning is presented in order to show (i) how the proposed key dimensions and reference parameters are implemented in real-life settings to configure profoundly diverse types of CCR and (ii) to depict the systemic approach needed for the sustainable implementation and progressive up-scaling of Creative Classrooms across Europe.
Website – A Partnership between Parents, Students and SchoolseLearning Papers
The website developed by the 1.b class at the Augusta Šenoa elementary school is, first and foremost, a pioneering work stemming from cooperation among teachers and parents. The purpose of the website is to inform, activate, and involve parents, students and teachers who work in the classroom. Each activity is documented, giving insight into the everyday activities, and making the classroom visible and transparent to everyone. The project uses new technology (forum, gallery of student work, class mail), and enlists a partnership of parents, who made parts of the website.
Academic Staff Development in the Area of Technology Enhanced Learning in UK ...eLearning Papers
This paper reports on a study on staff development in the area of technology enhanced learning in UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) that took place in November, 2011. Data for this study were gathered via an online survey emailed to the Heads of e-Learning Forum (HeLF) which is a network comprised of one senior staff member per UK institution, leading the enhancement of learning and teaching through the use of technology. Prior to the survey, desk-based research on some universities’ publicly available websites gathered similar information about staff development in the area of technology enhanced learning. The online survey received 27 responses, approaching a quarter of all UK HEIs subscribed to the Heads of e-Learning forum list (118 is the total number). Both pre-1992 (16 in number) and post-1992 Universities (11 in number) were represented in the survey and findings indicate the way this sample of UK HEIs are approaching staff development in the area of TEL.
The Ageing Brain: Neuroplasticity and Lifelong LearningeLearning Papers
The role of adult education is becoming increasingly important in the framework of policies to promote lifelong learning. Adult participation in training activities, however, is still rather low, despite the incentives and initiatives aimed at allowing all citizens access
to education and training at all ages in their lives.
Participation tends to decrease concomitantly with increasing age: the major difficulty that elderly people have in learning is due to a deterioration of brain function, causing a progressive weakening of concentration, memory and mental flexibility. Today, advanced
researches in neuroscience show that brain ageing may be reversible: the brain
is plastic in all stages of life, and its maps can restructure themselves through learning experiences.
Checklist for a Didactically Sound Design of eLearning ContenteLearning Papers
The design of elearning content requires several areas of educational psychology to be
integrated. In order to enhance the design process, checklists can be used as a means of formative evaluation. We present a checklist for the design and formative evaluation of elearning modules.
It covers the content, segmenting, sequencing and navigation, adaptation to target audience,
design of text and graphics, learning tasks and feedback, and motivation. In the context of a project on designing elearning modules on renewable energies, this
checklist was successfully used for providing formative feedback to the developers.
The International Student and the Challenges of Lifelong LearningeLearning Papers
Although few people would oppose the view that lifelong learning is intended to be a positive experience, it should be borne in mind that an ageing student body might require the development of additional tools and skills for the online educator.
In this short paper we present two cases of challenges faced by international learners who brought with them into the learning environment some issues that were the product, not only of the age of the learner in question, but also of the geographical environment
in which they studied. The names of the learners have been changed.
Fostering Older People’s Digital Inclusion to Promote Active AgeingeLearning Papers
Within the framework of the European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations, ECDL Foundation will partner with AGE Platform Europe to promote older people’s digital inclusion.
This collaboration involves the launch of an updated ICT training programme adapted to older people’s needs: a revised version of the ECDL Foundation’s accessible ICT training programme, EqualSkills.
eLearning and Social Networking in Mentoring Processes to Support Active AgeingeLearning Papers
Mentoring is a human resources development process often used to induct, introduce and guide staff into places of employment.
Training people on the job or using elderly people as mentors can be organised to address aspects like skill shortage in organisations, recruiting and retaining personal with the necessary knowledge and active involvement of older people. In this paper we present some aspects of mentoring, particularly the ICT support of such process and
give examples.
Unit 8 - Information and Communication Technology (Paper I).pdfThiyagu K
This slides describes the basic concepts of ICT, basics of Email, Emerging Technology and Digital Initiatives in Education. This presentations aligns with the UGC Paper I syllabus.
Synthetic Fiber Construction in lab .pptxPavel ( NSTU)
Synthetic fiber production is a fascinating and complex field that blends chemistry, engineering, and environmental science. By understanding these aspects, students can gain a comprehensive view of synthetic fiber production, its impact on society and the environment, and the potential for future innovations. Synthetic fibers play a crucial role in modern society, impacting various aspects of daily life, industry, and the environment. ynthetic fibers are integral to modern life, offering a range of benefits from cost-effectiveness and versatility to innovative applications and performance characteristics. While they pose environmental challenges, ongoing research and development aim to create more sustainable and eco-friendly alternatives. Understanding the importance of synthetic fibers helps in appreciating their role in the economy, industry, and daily life, while also emphasizing the need for sustainable practices and innovation.
Read| The latest issue of The Challenger is here! We are thrilled to announce that our school paper has qualified for the NATIONAL SCHOOLS PRESS CONFERENCE (NSPC) 2024. Thank you for your unwavering support and trust. Dive into the stories that made us stand out!
Operation “Blue Star” is the only event in the history of Independent India where the state went into war with its own people. Even after about 40 years it is not clear if it was culmination of states anger over people of the region, a political game of power or start of dictatorial chapter in the democratic setup.
