Lost in social space: Information retrieval issues in Web 1.5

This paper is concerned with the application of Web 2.0 technologies within a conventional institutional learning setting. After considering the affordances of Web 2.0 technologies vs Web 1.0 technologies and a framework for viewing social software in terms of groups, networks and collectives, we describe an instance of trying to use Elgg, a rich social application, to support a distance-taught course within a conventional face-to-face university. A number of issues are identified, some of which are related to Elgg’s interface but the biggest of which relate to the tensions between top-down and bottom-up control and the shifting contexts of personal, group, network and collective modes of engagement. These problems suggest that, in their current form, social technologies pose intractable difficulties in information organisation and retrieval when used for formal learning. We propose a range of solutions that make use of the wisdom of the crowd combined with human intervention. This paper addresses and extends themes explored in SIRTEL 07

University students' use of technologies in China

Much has been written in the last few years about 'Net Generation' students in western industrial advanced countries (e.g. Kennedy et al. 2007; Salaway et al. 2008; Jones et al. 2010). However little is known about these students and their use of technologies at universities in China. As one of the first empirical studies of the Net Generation university students' use of technologies in mainland China, a survey was administered to students across eight disciplines in one university during May-July 2010. The aim was to understand how university students in mainland China use technologies in their daily lives and to support their learning. In total, 2920 students completed the survey and 29 students participated in the follow up interviews. The results indicate that students are not naturally competent with technologies and there is a diverse range in students' experiences with technologies even within the age group. There are statistically significant differences in students' access and skill levels with ICT across gender, disciplines and year of study. Students are frequent users of instant messaging (1M), blogs and social networking sites (SNS). Nevertheless, the use of more recent web 2.0 technologies that are often associated with this generation is relatively low. There are also an increasing number of students who access the Internet via their mobile devices. Computers and the Internet have not been fully integrated into the university system, and most students use computers and the Internet for social and leisure purposes more than for learning. More in-depth investigation into students' technology practice is essential in developing appropriate guidance towards a digital culture at university in China

The impact of technology: value-added classroom practice: final report

This report extends Becta’s enquiries into the ways in which digital technologies are supporting learning. It looks in detail at the learning practices mediated by ICT in nine secondary schools in which ICT for learning is well embedded. The project proposes a broader perspective on the notion of ‘impact’ that is rather different from a number of previous studies investigating impact. Previous studies have been limited in that they have either focused on a single innovation or have reported on institutional level factors. However, in both cases this pays insufficient attention to the contexts of learning. In this project, the focus has been on the learning practices of the classroom and the contexts of ICT-supported learning. The study reports an analysis of 85 lesson logs, in which teachers recorded their use of space, digital technology and student outcomes in relation to student engagement and learning. The teachers who filled in the logs, as well as their schools’ senior managers, were interviewed as part of a ‘deep audit’ of ICT provision conducted over two days. One-hour follow-up interviews with the teachers were carried out after the teachers’ log activity. The aim of this was to obtain a broader contextualisation of their teaching

OpenLearn Research Report 2006-2008

This report takes the experience of OpenLearn over its two-years of operation to reflect on what it means to offer free resources and the issues that we have been able to explore and learn from. The structure of the document is: (1) The OpenLearn initiative - an overview (2) OpenLearn research methods (3) Designing for Open Content (4) Types of user of OpenLearn (5) OpenLearn modes of us

Designing an information infrastructure to support research degree programmes : identifying information and technology needs

PhD ThesisExtensive previous research has shown that web-based technologies have the potential to improve and enhance the quality of learning both on campus and at a distance. However, most of these studies have focused on the application of web-based technologies to support either undergraduates or taught postgraduate programmes, particularly, the use of Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) system to complement module-based courses. Evidence from previous research on the use of VLE to support research students in the context of specific modules showed mixed results. Analysis of the VLE literature suggests that the system arranges courses based on academic calendar. Thus, students will not be able to access the system after the semester end. With postgraduate research, the processes of research are often incomplete even when students have graduated and they often seek to further the work through publication in journals. Therefore, using VLE alone would not possibly support the need of research student, particularly the support that they need throughout the stages of the research life cycle. Therefore, the main aim of this study is to investigate how a web portal could be designed to support the research students throughout the research life cycle. A conceptualised web portal design has been constructed through an extensive review of the web-based technologies, learning theories and research degrees literature. The conceptualised web portal design illustrates that the design is underpinned by adult learning theories and the theory of stages in socialisation development, which in turn inform the framework of this research study. This model was then validated and updated through four action research cycles. A web portal system was developed, using the prototyping method to demonstrate the application of the web portal design informed by the adult learning theories and theory of stages in socialisation development. The research findings suggest that action research and prototyping methodology is capable of designing a web portal that is able to support the needs of research students in the context of a life cycle approach. Furthermore, the study reveals that personalisation and customisation features have proved to be useful in providing relevant information to research students at each stage of the research students’ study. It was found that research students value dynamic content such as Really Simple Syndication (RSS) features for providing condensed, updated content relevant to their interests.Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysi

Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse