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Linköping 20120930 eSocialNetwork Classroom Final Project Report Author: Peter Bunus Department of Computer and Information Science, Linköping University

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Page 1: eSocialNetworkClassroom- Final-Project-Report-Linköping2012,09,30!! eSocialNetworkClassroom-Final-Project-Report--Author:!Peter!Bunus! Department!of!Computer!andInformation Science,!LinköpingUniversity!

 

   

Linköping  2012-­‐09-­‐30  

 

eSocialNetwork  Classroom  

Final  Project  Report  

 Author:  Peter  Bunus  

Department  of  Computer  and  Information  Science,  Linköping  University  

Page 2: eSocialNetworkClassroom- Final-Project-Report-Linköping2012,09,30!! eSocialNetworkClassroom-Final-Project-Report--Author:!Peter!Bunus! Department!of!Computer!andInformation Science,!LinköpingUniversity!

Linköping  University   [SOCIAL  NETWORK  CLASSROOM]    

Peter  Bunus  Department  of  Computer  and  Information  Science  SE  581-­‐32,  Linköping,  SWEDEN  Email:  [email protected]   Page  2    

Table  of  Content    

1   Project  Summary  .............................................................................................................................  3  

2   Project  Summary  .............................................................................................................................  3  

2.1   Project  Motivation  ...................................................................................................................  3  

2.2   Description  of  the  Project  Objectives  ......................................................................................  4  

2.3   Technical  Architecture  of  the  eSocialClassroom  ......................................................................  4  

3   Deployed  Technical  Platforms  and  Project  Results  .........................................................................  6  

4   Observed  Benefits  of  the  Project  ....................................................................................................  8  

4.1   Educational  Benefits  ................................................................................................................  8  

4.2   Social  Benefits  ........................................................................................................................  10  

4.3   Benefits  for  the  Educators  .....................................................................................................  11  

4.4   Benefits  for  LIU  .......................................................................................................................  11  

5   Pedagogical  Motivation  of  the  Project  ..........................................................................................  12  

6   Contact  Information  ..........................................................................  Error!  Bookmark  not  defined.  

7   References  ....................................................................................................................................  14  

 

     

Page 3: eSocialNetworkClassroom- Final-Project-Report-Linköping2012,09,30!! eSocialNetworkClassroom-Final-Project-Report--Author:!Peter!Bunus! Department!of!Computer!andInformation Science,!LinköpingUniversity!

Linköping  University   [SOCIAL  NETWORK  CLASSROOM]    

Peter  Bunus  Department  of  Computer  and  Information  Science  SE  581-­‐32,  Linköping,  SWEDEN  Email:  [email protected]   Page  3    

1 Project  Summary  Online   social   networking   is   an   important   part   in   the   everyday   life   of   college   students.  Despite   the  increasing   popularity   of   online   social   networking   among   students   and   faculty   members,   its  educational  benefits  are  largely  untested.  The  project  aimed  to  exploit  and  use  the  platform  offered  by  social  networking  application,  video  content  distribution  websites  and  mobile  electronic  devices  like  mobile   phones,   iPods,   iPhones   and   iPads   as   a   complement   of   traditional   classroom   education.   In  particular   the   solution   was   based   on   effective   adaptation,   extension   and   integration   of   Facebook,  Twitter,   YouTube   and   iTunes   services   for   delivering   educational   material   to   students   on   mobile  platforms   like   iPods   and   smart   mobile   phones.   The   goals   of   the   proposed   educational   platform,  described   in   this   proposal   was   to   make   the   learning   experience   more   engaging,   to   encourage  collaborative  work  and  knowledge  sharing  among  students,  and   to  provide  an   interactive  platform  for  the  educators  to  reach  students  and  deliver  lecture  material  in  a  totally  new  way.        

2 Project  Summary  

2.1 Project  Motivation  Teens  and  college  students,  ages  12  to  28  years,  have  embraced  very  quickly  online  technologies  that  enable  social,  communicative  and  creative  uses.  They  are  more  likely  that  other  age  categories  to  send  and   receive   email   messages,   play   online   games,   create   blogs,   download   music   search   for   school  information  online  or  simply  spending  time  online.  They  are  used  that  information  is  delivered  in  this  way.  Traditional  classroom  education  simply  does  not  fulfill   the  expectation  of  our  students.  Use  of  media   and  modern  means   of   interaction   has   literally   rewired   the  way   that   our   students   think   and  process   information.   Moreover,   the   capability   of   thinking   out   of   the   box   is   very   important   for   a  becoming   software   engineer   (the   main   career   target   for   our   students   at   the   Computer   Science  Department).   The   most   creative   solutions   arise   when   we   are   abandoning   our   preconceptions   and  trying   out   totally   new   ideas   and  making  unusual   associations.  Most   of   our   students  with  major   in  Computer  Science,  after  graduation  will  eventually  work  for  companies  that  provide  Web  2.0  related  technologies  of  target  audiences  using  mobile  platforms.  Therefore  it  is  extremely  important  that  we  provide  to  the  students  challenging  learning  environments  and  lecture  content  that  will  give  them  the  possibility  to  exercise  creative  thinking  as  well  as  to  experience  Web  2.0  technologies,  social  networks  and  mobile  platform  from  the  customer  point  of  view  as  well.  

