E-Science and Web 2.0 in Higher Education

There are many definitions of Web 2.0 which, however, do not exclude each other. Tim O’Reilly and Dale Dougherty first used the term in 2004 when they came up with an idea of conference about Web technology development. Today, we have different numbers of Web 2.0 tools on the Internet with different purpose, and many of them are implemented in education. The education system is subject to a number of changes to ensure the quality of the studies. Thus, the introduction of new technology that allows better communication, research and access to lectures alone creates a better learning environment and easier to study. The presence of new technologies provides an entirely new approach to the education system. In this paper we will present a few Web 2.0 tools and also how they affect in Croatian education on polytechnics. By polling of the students we want to determine how much they are familiar with web technologies in a way to examine their current habits and how they should be altered to accept new technologies in education and educational systems. With results of the survey will be shown the impact of technology at polytechnics in Croatia and in the discussion we will to explain why this is so because we assume that Web technology underutilized in higher education. This work is licensed under a&nbsp;Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.</p

E-Science and Web 2.0 in Higher Education

There are many definitions of Web 2.0 which, however, do not exclude each other. Tim O’Reilly and Dale Dougherty first used the term in 2004 when they came up with an idea of conference about Web technology development. Today, we have different numbers of Web 2.0 tools on the Internet with different purpose, and many of them are implemented in education. The education system is subject to a number of changes to ensure the quality of the studies. Thus, the introduction of new technology that allows better communication, research and access to lectures alone creates a better learning environment and easier to study. The presence of new technologies provides an entirely new approach to the education system. In this paper we will present a few Web 2.0 tools and also how they affect in Croatian education on polytechnics. By polling of the students we want to determine how much they are familiar with web technologies in a way to examine their current habits and how they should be altered to accept new technologies in education and educational systems. With results of the survey will be shown the impact of technology at polytechnics in Croatia and in the discussion we will to explain why this is so because we assume that Web technology underutilized in higher education. This work is licensed under a&nbsp;Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.</p

Web 2.0 virtual design studio : social networking as facilitator of design education

In 2009, Deakin University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong trailed the use of Web 2.0 technologies to enhance learning outcomes in a third-year architectural design studio that was modelled on the virtual design studios (VDSs) of the past decades. The studio developed the VDS further by integrating a social learning environment into the blended learning experience. The Web 2.0 VDS utilized the social networking site Ning.com, YouTube, Skype and various three-dimensional modelling, video and image processing, and chat software to deliver lectures, communicate learning goals, disseminate learning resources, submitting, providing feedback and comments to various design works, and assessing of students&rsquo; outcomes. This research centres on issues of learning and teaching associated with the development of a social network VDS

Web 2.0 VDS : social networking as a facilitator of design education

In 2009, Deakin University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong trailed the use of Web 2.0 technologies to enhance learning outcomes in a third year architectural design studio that was modelled on the Virtual Design Studios (VDS) of past decades. The studio developed the VDS further by integrating a social learning environment into the blended learning experience. The Web 2.0 VDS utilised the social networking sites Ning.com, YouTube and Skype; various 3D modelling and video- and/or image-processing software; plus chat-software. These were used in combination to deliver lectures, communicate learning goals, disseminate learning resources, submit work, and provide feedback and comments on various design works in assessing students&rsquo; outcomes. This paper centres on issues of learning and teaching associated with the development of a Social Network VDS (SNVDS).<br /

Web 1.0 - 4.0: Zwischen Reparaturbetrieb und ferner Vision.

Die 10. InetBib-Tagung fand vom 9. bis 11. April in den Räumlichkeiten der neuen Universität in Würzburg und damit zum ersten Mal in Bayern statt. Über 450 Teilnehmer und rund 40 Vorträge bedeuteten eine neue Rekordbeteiligung. InetBib 2.0 - der Name der Tagung war Programm: Diskutiert wurden die Web-2.0-Technologien und deren Einsatz in Bibliotheken sowie ihr Mehrwert für Nutzer und Mitarbeiter. Neben diesen Themen, die auch das Second Life, die Bibliothek 2.0, den Katalog 2.0 sowie den Bibliothekar 2.0 berührten, wurden ebenfalls eher praktische Fragen aus dem Alltag behandelt, wie zum Beispiel das neue Urheberrecht und seine Konsequenzen für den Kopienversand, die Anforderungen virtueller Studiengänge an Bibliotheken und die Möglichkeiten, Benutzern eBooks anzubieten.The 10th InetBib Conference took place from April 9th to 11th in the new University of Würzburg and thus for the first time in Bavaria. It was a record attendance of more than 450 participants. In about 40 lectures Web-2.0-Technologies and their use in libraries were discussed, concerning the benefit for both users and staff. In addition the new German copyright, its impact on document delivery and the presentation of e-books were discussed

