The role of social networks in students’ learning experiences

The aim of this research is to investigate the role of social networks in computer science education. The Internet shows great potential for enhancing collaboration between people and the role of social software has become increasingly relevant in recent years. This research focuses on analyzing the role that social networks play in students’ learning experiences. The construction of students’ social networks, the evolution of these networks, and their effects on the students’ learning experience in a university environment are examined

The role of social networks in students' learning experiences

SIGCSE December 2007.The aim of this research is to investigate the role of social networks in computer science education. The Internet shows great potential for enhancing collaboration between people and the role of social software has become increasingly relevant in recent years. This research focuses on analyzing the role that social networks play in students’ learning experiences. The construction of students’ social networks, the evolution of these networks, and their effects on the students’ learning experience in a university environment are examined.Keywords: Social network, computer science education, student experience, higher education, learning proces

Web Base Student Social Networking Community

The Internet users are growing significantly in the field of social networks such as blogs, forums and groups. Online social networks (OSNs) have gained popularity among users from all over the world during the past few years. And E-learning has made learning process quite convenient for users by using the networks. Online learning communities are described as meeting the needs of distance learners, and provide flexibility for students within the campus. In this research, we provide environments that allow new modes of active learning, particularly between the role of teachers and learners to direct and mediate the language learning process in networked communities. SNSs systems and the personal learning environments associated with them, and improve and facilitate interaction and communication between the efficiency of the trainees in the field of information technology to exchange experiences in programming languages

Reflections on Evaluating Online Learning and Teaching

In this chapter, I will discuss my decade of evaluation activities relating to online learning experiences, with a focus on methods. These online experiences range from setting up online networks for social interaction, facilitating collaborative learning experiences among graduate students in several universities, moderating worldwide online professional development activities, and teaching entirely online. Most of my online experiences relate to my role as a professor at the University of New Mexico where I teach graduate level courses in distance education and educational telecommunications. In this respect, I would like to acknowledge the valuable lessons I have learned from many students and colleagues who have collaborated with me and helped me develop my understanding of how learning occurs in online networks. For me the greatest value of online learning is in the concept of “networked learning,” the opportunity to engage in collaborative, reflective learning for an extended period of time with individuals who may be thousands of miles apart, in very different time zones. As I study online learning, I am more interested in discovering the “process” of learning rather than the “product,” that is, how did this specific online group share multiple perspectives, negotiate meaning, and come to new understandings? and how did individual participants in this group, change their own perceptions as a result of this group process? One of the difficulties I have experienced as a practitioner however, is assigning individual worth to collaborative group learning processes, when institutional policies often require assessment of individual learning

Global Changemakers - Hope for the Future

This exploratory qualitative research study explores the journey of changemakers and the role of formal and informal curricula in shaping students\u27 understanding of social change and motivating them to take action. In addition, it investigates transformative experiences encountered through critical reflection and experiential learning and the steps universities could take to equip future changemakers with the necessary tools, skills, and mindset. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with three male and two female students as well as one female teacher at Ritsumeikan University. The findings suggest that formal and informal curricula significantly shape students\u27 understanding of social change and motivate them to take action. Critical reflection and experiential learning are key components of the changemaking process, helping students develop the skills, confidence, and necessary networks. This research provides significant implications for higher education institutions and policymakers seeking to create and support changemakers

Secondary Students’ Narratives of Emotion Work While Engaging in Extended/Open Science Inquiry Projects