The people of Punjab felt alienated from main stream due to denial of their just demands during a long democratic struggle since independence. As it happen all over the word, it led to militant struggle with great loss of lives of military, police and civilian personnel. Killing of Indira Gandhi and massacre of innocent Sikhs in Delhi and other India cities was also associated with this movement.
Welcome to TechSoup New Member Orientation and Q&A (May 2024).pdfTechSoup
In this webinar you will learn how your organization can access TechSoup's wide variety of product discount and donation programs. From hardware to software, we'll give you a tour of the tools available to help your nonprofit with productivity, collaboration, financial management, donor tracking, security, and more.
Introduction to AI for Nonprofits with Tapp NetworkTechSoup
Dive into the world of AI! Experts Jon Hill and Tareq Monaur will guide you through AI's role in enhancing nonprofit websites and basic marketing strategies, making it easy to understand and apply.
Model Attribute Check Company Auto PropertyCeline George
In Odoo, the multi-company feature allows you to manage multiple companies within a single Odoo database instance. Each company can have its own configurations while still sharing common resources such as products, customers, and suppliers.
Francesca Gottschalk - How can education support child empowerment.pptxEduSkills OECD
Francesca Gottschalk from the OECD’s Centre for Educational Research and Innovation presents at the Ask an Expert Webinar: How can education support child empowerment?
Personal Learning Environments for Overcoming Knowledge Boundaries between Activity Systems in Emerging Adulthood
1. Personal Learning Environments for Overcoming Knowledge
Boundaries between Activity Systems in Emerging Adulthood
Elvis Mazzoni & Pietro Gaffuri
University of Bologna
Summary
In this paper we suggest a possible answer to the question on why Social Network Systems
(SNSs) are important for bridging social capital and for knowledge construction during emerging
adulthood. We argue why web social artefacts 2.0, and particularly those defined as Personal
Learning Environments, which consider also SNSs, could be more effective than web artefacts
1.0, such as those defined as Virtual Learning Environments (mainly represented by classical
web platforms and web forums), for overcoming knowledge confines between activity systems
during transitions in emerging adulthood.
This theoretical route starts with the definition of emerging adulthood as a period broadly
located between adolescence and adulthood in which individuals are faced with many types of
transitions. A fundamental aspect of such a transition period is the personal network of
relations, and in particular the concept of bridging social capital formed by networks of weak
ties. Researches on the use of web technologies in emerging adulthood are also discussed, as
the results show the importance of these tools for maintaining and reinforcing bridging social
capital. The conclusions derived from this theoretical route emphasise the relevance that web
artefacts 2.0 have, in particular SNSs, providing emerging adults with many possibilities and
support in:
− maintaining and developing their social capital;
− constructing a knowledge background that could help them during transitions through
different activity systems.
These conclusions also lead towards a new conception of eLearning strategies employed in
contexts such as universities, characterized until now by a heavy use of web artefacts 1.0 in
which students play a passive role. We believe more flexible eLearning systems, such as
SNSs, should be taken into consideration, since they are more likely to meet the needs of
today’s emerging adults in terms of information and knowledge.
Keywords: Personal Learning Environment, Social Network Systems, Informal Learning,
Universities, SNS, bridging social capital, adulthood transitions, emerging adults, Cultural
Historical Activity Theory
Introduction (the problem)
During the last two decades, educational, learning and work contexts have been strongly
modified by technological innovations (e.g., the increasing importance of web communication
for managing activities and connecting people within and between groups, associations and
organisations). In this context, which is characterized by short terms of reaction to
environmental changes, by inter-organisational mobility, and by weak connections between
individuals and organisations in which they operate, a greater flexibility in the use, in the
transfer, and in the integration of personal knowledge and social competences is required.
eLearning Papers • www.elearningpapers.eu • 1
Nº 15 • June 2009 • ISSN 1887-1542
2. In this scenario, transformations also concern processes connected to knowledge acquisition
and construction in the direction of a greater complexity. As a matter of fact, the rapidity of the
knowledge evolution, transfer, and obsolescence increasingly tends to break the sequential
nature of traditional learning and work systems (these models are based on the transmission of
repetitive knowledge and competences isolated by contexts, the acquisition of behavioural
schemes or movements automation) that nowadays seem to be obsolete and involved in
marginal professional contexts.
Since these culturally driven changes (which are typical of the so-called industrialized
countries) involve all contexts of human life, they could represent an even more critical factor
during transition periods in which persons pass from a well known and well managed situation
to a new, unknown situation. In such transition periods, the passing from a situation to another
(e.g., from school to university, or from school to work contexts) implies leaving a network of
relations and a system of knowledge for encountering new ones, which are typical events
characterizing the life period called emerging adulthood. In light of these observations, what
could be the role and the function of ICT and, in particular, of web artefacts during such
transition periods?
Emerging adulthood and transitions
Arnett (2000; 2006) defines the years from the late teens through the twenties (we could
roughly demarcate this period between ages 18-25) as “emerging adulthood”. He describes this
period as characterized by many important changes and transitions that prepare individuals for
entering adulthood. Thus, Arnett proposes to insert a new period situated between the period of
adolescence and that of adulthood in the already existent theories on human development. He
derives his proposition from many evidences provided by studies conducted in western
industrialized countries, where emerging adulthood appears as a period characterized by a
certain degree of independence from social roles and from normative expectations since
individuals have “left the dependency of childhood but they are not yet entered the normative
responsibilities of adulthood” (Arnett, 2000, p. 469). Thus, in Arnett’s perspective, emerging
adulthood is a time in which individuals explore a variety of possible directions in many fields of
their life, such as love, work and worldviews.
