91,225 research outputs found
Preliminary analysis: Engaging learning via new Web 2.0 medium - Facebook (Abstract)
This paper presents the use of online social network (OSN) applications, Facebook, as a tool for e-learning. The traditional e-learning medium in Open University Malaysia (OUM) is using the learning management system or learning portal called the “My Virtual Learning Environment” (myVLE), which is based on web 2.0 applications. If compared to Facebook, the myVLE is not really known to the public. Hence, we believe that the various features possessed by Facebook, such as facilitating online discussion, sharing links and resources, facilitating the conduct of Q&A sessions, uploading field trip/project photos and videos and much more, can be maximized as a tool that can empower educators and students to engage, interact, share and learn in an e-learning environment. Furthermore, Facebook is applicable to many types of devices ranging from personal desktop computer to mobile devices such as Smartphone and tablets. It is compatible with numerous operating systems and its features such as private group and event scheduling, are easy to learn and use. In this study, we used Facebook to investigate how our students feel about using this online social network for e-learning apart from the existing learning management system, myVLE. Most of the higher education institutions are discovering that new models of teaching and learning are required to meet the needs of a generation of learners who seeks greater autonomy and connectivity as well as the opportunity to experience social learning. Traditional approaches to teaching and learning are typically based on prepackaged learning materials, fixed deadlines, and assessment task and criteria defined by educators. However, today’s students demand greater control of their own learning and technology is a way to meet their needs and preferences. Thus, the aim of this paper is to explore how Facebook is suitable as an e-learning tool for students. It is not about replacing our existing e-learning platform (myVLE), but about collaborating and empowering students with more tools in e-learning to make them feel engaged and motivated, especially in distance education. Oncology Nursing students were used as the sample for this study. (Abstract by authors
The effect of using facebook markup language (fbml) for designing an e-learning model in higher education
This study examines the use of Facebook Markup Language (FBML) to design an
e-learning model to facilitate teaching and learning in an academic setting.
The qualitative research study presents a case study on how, Facebook is used
to support collaborative activities in higher education. We used FBML to design
an e-learning model called processes for e-learning resources in the Specialist
Learning Resources Diploma (SLRD) program. Two groups drawn from the SLRD
program were used; First were the participants in the treatment group and
second in the control group. Statistical analysis in the form of a t-test was
used to compare the dependent variables between the two groups. The findings
show a difference in the mean score between the pre-test and the post-test for
the treatment group (achievement, the skill, trends). Our findings suggest that
the use of FBML can support collaborative knowledge creation and improved the
academic achievement of participatns. The findings are expected to provide
insights into promoting the use of Facebook in a learning management system
(LMS).Comment: Mohammed Amasha, Salem Alkhalaf, "The Effect of using Facebook Markup
Language (FBML) for Designing an E-Learning Model in Higher Education".
International Journal of Research in Computer Science, 4 (5): pp. 1-9,
January 201
Assembling thefacebook: Using heterogeneity to understand online social network assembly
Online social networks represent a popular and diverse class of social media
systems. Despite this variety, each of these systems undergoes a general
process of online social network assembly, which represents the complicated and
heterogeneous changes that transform newly born systems into mature platforms.
However, little is known about this process. For example, how much of a
network's assembly is driven by simple growth? How does a network's structure
change as it matures? How does network structure vary with adoption rates and
user heterogeneity, and do these properties play different roles at different
points in the assembly? We investigate these and other questions using a unique
dataset of online connections among the roughly one million users at the first
100 colleges admitted to Facebook, captured just 20 months after its launch. We
first show that different vintages and adoption rates across this population of
networks reveal temporal dynamics of the assembly process, and that assembly is
only loosely related to network growth. We then exploit natural experiments
embedded in this dataset and complementary data obtained via Internet
archaeology to show that different subnetworks matured at different rates
toward similar end states. These results shed light on the processes and
patterns of online social network assembly, and may facilitate more effective
design for online social systems.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures, Proceedings of the 7th Annual ACM Web Science
Conference (WebSci), 201
When Do People Trust Their Social Groups?