According   to   a   December   2008   survey   performed   by   Lenhart   2009   [6]   for   the   PEW   Internet   and  American  Life  Project  the  share  of  the  adult  users  who  have  a  profile  on  an  online  social  network  has  grown  from  8%  in  2005  to  35%  in  December  2008.  It  is  worth  noticing  that  the  social  network  users  are  equally  likely  to  be  men  and  women,  and  also  more  likely  to  be  young:  75%  of  adults  between  18  and  24   have   an   online   profile   as   do   57%   of   adults   between   25   and   35,   according   to   the   same   study.  Moreover  68%  of  full  time  students  and  71%  of  part-­‐‑time  students  have  a  social  network  profile.  

It   is   even  more   interesting   to   take  a   look   in   the  kind  of   activities   those  young  people  are   engaging  themselves   when   they   are   online.   Table   1   depicts   the   generational   differences   in   online   activities  according  to  another  study  performed  by  Jones  and  Fox  2009  [4]  for  PEW  Internet  and  American  Life  Project.   It   can   be   noticed   that   a   large   proportion   of   the   people  with   ages   between   18-­‐‑28   years   (the  typical   age   of   our   students)   are   using   the   internet   for   watching   videos   online   (72%),   send   instant  messages   (59%),   reading  blogs   (43%)  or  use  social  networking  sites   (67%).  The  survey   from  Table  1  

Page 4: eSocialNetworkClassroom- Final-Project-Report-Linköping2012,09,30!! eSocialNetworkClassroom-Final-Project-Report--Author:!Peter!Bunus! Department!of!Computer!andInformation Science,!LinköpingUniversity!

Linköping  University   [SOCIAL  NETWORK  CLASSROOM]    

Peter  Bunus  Department  of  Computer  and  Information  Science  SE  581-­‐32,  Linköping,  SWEDEN  Email:  [email protected]   Page  4    

shows  that  teens  and  younger  people  ages  18-­‐‑32  are  significantly  more  likely  than  older  users  to  send  and   receive   instant   messages,   playing   online   games,   create   blogs   or   download   videos.   This  demonstrates  that  they  have  already  adopted  this  new  technology  and  they  are  used  that  information  is  delivered  to  them  in  this  way.  

 Table  1.  Generational  differences  in  online  activities  according  to  Jones  and  Fox  2009  [4].    

 Online  Teens  (12-­‐17)  

Gen  Y  (18-­‐32)  

Gen  X  (33-­‐44)  

Younger  Boomers  (45-­‐54)  

Older  Boomers  (55-­‐63)  

Silent  Generation  (64-­‐72)  

G.I  Generation  (73+)  

All  Online  Adults  

Go  online   93%   87%   82%   79%   70%   56%   31%   74%  

Play  games  online   78   50   38   26   28   25   18   35  Watch    videos  online   57   72   57   49   30   24   14   52  Get  info  about  a  job   30   64   55   43   36   11   10   47  Send  instant  messages   68   59   38   28   23   25   18   38  Use  social  networking  sites   65   67   36   20   9   11   4   35  Download  music   59   58   46   22   21   16   5   37  Create  SNS  profile   55   60   29   16   9   5   4   29  Read  blogs   49   43   34   27   25   23   15   32  Create  a  blog   28   20   10   6   7   6   6   11  Visit  a  virtual  world   10   2   3   1   1   1   0   2  

2.2 Description  of  the  Project  Objectives  The  goal  of  the  project  was  to  leverage  new  online  technologies  that  the  students  are  already  using  in  their  every  day  work  or  in  their  free  time.  It  this  way  we  could  make  the  learning  experience  of  the  students   more   effective   and   engaging.   We   have   proposed   the   use   and   integration   of   social  networking   sites,   podcasting   technologies   and   applications   developed   for   mobile   devices   into   a  collaborative   online   educational   platform   called   eSocialClassroom.   Our   expectation   was   that   the  eSocialClassroom   should   encourage   collaborative  work   and   knowledge   sharing   among   students   and  function  as  a  platform  for  the  educators  to  reach  the  students  and  deliver  lecture  material  in  a  totally  new  way.  