An important element outlined by Arnett (2000) is that emerging adulthood is a period that is be
most likely to be found in industrialized or post-industrial countries. The reason, according to
the author, is to be found in the high level of education and training required for entering the
information-based professions, which, also determines a postposition of marriage and
parenthood after the end of schooling. However, the increasing globalization, the growing
integration of developing countries in the global economy, and the increasing availability of
technology in such countries determines a progressive pervasiveness of emerging adulthood
on a worldwide level.
Of course, emerging adulthood seems to be a period characterized by many important
individual and social changes, since emerging adults “are no longer in secondary school but are
pursuing a wide variety of different combinations of school and work” (Arnett, 2006, p. 119). As
Arnett (2000) underlines, the choices of emerging adults with respect to work and education are
focused on trying out various possibilities that would help them in being prepared for different
kinds of future work. This means that knowledge and competences encountered and
constructed during these various educational and work experiences are seen as very important
for future work lives. They are important also as far as changes in worldviews are concerned,
since entering a new context, such as college, university or workplace, means also being
exposed to a variety of different worldviews that would influence and change initial ones (Perry,
1999). From this point of view, we would like to emphasise the importance of integrating and
bringing with us such an ensemble of knowledge, competences and practices during emerging
adulthood for coping with the transition between school and work or between school and
university, considering the contemporary dynamic knowledge society we have previously
depicted.
eLearning Papers • www.elearningpapers.eu • 2
Nº 15 • June 2009 • ISSN 1887-1542
3. During emergent adulthood many individuals carry out their college course and attain the level
of education and training that will open the doors for their adult work lives (Chisholm &
Hurrelman, 1995), but this could also involve many residential changes, such as leaving home
for some work opportunity, entering college, graduating, and entering the professional
workforce, or, moving back into parents’ home as well (Goldscheider & Goldscheider, 1994).
Such residential changes are likely to cause a loss of connection to friends, and to disrupt the
maintenance of relationships between people in emerging adulthood (Cummings, Lee & Kraut,
2006). Following the suggestion of Paul & Brier (2001), we can speak of friendsickness not only
for defining the distress determined by the loss of connection to old friends during the emerging
adulthood transition when it comes to moving away to college, but also for better underlining the
need of being able to maintain connections with previous networks of relation during this life
period, while still being open to new experiences and relationships in current geographical
contexts (Steinfield, Ellison & Lampe, 2008). For instance, several studies show that developing
and maintaining friendships during emerging adulthood influences the identity formation, the
well-being, and the development of long term relationships such as romantic or family relations
(Connolly, Furman & Konarksi, 2000; Montogomery, 2005).
Maintaining and developing bridging social capital by means of web
technologies during emergent adulthood
The importance of friendship maintenance in emergent adulthood can be seen from two
complementary perspectives that allow us to introduce the core of this theoretical discussion
(Steinfiled, Ellison & Lampe, 2008). On the one hand, developing and maintaining relationships
is important for generating social capital and also for psychosocial development in emerging
adults. From this point of view, and taking into account the previous considerations about
transitions and residential changes during emerging adulthood, we can easily understand the
important role played by SNSs in developing and maintaining relationships that would otherwise
be lost. On the other hand, there is also growing evidence that the use of SNSs may be
associated with the sense of self-worth and also with other measures of psychosocial
development.
The term social capital could be broadly defined as the amount of resources accumulated
through relationships among people (Coleman, 1988) or, more specifically, “the sum of the
resources, actual or virtual, that accrue to an individual or a group by virtue of possessing a
durable network of more or less institutionalized relationships of mutual acquaintance and
recognition” (Bourdieu and Wacquant, 1992, p. 14). Social capital can be conceived at two
different levels with respect to a focus on the entire community or on the individual (Steinfiled,
Ellison & Lampe, 2008). For instance,
− by considering the community level, social capital is connected to some positive social
outcome like public health, lower crime rates, and more efficient financial markets (Adler
& Kwon, 2002);
− by considering individual level, there is evidence that social capital is related to career
advancement (Burt, 1997) and organisational success (Nahapiet & Ghoshal, 1998), and
to some indices of psychological well-being such as self esteem and life satisfaction
(Bargh & McKenna, 2004; Helliwell & Putnam, 2004). Furthermore, the literature on the
field shows that young people with higher social capital are also more likely to engage
themselves in behaviours that lead to better health, academic success, and emotional
development (Morrow, 1999). As Ellison, Steinfield and Lampe (2007) point out, social
capital allows persons, on an individual level, to draw on resources (useful information,
personal relationships or the capacity to organise groups) related to other members of
the network they belong.
A second important distinction is introduced by Putnam (2000), who proposes two different
forms of social capital:
eLearning Papers • www.elearningpapers.eu • 3
Nº 15 • June 2009 • ISSN 1887-1542
4. − the first, named bonding social capital, is likely to be representative of emotionally close
and tightly-knit relationships, typical of the family or of the “close friends circle”;
− the second, named bridging social capital, derives from the influential work of
Granovetter, and it is connected to the definition of weak ties commonly used in social
network analysis for defining connections that principally provide useful information and
new perspectives but not emotional support.