Attendance at the 6th Annual Library Leadership Institute, 18-22 April 2008, at Shantou

This a report of an institute on library leadership (based at the Hong Kong University) with a format of eight lectures, each followed by 20 to 30-minute break-out sessions, and a case study that formed a crucial part of the program; each team was assigned a case study topic. Within the presentations, topics and themes covered include: Strategic planning, effective leadership, organizational change, learning commons concept, promoting and supporting Web 2.0 services on campus, new generation users, Library 2.0 phenomenon, social software and networking, scholarly communications, transformative technologies and a discovery culture, and state-of-the art of libraries international trends

Enhancing the use of Web 2.0 Technologies in Higher Education: Students’ and Lectures’ Views

Learning quality enhancement with Web 2.0 tools needs good implementation framework and lessons from best practice. However, there is not much research on what constitutes best practice in the implementation of Web 2.0 in learning activities. This research seeks to fill this gap by seeking the views of students and lecturers on increased adoption of Web 2.0 social tools in learning activities. The research reports on the quantitative and qualitative study carried out in UK. This research reveals that improved learning experience with the use of Web 2.0 tools in higher education is positively related to perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, prior knowledge, motivation to use, social factors, facilitating condition and performance expectancy

Harnessing 3D applications for technology enhanced learning

For several years computer supported cooperative work applications have been applicable to the field of e-learning. Video conferencing, computer mediated communication, shared whiteboards and so many other Groupware tools have been used in the past to facilitate teaching and learning online. Web 2.0 and social networking tools created a second wave of e-learning applications that assist learners to communicate. Previous work focused on investigating the feasibility of applying CSCW as well as Web 2.0 technologies in distance education and e-learning. However it seems that a significant part in the relevant literature is concerned primarily with the investigation of how such technologies affect communication, collaboration and similar activities. Over the past few years the authors have identified the importance of understanding the impact of using Web 3D applications in constructivist elearning paradigms. Our focus was on defining the role of Web 3D applications as a complementary technology to the use of traditional Virtual Learning Environment. In this paper we discuss the use of Second Life in a number of pilot studies ranging from seminar sessions and lectures to various collaboration activities between students residing in different locations. The paper describes the preparation of the learning environment in preparation for the delivery of different learning activities. Anecdotal evidence combined with survey results are discussed with respect to the ways the virtual world has enhanced the students’ learning experience. A summary of key findings with respect to the impact of Second Life to both student learning experience and the role of the academic is also provided. The paper contributes in the field by identifying evidence of good practice as well as compiling guidelines and criteria for success in integrating Second Life applications to existing e-learning provision

An Investigation of Online Tools and Teaching, Social, and Cognitive Presence in a Large Hybrid Online Class

The purpose of this research study was to explore the impact of specific Web 2.0 tools on students\u27 experience of teaching, social, and cognitive presence and motivation when enrolled in a very large hybrid course. With online course enrollments continuing to grow at a higher rate than traditional enrollments in higher education (Allen & Seaman, 2011) and universities increasing class sizes as a way to meet this demand with fewer fiscal resources, it is imperative to find ways to keep students engaged and motivated when enrolled in very large classes. This study used the Community of Inquiry framework (Garrison, Anderson & Archer, 2000) to examine the effect of specific Web 2.0 tools (asynchronous discussion, streaming lectures, multimedia lecture demonstrations, Twitter, and the Second Life virtual world) on teaching, social, and cognitive presence and motivation. The sample population for this study (n = 567) consisted of undergraduate students enrolled in a very large hybrid accounting course in the fall of 2010 at the University of Central Florida. The total enrollment for the course was 943 students. Students could attend face-to-face (f2f) class sessions in a large lecture room that seated 285 students or they could view a streaming video capture of the lectures online. Students were not required to attend the f2f class sessions and could complete the course entirely online. Data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variances (ANOVA), and results of the statistical analyses indicated that students who frequently used the Web 2.0 tools had statistically significant higher mean motivation scores than students who did not use the tools as frequently. Additionally, students who frequently attended the f2f sessions had statistically significant higher mean social presence scores compared to students who attended sometimes or not at all. Attending the f2f sessions, however, did not result in higher mean scores of teaching or cognitive presence. When examined for the impact of the specific Web 2.0 tools, analysis of the ANOVA results indicated that students who used the discussion, streaming lectures, multimedia lecture demonstrations, and Twitter all of the time had significantly higher mean scores of teaching, social, and cognitive presence compared to those students who used the tools less frequently. Further research should be conducted on large hybrid and online courses in different content areas and on those that use different types of learning approaches