2.3 Technical  Architecture  of  the  eSocialClassroom  Traditionally  additional  course  and  class  material  is  delivered  to  the  student  in  a  printed  form  during  the  lecture  or  electronically  via  the  course  webpage.  However  the  delivered  electronic  content  via  the  webpage,   in   most   of   the   cases,   is   in   the   form   of   a   PDF   file   of   the   lecture   slides   and   can   be   only  visualized  on  a  computer.  The  right  side  of  Figure  1  illustrates  this  approach.  From  the  teacher  point  of  view  this  is  a  very  convenient  way  of  delivering  the  classroom  material:  it  can  be  done  very  quickly  and  requires  very  little  technical  knowledge  about  the  web  technologies.  From  the  students  point  of  view  this  will  require  some  discipline  like  checking  regularly  the  course  web  page  for  updates  or  for  new  material.   It   is   a   safe   communication   channel   between   the   teacher   and   the   students.  However  there   are   several   disadvantages   with   this   approach:   Firstly   the   material   available   on   the   course  webpage  is  available  only  for  computers  and  cannot  be  visualized  on  mobile  devices.  Moreover  the  material   is   seldom   interactive   or   exploits   the   multimedia   technologies   available.   Secondly,   the  students  enrolled   in  a  course  hardly  know  their  colleagues  or  have  course  related   interaction.  Their  interaction  is  limited  to  the  breaks  between  the  lecture  hours  or  during  the  laboratory  sessions.  As  for  example   the   students   enrolled   in   the   TDDB84   Design   Pattern   course   (for   which   the   proposed  platform   was   already   experimentally   tested)   are   coming   from   5   different   undergraduate   program  lines  and   two  different   international  master  education  programs.  More   than  25%  of   the  student  are  exchange  foreign  students.      

Page 5: eSocialNetworkClassroom- Final-Project-Report-Linköping2012,09,30!! eSocialNetworkClassroom-Final-Project-Report--Author:!Peter!Bunus! Department!of!Computer!andInformation Science,!LinköpingUniversity!

Linköping  University   [SOCIAL  NETWORK  CLASSROOM]    

Peter  Bunus  Department  of  Computer  and  Information  Science  SE  581-­‐32,  Linköping,  SWEDEN  Email:  [email protected]   Page  5    

To  overcome   some  of   these  problems,  we  have  propose   and   implemented   an   educational  platform  called  eSocialClassroom  (see  Figure  1  below)  that  combines  Web  2.0  technology,  social  networking  and  mobile  application  for  delivering  educational  material  to  the  student  in  a  new  and  innovative  way.    

 

 

Figure  1.  The  eSocialClassroom  Technical  Architecture.  

The   eSocialClassroom   Platform   was   built   on   Web   2.0   and   mobile   technologies   and   experimentally  deployed   for   a   several   semesters   in   a   Computer   Science   class   (Design   Patterns)   at   Linköping  University,  Sweden.  In  addition  to  the  normal  course  web  page  the  following  components  have  been  used:          

• iTunes  and  YouTube  for  podcasting  course  related  multimedia  content  to  the  students.  Audio  files  and  classroom  related  video  content  like  recoded  lecture  sessions  combined  with  slideshow  presentations  can  be  automatically  podcasted  to  students.  The  classroom  material  podcasted  by  the  teacher  is  automatically  downloaded  to  the  student’s  mobile  device  (IPhones,  Ipods  or  mobile  phones),  so  the  students  receive  an  up  to  date  material.  Many  American  universities  have  already  a  presence  on  Apple  iTunes  from  where  they  can  distribute  video  and  audio  lectures  to  the  students.  Just  as  an  example  we  can  mention  Stanford  University  http://itunes.stanford.edu/  Carnagie  Mellon  University  http://www.cmu.edu/itunesu/  or  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology  http://web.mit.edu/itunesu/  that  are  providing  podcasting  services  for  the  students.    Recently  several  other  online  course  contend  distributions  platform  have  appeared  such  as  Udacity  (http://www.udacity.com/)  or  Stanford’s  University  Course  online  platform  (https://www.coursera.org/).  During  this  project  we  have  also  investigated  the  possibility  of  developing  interactive  mobile  teaching  applications  for  IPhone,  ITouch  and  IPad  devices.    

• Use  of  social  networks  sites  such  as  Facebook  and  Twitter  for  distribution  of  course  announcements,  course  related  link,  interactive  slide  shows  and  quizzes.  In  this  way  students  

Page 6: eSocialNetworkClassroom- Final-Project-Report-Linköping2012,09,30!! eSocialNetworkClassroom-Final-Project-Report--Author:!Peter!Bunus! Department!of!Computer!andInformation Science,!LinköpingUniversity!

Linköping  University   [SOCIAL  NETWORK  CLASSROOM]    

Peter  Bunus  Department  of  Computer  and  Information  Science  SE  581-­‐32,  Linköping,  SWEDEN  Email:  [email protected]   Page  6    

can  have  access  to  additional  course  material  is  a  new  and  innovative  way  while  they  can  also  know  each  other  better  and  interact  during  the  course.  A  special  Facebook  group  was  created  for  the  students  enrolled  in  the  Design  Patterns  course.  71%  of  all  the  students  enrolled  in  the  Design  Pattern  Class  have  also  joined  the  Facebook  group.  The  Facebook  group  enrolment  was  optional.  Several  pre-­‐‑exam  quizzes  have  been  distributed  to  the  students  before  the  exam  period.    