Granovetter (1973; 1983) shows that weak ties are very important in many moments of human
life, in particular during critical circumstances that can not be overcome through information and
knowledge that are already known. From this perspective, individuals outside of the close
friends circle could provide useful information and/or new action perspectives that are not
redundant, such as those that could offer friends with which individuals already shared
knowledge within a similar social environment. This is a typical aspect of the bridging social
capital, i.e., the social capital strengthened by the creation of weak contacts with people that
come from various and different socio-cultural and work contexts. Thanks to this dissimilarity,
weak ties could play an important role by offering new information and knowledge that is not yet
known and that could be very important for overcoming critical situations during transition
periods, such as that of emerging adulthood.
Now, young adults that move to college or to a new workplace leave networks of social
relations of their original environment (home, school, university) and, thus, they have an high
risk of loosing important parts of their social capital. In human life, particularly during emerging
adulthood, social networks are not a settled dimension that characterizes individuals; rather,
they are a dynamic dimension constituted by relationships that are continuously formed and
abandoned during transitions and residential changes that may affect social capital. Thus, at
the same time, emerging adults have a double need:
- to create new networks of relation in the new context;
- to maintain ties with networks that they leave.
Given these premises, many researchers have studied and emphasised “the importance of
internet-based linkages for the formation of weak ties, which serve as the foundation of bridging
social capital” (Ellison, Steinfield & Lampe, 2007, p. 1146) and web technologies are thought to
play an important role in connecting and maintaining connection to networks of friends during
transitions in emerging adulthood. It is indeed quite obvious that Internet facilitates connections,
allowing people to maintain and create relationships in an alternative and supplementary way.
Studies show that internet communication is particularly useful for people having difficulties in
forming and maintaining ties, such as those individuals with low psychological well-being, and
that, by encouraging a self-disclosure, the internet communication allows people to create
connections and interactions that probably would not otherwise occur (Bargh & McKenna, 2004,
Tidwell & Walther, 2002). We could suggest the same not only as far as psychosocial barriers
are concerned, but also with regard to physical barriers determined by dislocations. For
instance, in a recent study, Cummings, Lee and Kraut (2006) underline the importance of email
and instant messaging for college students in order to remain close to high school friends when
they leave home for college. Subrahmanyam and colleagues (2008) propose a view in which
web tools are thought as interaction spaces in which emerging adults co-construct their online
environment that is psychologically connected to the offline one, an interesting perspective that
is clearly in contrast to the idea that online and offline worlds are distinct (McKenna & Bargh,
2000; Turkle, 1995). Authors suggested many evidences and brought the result of their
research for showing that emerging adults use web technologies, in particular online Social
Network Sites (SNSs) such as MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn and so on, for “bringing people
and issues from their offline worlds into their online ones” (Subrahmanyam et al., 2008, p. 421).
A concept that could depict the integration between online and offline world is that of latent ties,
i.e., those specific types of online social linkages that are “technologically possible but not
activated socially” (Haythornthwaite, 2005, p. 137). This concept is also connected to the idea
that a latent tie connectivity could be a technological prerequisite for activating weak ties. Thus,
SNSs are thought to play an important role in maintaining and augmenting bridging social
capital since they allow users to stay in touch with diffuse networks of relationships that
eLearning Papers • www.elearningpapers.eu • 4
Nº 15 • June 2009 • ISSN 1887-1542
5. represent a virtual space of potential resources upon which one might count. Especially for
analysing this role of SNSs in maintaining contacts with social networks after physically
disconnecting from them, Ellison, Steinfield and Lampe (2007) introduce the concept of
maintained social capital as a dimension of “the ability to maintain valuable connections as one
progresses through life changes” (p. 1146). Results of their study show that the use of the SNS
they analysed, i.e., Facebook, helps students not only to maintain, but also to accumulate
bridging social capital since it is a sort of web social environment that allows to stay in touch
with weak ties in a cheap and easy way. At the same time, Facebook seems to facilitate the
conversion of latent ties into weak ties since
− it allows students to access many personal information about others;
− it makes the personal network’s wide range of individuals explicit;
− it represents a support for students who need to identify people who might be useful in a
certain situation and, in this last case, it also represents a further motivation to activate a
latent tie.
On the basis of the previous observations, and considering a Cultural Historical Activity Theory
(CHAT) perspective, this proposal is intended to be a position paper in which we argue why
web social artefacts 2.0, and particularly those defined as Personal Learning Environments
(Attwell, 2007) which consider also SNSs, could be more effective with respect to web artefacts
1.0, such as those defined as Virtual Learning Environments (mainly represented by classical
web platforms and web forums), for overcoming knowledge confines between activity systems
during transitions in emerging adulthood.