Trust facilitates cooperation and supports positive outcomes in social
groups, including member satisfaction, information sharing, and task
performance. Extensive prior research has examined individuals' general
propensity to trust, as well as the factors that contribute to their trust in
specific groups. Here, we build on past work to present a comprehensive
framework for predicting trust in groups. By surveying 6,383 Facebook Groups
users about their trust attitudes and examining aggregated behavioral and
demographic data for these individuals, we show that (1) an individual's
propensity to trust is associated with how they trust their groups, (2)
smaller, closed, older, more exclusive, or more homogeneous groups are trusted
more, and (3) a group's overall friendship-network structure and an
individual's position within that structure can also predict trust. Last, we
demonstrate how group trust predicts outcomes at both individual and group
level such as the formation of new friendship ties.Comment: CHI 201
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Towards an online design studio: a study of social networking in design distance learning
In this paper we examine the role of social networking and online community building in distance design learning. We analysed interactions of Facebook, a popular social network site, using qualitative content analysis and social network analysis. Two distinct learner identities could be identified – a design course Content Focused Learner and a course Context Centred Socialiser. We discuss the implications of this finding particularly in respect to online design studio education
Understanding and Measuring Psychological Stress using Social Media
A body of literature has demonstrated that users' mental health conditions,
such as depression and anxiety, can be predicted from their social media
language. There is still a gap in the scientific understanding of how
psychological stress is expressed on social media. Stress is one of the primary
underlying causes and correlates of chronic physical illnesses and mental
health conditions. In this paper, we explore the language of psychological
stress with a dataset of 601 social media users, who answered the Perceived
Stress Scale questionnaire and also consented to share their Facebook and
Twitter data. Firstly, we find that stressed users post about exhaustion,
losing control, increased self-focus and physical pain as compared to posts
about breakfast, family-time, and travel by users who are not stressed.
Secondly, we find that Facebook language is more predictive of stress than
Twitter language. Thirdly, we demonstrate how the language based models thus
developed can be adapted and be scaled to measure county-level trends. Since
county-level language is easily available on Twitter using the Streaming API,
we explore multiple domain adaptation algorithms to adapt user-level Facebook
models to Twitter language. We find that domain-adapted and scaled social
media-based measurements of stress outperform sociodemographic variables (age,
gender, race, education, and income), against ground-truth survey-based stress
measurements, both at the user- and the county-level in the U.S. Twitter
language that scores higher in stress is also predictive of poorer health, less
access to facilities and lower socioeconomic status in counties. We conclude
with a discussion of the implications of using social media as a new tool for
monitoring stress levels of both individuals and counties.Comment: Accepted for publication in the proceedings of ICWSM 201
The Virtual University and Avatar Technology: E-learning Through Future Technology
E-learning gains increasingly importance in academic education. Beyond present distance learning technologies a new opportunity emerges by the use of advanced avatar technology. Virtual robots acting in an environment of a virtual campus offer opportunities of advanced learning experiences. Human Machine Interaction (HMI) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) can bridge time zones and ease professional constraints of mature students. Undergraduate students may use such technology to build up topics of their studies beyond taught lectures.
Objectives of the paper are to research the options, extent and limitations of avatar technology for academic studies in under- and postgraduate courses and to discuss students' potential acceptance or rejection of interaction with AI.
The research method is a case study based on Sir Tony Dyson's avatar technology iBot2000. Sir Tony is a worldwide acknowledged robot specialist, creator of Star Wars' R2D2, who developed in recent years the iBot2000 technology, intelligent avatars adaptable to different environments with the availability to speak up to eight different languages and capable to provide logic answers to questions asked. This technology underwent many prototypes with the latest specific goal to offer blended E-learning entering the field of the virtual 3-D university extending Web2.0 to Web3.0 (Dyson. 2009). Sir Tony included his vast experiences gained in his personal (teaching) work with children for which he received his knighthood. The data was mainly collected through interviews with Sir Tony Dyson, which helps discover the inventor’s view on why such technology is of advantage for academic studies.
Based on interviews with Sir Tony, this research critically analyses the options, richness and restrictions, which avatar (iBot2000) technology may add to academic studies. The conclusion will discuss the opportunities, which avatar technology may be able to bring to learning and teaching activities, and the foreseeable limitations – the amount of resources required and the complexity to build a fully integrated virtual 3-D campus.
Key Words: virtual learning, avatar technology, iBot2000, virtual universit
An Applied Study on Educational Use of Facebook as a Web 2.0 Tool: The Sample Lesson of Computer Networks and Communication
The main aim of the research was to examine educational use of Facebook. The
Computer Networks and Communication lesson was taken as the sample and the
attitudes of the students included in the study group towards Facebook were
measured in a semi-experimental setup. The students on Facebook platform were
examined for about three months and they continued their education
interactively in that virtual environment. After the-three-month-education
period, observations for the students were reported and the attitudes of the
students towards Facebook were measured by three different measurement tools.
As a result, the attitudes of the students towards educational use of Facebook
and their views were heterogeneous. When the average values of the group were
examined, it was reported that the attitudes towards educational use of
Facebook was above a moderate level. Therefore, it might be suggested that
social networks in virtual environments provide continuity in life long
learning.Comment: 11 page
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