3 Deployed  Technical  Platforms  and  Project  Results  During   the   execution   of   the   project   the   following   technical   platforms   have   been   experimentally  deployed   for   several   courses   given   by   the   Department   of   Computer   and   Information   Science   at  Linköping  University:  1. Deployment  of  the  eSocialClassroom  platform  (similar  to  the  one  described  in  Figure  1)  for  the  

following  courses:  TDDB84  Design  Patterns,  TDDD29  IT  Project  Management,  TDDD31  Software  Engineering  with  International  partners,  TDDD04  Software  Testing,  TDDD05  Component-­‐‑Based  Software.  Figure  2  below  show  the  Facebook,  LinkedIn  and  Twitter  integration  into  the  traditional  course  webpage  of  the  TDDB84  Design  Patterns  course.  

 Figure  2.  The  TDDB84  Design  Patterns  course  webpage  illustrating  the  integration  with  Facebook,  Twitter  and  LinkedIn  

 

Page 7: eSocialNetworkClassroom- Final-Project-Report-Linköping2012,09,30!! eSocialNetworkClassroom-Final-Project-Report--Author:!Peter!Bunus! Department!of!Computer!andInformation Science,!LinköpingUniversity!

Linköping  University   [SOCIAL  NETWORK  CLASSROOM]    

Peter  Bunus  Department  of  Computer  and  Information  Science  SE  581-­‐32,  Linköping,  SWEDEN  Email:  [email protected]   Page  7    

2. Deployment  of  Facebook  group  pages  for  the  TDDB84  Design  Patterns,  TDDD29  IT  Project  Management,  TDDD31  Software  Engineering  with  International  partners,  TDDD04  Software  Testing,  TDDD05  Component-­‐‑Based  Software  courses.    

   

Figure  3.  The  TDDB84  Design  Pattern  Facebook  group  that  currently  has  402  members.  

Page 8: eSocialNetworkClassroom- Final-Project-Report-Linköping2012,09,30!! eSocialNetworkClassroom-Final-Project-Report--Author:!Peter!Bunus! Department!of!Computer!andInformation Science,!LinköpingUniversity!

Linköping  University   [SOCIAL  NETWORK  CLASSROOM]    

Peter  Bunus  Department  of  Computer  and  Information  Science  SE  581-­‐32,  Linköping,  SWEDEN  Email:  [email protected]   Page  8    

3. Deployment  of  experimental  interactive  quizzes  for  the  TDDB84  Design  Pattern  Course.  Figure  4  below  show  the  Quiz  module  developed  for  the  TDDB84  Design  Pattern  course  that  has  been  integrated  into  Facebook.  

Figure  4.  Interactive  Course  Quiz  for  the  TDDB84  course  platform  

4. Some  of  the  preliminary  results  of  this  project  has  been  submitted  and  accepted  at  the  1st  International  Conference  on  Technology  Enhanced  Learning,  Reforming  Education  and  Quality  of  Teaching:  

Bunus  Peter  (2010).  The  Social  Network  Classroom.  In  Proceedings  of  the  1st  International  Conference  on  Technology   Enhanced   Learning,   Reforming   Education   and   Quality   of   Teaching   (TECH-­‐‑EDUCATION  2010)  (Athens,  Greece,  19-­‐‑21  May  2010).  

5. We  are  also  collaborating  with  several  researchers  and  teachers  on  pedagogical  issues  regarding  social  networking  benefits  in  teaching,  collaboration  that  was  made  possible  through  the  interaction  provided  by  the  eSocialClassroom  platform  that  was  preliminary  deployed  for  the  TDDB84  Design  Patterns  course.    

4 Observed  Benefits  of  the  Project  During  the  project  we  have  observed  and  documented  the  following  benefits.      

4.1    Educational  Benefits  The   following   scenario   illustrates   a   typical   usage   of   the   proposed   eSocialClassroom   platform.   The  scenario  is  based  on  the  interviews  performed  on  three  students  at  the  end  of  the  course.  The  names  

 

Page 9: eSocialNetworkClassroom- Final-Project-Report-Linköping2012,09,30!! eSocialNetworkClassroom-Final-Project-Report--Author:!Peter!Bunus! Department!of!Computer!andInformation Science,!LinköpingUniversity!

Linköping  University   [SOCIAL  NETWORK  CLASSROOM]    

Peter  Bunus  Department  of  Computer  and  Information  Science  SE  581-­‐32,  Linköping,  SWEDEN  Email:  [email protected]   Page  9    

used   in   the   following   use   case  scenario   are   fictitious   and   any  resemblance   to   real   persons   is  purely  coincidental.    