The evolution of learning activity systems from web 1.0 to web 2.0: the
explosion of the Social Networking Systems
Given the previously sketched evidences, we can surely conceive Information and
Communication Technologies (ICT), in particular web tools, as strategic artefacts that may
promote new forms and models of learning and training, and the creation of flexible relational
networks that may support individuals (students, workers, employees, etc.) in terms of
information acquisition and knowledge construction. From the activity theory point of view
(Engeström, 1987; Kaptelinin, 1996), web artefacts could be seen as instruments for mediating
the relation between the individual, the community, and the object of activity systems in learning
and working contexts. Differently from HCI cognitive perspective (fig. 1a), in which interaction
between a human and a computer “is characterized by two information processing units which
interact according to an alternate circuit of input and output” (Mazzoni, 2006, p. 163), the
Activity Theory (AT) perspective (fig. 1b) contextualizes the interaction between human-
computer within the activity system in which it takes place (Kaptelinin, 1996; Mazzoni & Gaffuri,
in press).
Instruments
Subject Object Outcome
Rule Community Division
of Labour b)
a)
Figure 1: a) The human-Computer Interaction Model in the classical cognitive perspective and
b) the Human Activity System representation (Adapted from the web site of the Centre for
Activity Theory and Developmental Work Research - http://www.edu.helsinki.fi/activity/ - March,
29, 2009).
eLearning Papers • www.elearningpapers.eu • 5
Nº 15 • June 2009 • ISSN 1887-1542
6. Being mainly focused on interaction itself, HCI model does not consider the context, and
specifically the activity performed by the relation between human and computer. The latter
represents instead the core of the AT model (fig. 1b), which represents all the relations between
the principal entities of a human activity system (subject-object-community) and the mediation
of these relations by signs/instruments/tools, rules and divisions of labour. We could further
contextualize this model into a real activity, e.g., by considering a university course. Figure 2
proposes the activity system of a learning activity focused on a student (subject) that acquires
knowledge about the Psychology of Education (object) for achieving his/her degree in
Psychology (outcome).
Figure 2: The activity system of a university course proposed in a blended-learning format.
The course is proposed in blended-learning format, so it is composed by face-to-face and
distance lessons, these latter carried out by means of a web platform (web artefact). The
student, however, is not alone: he/she is part of the community, which is constituted by the
course students and instructors (teacher and online tutor). Thanks to the web platform, the
community also expands beyond the time and space delimited by the face-to-face course
(virtual community). The course requires the participation to all distance sessions, which involve
learning materials uploaded by instructors, collective discussions on specific topics (by
following the web forum netiquette), and tasks to accomplish (rules). Online sessions are also
managed by an online tutor that activates and moderates web forum discussions. Face-to-face
lessons are carried out by the teacher which also organizes the learning materials (to upload in
the web platform) and tasks to accomplish. Finally, students have to participate both to face-to-
face and online sessions (division of labour).
Even though figure 2 represents only web artefacts, many others artefacts are obviously
involved in this activity, such as slides during face-to-face lessons, lectures proposed by
instructors, etc.. Here we would like to draw attention on the potentiality of web artefacts, such
as a web platform or a SNSs, in mediating the relation between the student and the knowledge
acquisition process by means of a direct mediation (e.g., learning objects or hypertexts
constructed/uploaded by instructors), and/or an indirect mediation (e.g., the construction of
shared places for discussing with the community and sharing/constructing knowledge). The
definition of “direct mediation” represents the classic research field of the HCI approach,
whereas the Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) perspective takes into account all the
elements that characterize a specific activity systems.
Following the suggestion of Engeström (1987), since a university degree is based on many
courses, we should rather speak of activity systems, each one representing a specific university
course featuring specific rules, roles and a specific community, which, however, share the same
outcome (the achievement of the university degree). The same community, the same division of
labour, and the same rules characterize the whole faculty (fig. 3).
eLearning Papers • www.elearningpapers.eu • 6
Nº 15 • June 2009 • ISSN 1887-1542
7. Figure 3: The activity systems of two university courses, related to the activity system of the
faculty.
Figure 3 shows a typical complex activity system, composed by many other interrelated sub-
activity systems. Individuals, however, should not be conceived of as parts of a single activity
system (such as a faculty). Rather, they belong to multiple activity systems such as the family,
university, work organisations, some free time associations and so on; thus, they are
surrounded by multiple rules, roles, artefacts, but first of all, they are embedded in many and
different cultural activity systems of knowledge, competences and practices (fig. 4).
Instruments Instruments
Outcome Object Subject Object Outcome
Division Community Rules Rules Community Division
of Labour of Labour
Figure 4: A subject that participates to two different activity systems.
As previously underlined, at the same time individuals are faced with many transitions in their
lives, particularly during emerging adulthood, thus they move through various activity systems.
During these passages, emerging adults continually create and lose relations, particularly those
defined “weak ties”. This means, at the same time, that they incessantly construct and update
their bridging social capital. As Wenger (1998) points out, during transition periods (such as,
eLearning Papers • www.elearningpapers.eu • 7
Nº 15 • June 2009 • ISSN 1887-1542
8. e.g., the transition from school to university, and from school or university to work contexts),
individuals have to deal with different backgrounds of knowledge and competences that are
demanded, on the one hand, by the activity system they are leaving and, on the other hand, by
the activity system they are entering. This transition could be very critical for individuals since in
most cases the gap between the background of knowledge and competences they possess,
and the background demanded by the new activity system is very large. For instance, in the
period of emerging adulthood everyone has experienced a critical difference in requests and in
practices during the transition from an activity system, such as the school, to another one, such
as the university, or from school to workplace.