There is growing evidence showing the significance of student emotions in influencing student engagement and achievement. However, naturalistic studies that provide insights into contextual factors that engender students’ emotion experiences and how students manage these experiences to promote the achievement of their academic goals have been sparse. This study investigated secondary students’ emotion work (i.e., attempts to change the degree or quality of emotion experiences) within a distinctive learning environment. The forty-four participants (15-17 years old) were high-achieving students in a selective, science specialist school in the Philippines, who were undertaking two-year open school science inquiry projects with links to real-world research. Students’ emotion work narratives (68 written narratives and 57 narrative interviews) were collected over a ten-month period (which included an eight-month field work). Data analysis focused on situations that engendered emotion work and the strategies students used. School artefacts and students’ narratives were examined for ideas about achievement that were transmitted to and apprehended by students (i.e., achievement discourses), and how these discourses were linked to students’ emotion work. Five thematic groups of situations and four families of emotion work strategies were identified. The emotiveness of the situations was heightened by discourses that associated achievement with students’ social identities and extraordinary performances. Students’ emotion work served the instrumental goals of sustaining engagement in school work, managing the impact of problematic relationships with peers and teachers, and maintaining students’ social identities. Students demonstrated agency in how they harnessed for their emotion work the resources and opportunities afforded by their social networks and by the achievement discourses. This research underscores the role of emotion work in students’ effective functioning in a demanding learning environment with high levels of uncertainty. Its findings suggest the need for more research that explores students’ potential to shape their school experiences through emotion work

Birth Order and the Academic and Social Success of College Students

The purpose of the study of Birth Order and the Academic and Social Success of College Students was to examine the relationship between birth order and the academic and social experiences that students have during their college years. An ideal college experience involves students being actively engaged in what they are learning and having positive social interactions and support networks. Unfortunately, the college experiences of many students fall short of these expectations and they struggle to continue their pursuit of higher education. Depression has become a serious concern on college campuses. Understanding the birth orders that may create challenges in achieving academic or social success could reduce the number of college students having negative college experiences. This study utilized an anonymous and voluntary survey where Syracuse University students were asked to evaluate their own personalities and college experiences as well as answer demographic questions such as age, gender, order of birth in family, and the genders and order of birth for their siblings. This study broke birth order down into two components: sibling role and gender role. Sibling role was defined as the role a person assumes as an older sibling, a younger sibling, neither, or both. Gender role was defined as the role a person assumes as a brother or sister in relation to other siblings, if any. Both sibling role and gender role were explored to determine if they influenced academic and social success. The results of the survey were statistically analyzed using SPSS to determine how birth order may affect academic and social success in college. There were 505 responses to the survey from undergraduate students at Syracuse University. It was found that only-borns and middle-borns who have the same gender as all of their siblings held the lowest scores for academic and social success. It was also found that these two populations were least likely to view their birth orders favorably. These findings were then used to discuss potential challenges facing these college students and to explore how social workers can use this study about birth order to address these problems. Knowledge and understanding of birth order and its effects may help social workers address unmet needs or disadvantages that children may be experiencing as a result of their sibling and gender roles. Having a better understanding of the relationship between birth order and academic and social success can help social workers address unmet needs of children in order to give them the tools to enjoy positive college experiences

Learning networks for professional development:Current research approaches and future trends

Learning networks are technology supported communities through which learners share knowledge with each other and jointly develop new knowledge (Sloep & Berlanga, 2011). This way, learning networks enrich the experience of continuous professional development and lifelong learning. Examples of learning networks for professional development are communities of employees who want to improve customer services, lawyers who want exchange knowledge and experience, and communities of teachers who exchange their experiences and seek for collaboration. Learning networks that support activities for educational professionals is enjoying increasing interest, see for instance Cloudworks (http://cloudworks.ac.uk/), Tapped-In (http://tappedin.org), or eTwinning (www.etwinning.net). However, the full potential and added value of these networks could be maximised if new frameworks, tools and techniques would be developed (Schlager, et al., 2009). A case in point is the European project Teacher’s Lifelong Learning Networks (Tellnet). This project aims to study professional development networks by exploring analysis and visualisation techniques to identify relevant structures and patterns, and to specify performance indicators for facilitating collaboration, innovation and creativity of teachers. Tools are investigated to foster peer-support, collaboration, and increase social capital. Moreover, specific future scenarios on the role of teacher networks for learning are developed, bringing together the evidence found with emerging social and technical trends in Europe. The above mentioned eTwinning network is taken as study case. eTwinning promotes teacher and school collaboration through the use of ICT. It is a large online network (over 150.000 European teachers) in which teachers can work with each other and learn from each other. Through this network, collaborative cross-border school projects can be started on a wide variety of subjects, e.g. having multiple primary school students working together and learning about different cultures. Additionally, teachers can attend a variety of professional development activities, such as online Groups or Learning Labs to improving both personal and professional teaching skills. The aim of this symposium is to present current Tellnet efforts that aim to understand and enhance learning networks for professional development. This includes contributions that attempt to answer questions such as: how network learning can contribute to successful continuous professional development and competence building? How could learning analytics be used in order to identify benefits of learning networks, such as social capital? What will be the role of networks in the coming years? Answering these questions requires a holistic approach that considers pedagogical and technical underpinnings, as well as individual, social and organizational aspects