Anna   Svenson,   a   student   of  University   of   Linköping,   is  enrolled   in   the   computer   science  program   in   her   last   study   year.  Soon  is   time  for  Anna  to  choose  a  final  master  project.  Anna   lives   in  Norrkoping   and   every   day   she  takes   the   campus   buss   to  Linköping   to   attend   her   lectures.  In   our   scenario   we   can   see   her  waiting   for   the   bus   at   the   central  station.  She  has  arrived  a   little  bit  earlier  to  the  station  and  while  waiting  for  the  buss  she  flips  open  her  mobile  phone  and  start  writing  an   SMS  message   to   her   friend.  After   finishing   sending   the  message   she  decides   to   check  what   her  friends   are   doing   on   Facebook.   She   connects   to   Facebook   using   the   mobile   phone   and   she   can  immediately   see   that  Angelica  her   classmate  has  posted   some  pictures   from   the   last  week  party.  A  smile  on  her  face  immediately  appears  while  looking  at  the  pictures.  There  is  also  a  friendship  request  from  a  former  classmate  David.  David  was  an  exchange  student  from  Australia.  Anna  met  him  two  years  ago,  but  after  6  month  spent  at  Linköping  University  David  went  back  home.  She  did  not  hear  from  David  since  then.  Anna  accepts  his  invitation  and  immediately  access  David’s  profile.  Now  she  can  see  that  David  become  a  graduate  student  at  Carnegie  Melon  University   in  USA.  “This   is  great”  thinks  Anna,  because  she  would  like  to  enroll  as  well  for  a  graduate  program  at  a  university  in  USA  after  her  graduation.  “Now  I  can  ask  David  how  this  can  be  done,  he  surely  went  through  this  already  and  he  might   be   able   to   help  me”.   She  quickly  writes   a  message   to  David   then   she   is   navigating  back   to   the  Facebook  home  page  to  see  what  else  happened  with  her  friends.  Then  she  notices  that  there  are  some  new   postings   from   the   Facebook   group   of   the   TDDB84   Design   Patterns   course   in   which   she   is  enrolled  this  term.  The  teacher  just  posted  a  small  video  from  YouTube  in  which  Alan  Kay  a  famous  computer  scientist  explains  the  functionality  of  an  early  computer  graphics  system  developed  at  MIT  in  the  late  60s.  Anna  remembers  that  her  professor  mentioned  something  about  that  computer  system  during  the  last  lecture.  She  watches  the  four  minutes  short  movie  and  indeed  now  she  clearly  sees  the  connection   between   the   computer   science   notions   that   her   teacher   presented   and   the   computer  graphics   system  developed  at  MIT.  She  decides   to   check   further   the  messages  on  Facebook  but   the  bus   has   arrived.  Now   it   is   time   for   a   quite   boring   50  min   trip   to   Linköping.   She   close   the  mobile  phone,  shows  the   ticket   to   the  bus  driver   than  she  takes  a  sit   in   the  bus.  “What  a  boring  trip”  –  says  Anna  trying  to  figure  out  what  do  do  during  this  trip  that  she  need  to  make  it  every  day.  She  searches  her  pockets  and  finds  the  ITouch  in  the  internal  pocket  of  the  jacket.  “This  trip  it  will  not  be  so  boring  after   all   if   I   listen   to   some   music”   –   thinks   Anna   and   carefully   removes   the   protective   cover   of   the  iTouch.  

While  searching  for  her  favorite  song  she  notices  that  the  animated  slideshows  of  the  latest  TDDB84  Design   Patterns   Lecture   together  with   the   sound   recording   of   the   lecture   have   been   automatically  downloaded  to  her  iPod  via  the  iTunes  podcasting  service.    “Ohh,  Great”  –  Anna  says  “Now  actually  I  

 Figure  5.  Recording  of  a  TDDB84  Design  Course  lecture  running  on  an  Apple    iTouch.    

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Linköping  University   [SOCIAL  NETWORK  CLASSROOM]    

Peter  Bunus  Department  of  Computer  and  Information  Science  SE  581-­‐32,  Linköping,  SWEDEN  Email:  [email protected]   Page  10    