Wenger (2000) suggests that boundaries between knowledge and competences delimiting
different activity systems might be overcome by three types of bridges: persons, artefacts,
relations. From this point of view, web social artefacts (such as web platforms or SNSs) could
play a very important role as bridges for mediating knowledge exchange between different
cultural activity systems. We could depict these web artefacts as social environments activated
by persons for the mutual construction of relations, which may occur by means of the mediation
of written text or spoken language. Web artefacts, however, are not to be understood as
instruments that simply delimit a virtual social space in which exchanges/conversations/
discussions take place; actually they are one of the most important social contexts for
constructing and sharing boundary objects (Star, 1989; 1998; Wenger, 2000; Tuomi-Gröhn &
Engeström, 2003). According to Star (1989), boundary objects sit in the middle of actors
characterized by divergent viewpoints, in which they play a specific role of coordinating their
different perspectives for some shared purpose. In other words, boundary objects could be
seen as something that allows to overcome the boundary between different activity systems
such as school, university, and work organisations, by constructing some types of common
zones between different actors and, thus, bridging the gap of knowledge and competences
required by these systems. We could also envisage boundary objects as a sort of scaffolding
for expanding knowledge and competences of individuals within and beyond their zones of
proximal development [Vygotskij, 1978; Griffin & Cole, 1984) i.e., according to this perspective,
the difference between their previous knowledge and competences, and the knowledge and
competences required by their transition to a new activity system (e.g., from school to university
or from school or university to work).
But now the question is whether all web social artefacts are equivalently effective for this
function. In other words, considering the constant evolution of web social artefacts, which today
are represented by the transit from the web 1.0 (and web communities) to the web 2.0
(principally Blogs, Wikis and especially SNSs), and on the basis of an AT point of view, which
types of web social artefacts (and consequent web environments) could be more effective for
overcoming boundaries and connecting different activity systems in emerging adults and, at the
same time, reinforcing their individual social capital?
Learning objects (Wiley 2000), web forums, and web platforms are typical examples of web
artefacts characterizing the e-learning 1.0, while wikis, blogs, and SNSs are more informal
environments typical of e-learning 2.0. Web artefacts 1.0 are principally characterized by formal
learning, i.e., structured courses, well organized and pre-arranged by instructors, in which
students have to download/upload documents, accomplish predetermined assignments/tasks
and participate in chaired on-line discussions. On the contrary, Web artefacts 2.0 are most
likely characterized by informal learning (Attwell, 2007) which enables students to manage their
personal learning space (normally a blog in which access permissions are set by students
themselves), to construct their relational network (by inviting other students or accepting
invitations), to propose their discussion groups (by selecting participants) and finally to choose
the level of interaction they prefer with other students or with instructors. This latter could be a
private one-to-one interaction (in which messages are read only by the receiver), a personal
interaction (in which the message is posted in the personal area but it is public), an interaction
with the personal network (constructing specific groups) or, finally, an interaction with the whole
network, which normally occurs within a web forum. From this point of view, web artefacts 2.0
allow a role in the determination and delimitation of multiple levels of engagement in collective
eLearning Papers • www.elearningpapers.eu • 8
Nº 15 • June 2009 • ISSN 1887-1542
9. activities, and multiple spaces for sharing and exchanging knowledge, that is more active than
that permitted by web artefacts 1.0. This is particularly true for SNSs, i.e., those web artefacts
“that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system,
(2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse
their list of connections and those made by others within the system” (Boyd & Ellison, 2007, p.
211).
Results of an interesting research about the use of Facebook in university students show that
SNSs are important for developing and maintaining relationships during residential change
since these types of online networks provide both the technical and the social infrastructure for
maintaining lightweight contact with many former friends and acquaintances and, at the same
time, for being open to new potential friendships that can be developed from latent ties
(Stenfield, Ellison & Lampe, 2008). Furthermore, the possibility of learning information about a
latent tie (Haythorntwaite, 2005) represents a sort of "impulse" for engaging in a new
interaction. As a matter of fact, the student may rely on much information about the others, such
as the potential commonalities and the relationship status, and this could lower the fears of
rejection. In their study, Subrahmanyam and colleagues (2008) report that emergent adults
spent much of their time on reading and writing comments and also on responding to
messages/comments, but they also surfed the pages/profiles of their friends for being informed
about their new contacts and events of their life and, in general, for keeping track of them.
These results point out that web artefacts 2.0 are supportive for the students’ everyday
activities, in particular for maintaining and developing bridging social capital. This aspect
determines also important positive consequences to emerging adults. On the one hand, it
increases the range of opportunities that students may have during this critical period, which is
rich in transitions, and, on the other hand, it allows students to have a virtual space for sharing
and exchanging information, and thus for developing and constructing those backgrounds of
knowledge that could help them in overcoming boundaries of different activity systems. Since
SNSs are typically characterized by relations, and, only in a second step, by discussions, which
instead represent the main principle at the basis of web communities in which participants often
discuss with someone that, in most cases, they do not know, these tools seem to offer a
dynamic and customizable social space in which weak ties may be maintained and developed
with a degree of involvement that is not as high as that requested in face-to-face relations. For
instance, the possibility to monitor information about friends, track their activities, events and
friendships simply by surfing on the net allows emerging adults to have a constant way to stay
in touch with them, to be informed about new opportunities, new events, and to be involved in a
co-construction of informal knowledge without being forced to contact or meet someone
directly. Nowadays, SNSs represent the easiest way to keep in touch with others and to
reinforce the bridging social capital of emerging adults by means of simple mouse-clicks.