L2 Investment in the Transnational Context: A Case Study of PRC Scholar Students in Singapore

Despite growing research on mainland Chinese international students’ intercultural language learning and adjustment experiences in Anglophone countries, few studies have delved into these students’ socially constructed language learning practices as an essential component of their study-abroad journey, especially in Singapore which shares linguistic and cultural affinities with China. As such, building on Darvin and Norton’s (2015) theory of investment at the intersection of identity, capital, and ideology, this case study focuses on Chinese foreign talent students in Singapore and aims to understand how they invest in learning English as an additional language (L2) and assert their legitimate place in the transnational context. Based on the analysis of data collected from two focused students (Baoyu and Gongcai, both pseudonyms), this study reveals the varied, complex, and agentive ways in which the two cases invested in English learning and English-mediated social interactions. It showed that both participants developed different investment pathways, which were shaped by their endeavors to reconstruct desired identities and their motivation to actualize capital conversion. Their investment in English language learning was also largely impacted by dominant ideologies and institutional policies. This study contributes to the field by highlighting the role of social networks in shaping learners’ investment practices, the influence of cultural capital on their investment choices, and the role of agency in challenging prevailing ideologies and navigating sociocultural dynamics in the study-abroad context. This study also proposes educational and policy implications concerning Chinese foreign talent students in Singapore and points out directions for future research

The Highs and Lows of Ubiquitous Connectivity: Investigating University Students' Experiences and Connections with Well-being

Higher Education has seen a dramatic increase in the use of information and communication technologies in recent years. Universities around the world have built complex Information System infrastructures implementing local networks, wireless networks, cloud services and Virtual Learning Environments (VLE). These technological changes have stretched and expanded the boundaries of traditional campus universities in space and time allowing easy and ubiquitous access to people, information and services. The term “ubiquitous connectivity” identifies this enhanced accessibility to resources due to the development of infrastructures and devices. This qualitative research adopted a holistic approach to investigate how new technologies and ubiquitous connectivity affect university students’ experiences and consequent well-being. Data were collected from on-campus students and staff members (lecturers, learning technologists, tech support, programme administrators) using a qualitative survey, semi-structured interviews and focus groups. The data were analysed using constructivist grounded theory (Charmaz 2006) and situational analysis (Clarke 2005). The data analysis shows that new technologies and ubiquitous connectivity appear to play a positive role in enhancing students’ well-being by providing them: 1. A sense of ease and freedom in managing their daily learning duties 2. A sense of connectedness with other students and lecturers 3. A sense of reassurance by knowing that peer and lecturer support is always at hand 4. A sense of improved workflow by using mobile devices to retrieve information and to take notes anytime and anywhere during the day 5. Flexibility in managing everyday life and in balancing study, work and leisure. However, in some cases new technologies and ubiquitous connectivity seem to have a negative impact on learners’ well-being. The data analysis shows that students can experience: 1. High levels of stress when technology failures occur or when online information is not accessible due to the lack of alternatives in performing their learning duties 2. Difficulties in managing information overload and the constant flux of information arriving to their devices 3. Stress and irritation when dealing with complicate website layouts and disorganised online materials 4. Lack of motivation in attending lectures due to the ease with which materials and information can be retrieved from the VLE and from peers using social apps and networks. 5. Difficulties in developing relationships with lecturers and peers due to the lack of face-to-face communication. These findings can be utilised to provide pedagogical suggestions to university stakeholders to avoid a negative impact of new technologies and ubiquitous connectivity on learners’ well-being and to improve the quality of students’ experiences