can  check  what  the  professor  said  during  the  lecture  about  the  MIT  computer  graphics  system”.  She  opens  the  video  file  and  the  she  find  the  sequence  where  the  professors  explain  the  MIT  systems.  She  listens  to  the   explanations  while   watching   the   animated   slide   show.   “Now   everything   is   much   clear”   –   thinks  Anna  and  she  continue  to  watch  the  lecture  movie  for  5  more  minutes.    Then  she  remembers  that  she  had   some   difficulties   with   the   latest   laboratory   work   for   that   course.   She   was   simply   not   able   to  compile  the  latest  program  on  her  machine.  She  decides  to  check  the  course  discussion  forum  on  the  course  Facebook.  Maybe  some  of  her  colleagues  have  already  solved  that  problem.  Anna  opens  again  her  mobile  phone  then  and  check  the  forum.  Unfortunately  nobody  posted  a  solution  to  her  problem.  She  decides  to  post  a  question  to  her  problem  on  the  form.  She  starts  writing  the  question  and  after  finishing   she   push   the   publish   button.   “Maybe   somebody   will   help  me”   –   hopes  Anna.   She   notices   a  flashing   banner   in   the   right   corner   “Amy  Eriksson   took   an   object-­‐‑oriented   programming   skills   quiz.  Her  score  is  85.  Could  you  beat  her  score?  “I’m  sure  that  I  can  eat  her  score”  –  thinks  Anna  very  confidently.  The  quiz  was  made  by  the  teacher  of  the  design  pattern  course  and  consists  of  15  programming  questions  similar   to   those   that  will  be  given  during   the  exam.  Anna   starts  working  on   the  quiz.   It   is   actually  harder  than  she  thought  at  the  beginning.  She  finishes  the  quiz  after  15  min  with  the  final  score  of  82.  Well,  she  did  not  beat  Amy  but  she  can  see  that  42  other  colleagues  have  taken  the  quiz  and  she  has  a  score  that  it  is  in  the  top  10  of  her  class.  “It  is  not  bad”  -­‐‑  she  thinks.  While  she  is  contemplating  the  quiz  statistics   there   are   two   incoming  messages   that   informs   her   that   two   answers   were   posted   to   the  discussion  thread  that  she  opened  15  min  ago.  Two  classmates,  Mark  and  Spencer  have  both  posted  a  solution  to  Anna’s  compilation  problem.  “Ohh  it  was  so  easy  to  solve  it.  How  could  I  miss  that  compilation  directive?”  

 The   buss   finally   arrived   at   Campus   Valla   and   Anna   takes   the   shortest   way   to   the   C   Building  where   her   lecture   that   she   intends   to   attend   will   start   in   10   min.   Plenty   of   time   left   to   “tweet”   a  message  to  her  friends:  “I  feel  :-­‐‑)  today  despite  the  rainy  weather  in  Linköping.”              

4.2 Social  Benefits  The  study  performed  by  Ellison  et  al.  2007  [1]  indicates  a  clear  association  between  the  use  of  a  social  network   site   like   Facebook   and   three   types   of   social   capital:   bonding   social   capital,   bridging   social  capital   and  maintained   social   capital,   as   defined   by  Putnam   2007   [9].   Social   capital,   in   this   context  refers  to  the  resources  accumulated  through  the  relationships  among  people.  Bonding  is  the  strongest  form   of   social   capital   and   it   is   usually   manifested   among   individuals   that   are   belonging   to   a  homogenous   category   like   family,   very   close   friends   or   even   criminal   gangs.   Bridging   is   usually  manifested  among  individuals  with  the  same  goals  or  similar  interests  like  a  sport  team,  classmates  or  neighbors.   The   third   form   of   social   capital   called   maintained   refers   to   relationships   that   are   kept  despite  the  fact  that  a  significant  change  has  happened  in  the  social  networks  of  the  individuals.  As  an  example,  a  social  relationship  with  a  former  high  school  classmate  that  is  located  now  in  a  different  geographic  location  and  has  different  interest  compared  to  ours  can  be  considered  to  be  a  maintained  relations.                

A  high  social  capital  is  generally  considered  to  be  closely  related  to  positive  outcomes  for  the  society  in   general   and   a   better   psychological   “wellbeing”   of   the   individuals   that   is   part   of   the   high   social  capital  group.  For  individuals  and  for  the  students  in  particular  the  accumulated  social  capital  allows  them   to   benefit   from   the   “social   network   wisdom”   in   form   of   useful   information,   personal  relationships  that  will  directly  affect  their  academic  life  with  future  extension  to  their  professional  life.  Social  networks  like  Facebook,  LinkedIn  and  MySpace  are  actually  designed  to  exploit  bridging  and  maintained  social  capital   (people  who  kind  of  know  but  you  wouldn’t  chat  with).  According   to   the  

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Linköping  University   [SOCIAL  NETWORK  CLASSROOM]    

Peter  Bunus  Department  of  Computer  and  Information  Science  SE  581-­‐32,  Linköping,  SWEDEN  Email:  [email protected]   Page  11    

Stanford  sociologist  Mark  Granovetter  1973  [2]  weak  ties  are  more  likely  than  strong  ties  to  provide  new  information  and  opportunities  like  a  new  job  or  new  career  path.  The  resources  of  the  bonding  social  capital  are  probably  very  similar  while  the  weak  ties  will  provide  a  much  larger  diversity.        