Conclusions
In this paper, we suggest a possible answer to the question on why Social Network Systems
(SNSs) are important for bridging social capital and for knowledge construction during emerging
adulthood. We started with the definition of emerging adulthood, a period that characterizes
human development after adolescence and before adulthood, and we emphasised that it is a
time in which emergent adults are faced with many types of transition. A concept that is
fundamental during transitions is the network of relations upon which one may count. Bridging
social capital formed by the network of weak ties is particularly significant in this context. We
also presented some research showing that the use of web technologies in emerging adulthood
is positively connected to maintain and reinforce bridging social capital. Starting from this
theoretical background, we proposed its integration within a Cultural Historical Activity Theory
perspective for showing the important role SNSs nowadays play for overcoming knowledge
boundaries of different activity systems during emerging adulthood transitions.
Finally we concluded that web artefacts 2.0, in particular SNSs, provide emerging adults with
many possibilities, e.g., to actively manage their personal network of contacts and relations, to
eLearning Papers • www.elearningpapers.eu • 9
Nº 15 • June 2009 • ISSN 1887-1542
10. be informed about new opportunities, events, and information, and to co-construct knowledge
taking into consideration both formal and informal processes. Thus, SNSs represent web
artefacts that support emerging adults in:
− maintaining and developing their social capital;
− constructing a knowledge background that could help them during transitions through
different activity systems.
This conclusion underlines the importance of a new conception of e-learning strategies in
learning contexts such as university. Till now, these contexts have been characterized by a
heavy use of web artefacts 1.0 in a sort of vertical and fixed proposal of e-learning
environments in which students had a passive role. We suggest that an e-learning perspective
2.0 should take into consideration new and more flexible social web environments, such as
SNSs, in order to be able to meet the needs of today’s emerging adults in terms of information
and knowledge. We also believe that this could be the only way for being more effective in
pursuing the aims of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union, i.e., to
contribute, by emphasising the need for lifelong learning, to the development of the Community
as an advanced knowledge society, with sustainable economic development, more and better
jobs and greater social cohesion. … to foster interaction, cooperation and mobility between
education and training systems within the Community, so that they become a world quality
reference.
Bibliography
Adler, P., & Kwon, S. (2002). Social capital: Prospects for a new concept. Academy of Management
Review, 27, 17−40.
Arnett, J.J. (2000). A Theory of Development Form the Late Teens Through the Twenties. American
Psychologist, 55(5), 469-480.
Arnett, J.J. (2006). Emerging Adulthood in Europe: A Response to Bynner. Journal of Youth Studies,
9(1), 111-123.
Attwell, G. (2007). Personal Learning Environments - the future of eLearning? eLearning Papers 2(1).
Retrieved July 20, 2008, from http://www.elearningeuropa.info/files/media/media11561.pdf
Bargh, J., & McKenna, K. (2004). The Internet and social life. Annual Review of Psychology, 55(1), 573–
590.
Bargh, J. A., McKenna, K. Y., & Fitzsimons, G. M. (2002). Can you see the real me? Activation and
expression of the ‘‘true self’’ on the Internet. Journal of Social Issues, 58(1), 33–48.
Boyd, d. m., & Ellison, N. (2007). Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship. Journal of
Computer-Mediated Communication, 13, 210−230.
Bourdieu, P., & Wacquant, L. (1992). An invitation to reflexive sociology. Chicago, IL.: University of
Chicago Press.
Burt, R. (1997). The contingent value of social capital. Administrative Science Quarterly, 42, 339−365.
Chisolm, L. & Hurrelmann, K. (1995). Adolescence in modern Europe: Pluralized transition patterns and
their implications for personal and social risks. Journal of Adolescence, 18, pp. 129-158.
Coleman, J. S. (1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. The American Journal of
Sociology, 94, S95−S120 (Supplement).
Connolly, J., Furman, W., & Konarksi, R. (2000). The roles of peers in the emergence of heterosexual
romantic relationships in adolescence. Child Development, 17, 1395−1408.
Cummings, J., Lee, J., & Kraut, R. (2006). Communication technology and friendship during the transition
from high school to college. In R. E. Kraut, M. Brynin, & S. Kiesler (Eds.), Computers, phones, and the
Internet: Domesticating information technology (pp. 265−278). New York: Oxford University Press
Ellison, N., Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C. (2007). The benefits of Facebook “friends:” Social capital and
college students' use of online social network sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12,
1143−1168.
eLearning Papers • www.elearningpapers.eu • 10
Nº 15 • June 2009 • ISSN 1887-1542
11. Engeström, Y. (1987). Learning by expanding: An activity-theoretical approach to developmental
research, Helsinki: Orienta-Konsultit.
Goldscheider, F. & Goldscheider, C. (1994). Leaving and returning home in 20th century America.
Population Bulletin, 48(4), 1-35.
Granovetter, M. (1973). The Strength of Weak Ties. American Journal of Sociology, 78 (6), 1360-1380.
Granovetter, M. S. (1983). The strength of weak ties: A network theory revisited. Sociological Theory, 1,
201−233
Griffin, P. & Cole. M. (1984), Current activity for the future: The zo-ped. In B. Rogoff & J. V. Wertsch
(Eds.), Children's learning in the zone of proximal development, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Kaptelinin, V. (1996b). Activity Theory: Implications for Human-Computer Interaction. In B. Nardi (Ed.)