All  the  three  types  of  social  capitals  were  visible  in  the  developed  relationships  inside  the  Facebook  group  that  we  have  created  for  the  course.  The  accumulation  of  bonding  and  bridging  social  capital  was   very   evident   among   the   members.   The   students   very   quickly   developed   a   “course   identity”  extending   to   personal   social   relationships   despite   the   fact   of   the   cultural   diversity   of   the   class  members.  The  bridging   capital  was  not  only   limited   to   the   students   enrolled   in   the   course.   Several  other  external  members  with   interest   in  computer   science  have  also   joined   the  group   together  with  other  academic  people  interested  in  educational  aspects  of  the  social  networks.  An  unexpected  aspect  was   that   we   have   also   observed   several   instances   of   maintained   relationships   in   which   former  students  from  previous  years  have  joined  the  course  social  network  site  and  interacted  with  students  or  the  teacher.  

4.3 Benefits  for  the  Educators  Much  of  the  existing  academic  research  on  social  networks  and  in  particular  on  Facebook  has  focused  on  the  social  benefits  aspects  (Ellison  et  al.  2007  [1],  Valenzuela  et  al.  2009  [10],  Zywica  and  James  2008  [11])   including  studies  on  differences  among  users  and  non-­‐‑users  of  social  networks  (Hargittai  2008  [3])  or  privacy,  identity  and  security  aspects  (Lewis  et  al.  2008  [7]).  We  are  not  aware  of  any  detailed  studies  that  address  effects  of  the  social  networking  sites  in  the  relationship  between  professors  and  students  or  between  students  in  classroom  settings  despite  the  fact  that  many  faculty  members  have  already  a  social  network  based  classroom  presence.    This  is  an  important  aspect  that  we  will  need  to  study  further  as  a  continuation  of  this  work.    

4.4 Benefits  for  LIU  We   intend   to   repeat   the   experiment   and   the   deployment   of   the   eSocialClassroom       platform   again  during  the  fall  term  2012  and  fall  term  2013.  The  student  satisfaction  and  learning  improvement  will  be  systematically  measured  by  conducting  interviews  with  the  students  and  systematic  evaluation  of  the   impact   that   the  proposed   framework  has   on   the   learning  process.   The  didactical   success   of   the  system  can  be  defined  by   the  student   satisfaction  and   the  degree  of  how  much   the  eSocialClassroom  boosts   collaboration   of   students   that   would   otherwise   work   on   their   own.   Before   extending   the  project  at  other  courses  we  need  however  to  answer  several  questions:  

• Is   there   sufficient   proof   of   educational   value   to   consider   the   proposed   platform   as   an  alternative/complement   and   as   a   non-­‐‑conventional  way   to   classical   information   distribution  (printed  lecture  notes  and  course  web  page)?  

• What  would  be  the  effect  of  such  an  information  distribution  and  how  much  will  involve  the  students?  

• Will  it  improve  learning  or  it  will  distract  the  students  from  their  usual  course  work?  • How  teacher  would  embrace  this  new  technology  and  way  of   teaching  and  how  will   impact  

our  traditional  way  of  preparing  teaching  materials?  

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Linköping  University   [SOCIAL  NETWORK  CLASSROOM]    

Peter  Bunus  Department  of  Computer  and  Information  Science  SE  581-­‐32,  Linköping,  SWEDEN  Email:  [email protected]   Page  12    

5 Pedagogical  Motivation  of  the  Project  The  goal  of  our  pedagogical  project  was  to  provide  good  practices   in  online   learning  that  would  be  realized  through  a  combination  of  collaborative  environments  and  interactive  resources  that  engage  the  learner.    

As   an   evaluation   methodology   for   the   proposed   eSocialClassroom   Framework   we   have   used   the  Conversational  Framework  developed  by  Laurillard  1993  [5].  The  teaching  strategy  advocated  by  the  Conversational   Framework  model   is   based   on   the   interaction   between   the   teacher   and   the   student  and   not   solely   on   the   actions   required   of   the   students   as   in   the   traditional   way   of   teaching.   The  conversational   Framework   follows   the   theory   of   constructivist   epistemology   that   postulates   that   the  students   constructs   and   interprets   a   reality   from   their   own   perceptions   and   prior   experience.   The  learning   environment   in  which   the   learning  process   is   taking  place   is   extremely   important  because  the  students  will  construct  their  own  knowledge  based  on  that.  The  task  of  the  teacher  is  to  provide  a  material  and  guide  the  learner  in  way  that  will  encourage  student  to  synthesize  their  own  knowledge  and   encourage   them   to   explore   and   search   for   new   information.  A  major   goal   in   a   constructivism  approach   is   to   provide   a   learning   environment   as   rich   as   possible   and   the   social   networking  applications,   mobile   multimedia   devices   and   latest   web   technologies   have   clear   possibilities   for  producing   such   environment   that   will   encourage   student’s   exploration,   as   pointed   out   by   Phillips  1998   [8].   According   to   Laurillard   1993   [5]   the   academic   learning   that   follows   the   constructivism  approach  should  be:  