Context & Consciousness - Activity Theory and Human-Computer Interaction (p. 103-116). The MIT
Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Kaptelinin, V. & Nardi, B.A. (2006) Acting with Technology. Activity Theory and Interaction Design,
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Haythornthwaite, C. (2005). Social networks and Internet connectivity effects. Information,
Communication & Society, 8, 125−147.
Helliwell, J. F., & Putnam, R. D. (2004). The social context of well-being. Philosophical Transactions of
the Royal Society, 359(1449), 1435–1446.
Mazzoni, E. (2006). Websites Usability Cognitive versus Activity Theory Approaches. In S. Zappala and
C. Gray (Eds.) Impact of e-Commerce on Consumers and Small Firms (pp. 161-175). Aldershot,
Hampshire (United Kingdom), Ashgate.
Mazzoni, E. and Gaffuri, P. (in press) Monitoring Activity in e-Learning: a quantitative model based on
web tracking and Social Network Analysis. In A. A. Juan, T. Daradoumis, F. Xhafa, S. Caballe, J. Faulin
(Eds) Monitoring and Assessment in Online Collaborative Environments: Emergent Computational
Technologies for E-learning Support, IGI Global.
McKenna, K., & Bargh, J. (2000). Plan 9 from cyberspace: The implications of the Internet for personality
and social psychology. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 4, 57−75.
Montgomery, M. J. (2005). Psychosocial intimacy and identity: From early adolescence to emerging
adulthood. Journal of Adolescent Research, 20, 346−374.
Morrow, V. (1999). Conceptualizing social capital in relation to the well-being of children and young
people: A critical review. Sociological Review, 47, 744−765
Nahapiet, J., & Ghoshal, S. (1998). Social capital, intellectual capital, and the organizational advantage.
The Academy of Management Review, 23, 242−266.
Paul, E. & Brier, S. (2001). Friendsickness in the transition to college: Precollege predictors and college
adjustment correlates. Journal of Counseling and Development, 79(1), 77-89.
Perry, W.G. (1999). Forms of ethical and intellectual development in the college years: A scheme. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass (Original work published 1970).
Putnam, R. D. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. New York: Simon
& Schuster.
Steinfield, C., Ellison, N., & Lampe, C. (2008). Social Capital, Self-esteem, and Use of Online Social
Network Sites: A longitudinal analysis. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 29, 434−445.
Star, S. L. (1989). The structure of ill-structured solutions: boundary objects and heterogeneous
distributed problem solving. In R. Glaser & M. N. Huhns (Eds.), Distributed artificial intelligence, Volume
II. (pp. 37-54). London: Pinnan.
Star, S. L. (1998). Working together: Symbolic interactionism, activity theory, and information systems. In
Y. Engeström & David Middleton (Eds.) Cognition and Communication at Work (pp. 296-318).
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Subrahmanyam, K., Reich, S., Waechter, N., & Espinoza, G. (2008). Online and offline social networks:
Use of social networking sites by emerging adults. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 29,
420−433.
eLearning Papers • www.elearningpapers.eu • 11
Nº 15 • June 2009 • ISSN 1887-1542
12. Tidwell, L. C., & Walther, J. B. (2002). Computer-mediated communication effects on disclosure,
impressions, and interpersonal evaluations: Getting to know one another a bit at a time. Human
Communication Research, 28(3), 317–348.
Tuomi-Gröhn, T. and Engeström, Y. (Eds.) (2003) Between Work and School: New Perspectives on
Transfer and Boundary-crossing, London: Pergamon.
Turkle, S. (1995). Life on the screen: Identity in the age of the Internet. NY: Simon & Schuster.
Vygotsky, L.S. (1978) Mind and society: The development of higher psychological processes,
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice. Learning meaning and identity, Cambridge University
Press.
Wenger E. (2000). Communities of Practice and Social Learning Systems'. Organization, 7(2), 225-246.
Wiley, D.A. (2000), The Instructional Use of Learning Objects: Online Version,
http://reusability.org/read/chapters/wiley.doc, retrieved on 17 January 2009.
Authors
Elvis Mazzoni elvis.mazzoni@unibo.it
Pietro Gaffuri pietro.gaffuri@unibo.it
S.E.Fo.R.A. Lab – Faculty of Psychology
ALMA MATER STUDIORUM – University of Bologna, Italy
Copyrights
The texts published in this journal, unless otherwise indicated, are subject to a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivativeWorks 3.0
Unported licence. They may be copied, distributed and broadcast provided that the author and
the e-journal that publishes them, eLearning Papers, are cited. Commercial use and derivative
works are not permitted. The full licence can be consulted on
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
Edition and production
Name of the publication: eLearning Papers
ISSN: 1887-1542
Publisher: elearningeuropa.info
Edited by: P.A.U. Education, S.L.
Postal address: C/ Muntaner 262, 3º, 08021 Barcelona, Spain
Telephone: +34 933 670 400
Email: editorial@elearningeuropa.info
Internet: www.elearningpapers.eu
eLearning Papers • www.elearningpapers.eu • 12
Nº 15 • June 2009 • ISSN 1887-1542