• Discursive  –  between  the  teacher  and  the  students  at  the  level  of  descriptions  • Adaptive  –  adaption  of  the  environment  by  the  teacher  and  by  the  actions  of  the  students  • Interactive  –  between  the  student  and  some  aspects  of  the  environment  defined  by  the  teacher  • Reflective-­‐‑  reflection  of  the  student’s  performance  by  both  teacher  and  students  

Laurillard   argues   that   the   only   use   of   technology   which   can   meet   these   aims   is   the   "ʺmultimedia  tutorial   simulation"ʺ,   characterized   in   terms   of   guided-­‐‑discovery   learning.   The   eSocialClassroom  platform  proposed   in   this  project   aims   to  be   a   “multimedia   tutorial   simulation”   for   the   courses   for  which  it  will  be  deployed.  

Figure   6   depicts   the   workflow   between   teachers   and   students   during   the   learning   process   in   a  conversational  framework.      

 Figure  6.  Laurillard  1993  [5]  Conversational  Framework.    

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Linköping  University   [SOCIAL  NETWORK  CLASSROOM]    

Peter  Bunus  Department  of  Computer  and  Information  Science  SE  581-­‐32,  Linköping,  SWEDEN  Email:  [email protected]   Page  13    

In   the   proposed   project   the   eSocialClassroom   platform   should   take   the   place   of   the   “Teacher’s  Constructed  Environment”  from  Figure  6.  The  primary  workflow  actions  that  take  place  in  interactive  medium  are  as  follows:  

6. Teacher  describes  conceptions  to  the  students.  7. Students  redescribes  the  conceptions  presented  by  the  teacher.  8. Teacher  redescribe  conception  in  light  of  the  students  conception  or  action.  9. Student  redescribes  conception  in  light  of  the  Teacher’s  redescription.  10. Teacher  set  up  micro-­‐‑world  activities  in  light  of  student  description  or  action.  11. The  Teacher  set  up  goals  for  the  micro-­‐‑world  activities.  12. Students  interact  with  the  micro-­‐‑world  activities  and  the  environment  set  up  by  the  teacher.  13. The  Teacher’s  constructed  environment  gives  a  feedback  on  the  Student’s  actions.  14. Students  modify  actions  in  light  of  the  feedback.  15. Students  adapt  their  action  in  light  of  theory,  goal  and  feedback  16. Students  reflect  on  their  own  performance  17. Teacher  reflects  on  student’s  action  and  modify  conception  or  the  constructed  environment.    

During   the  project  we  have   evaluated   the   following   aspects   in   the   context   of   the   eSocialClassroom  framework  according  to  the  following  table:    Conversational  Framework  Aspect  

Learning  aspect  description  according  to  Laurillard  1993  [5]  

Support  and  measurement  provided  by  the  eSocialClassroom  Platform    

Discursive   Teachers  and  students  conceptions  should  each  be  accessible  to  other.  

Facebook,  Twitter,  LinkedIn,  Blogger  will  be  deployed  for  continuous  communication  between  students  and  teacher  and  among  students.    

 

Teacher  and  student  must  agree  learning  goals  for  the  topic  and  task  goals.  

Teacher  must  provide  an  environment  within  which  students  can  act  on,  generate  and  receive  feedback  on  descriptions  appropriate  to  the  topic  goals.  

Adaptive   The  teacher  has  the  responsibility  to  use  the  relationship  between  their  own  and  the  student’s  conception  to  determine  the  focus  of  the  continuing  dialogue.    

Continuous  adaptation  of  the  teaching  material  in  light  of  the  students  conception  or  action.  

 Learners  must  to  integrate  feedback  and  link  it  to  their  own  conceptions  

Interactive   The  students  must  act  to  achieve  the  task  goals   Creation  of  interactive  quizzes,  interactive  multimedia  teaching  material  for  mobile  deployment  (IPhone,  IPad,  3rd  generation  mobile  phone  applications),  Facebook  educational  games,  etc.  

The  teacher  must  provide  meaningful  intrinsic  feedback  on  the  actions  that  relate  to  the  nature  of  the  task  goal.    

Reflective   The  teacher  must  support  the  process  in  which  students  link  the  feedback  on  their  actions  to  the  topic  goal  for  every  level  of  description  within  the  topic  structure.    

The  interactive  applications  developed  in  the  framework  of  this  project  and  integrated  in  the  framework  of  the  eSocialClassroom  will  provide  direct  feedback  on  actions  of  the  students.  We  Learners  should  reflect  with  all  stages  of  the  

learning  process  (initial  concepts,  tasks,  

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Linköping  University   [SOCIAL  NETWORK  CLASSROOM]    

Peter  Bunus  Department  of  Computer  and  Information  Science  SE  581-­‐32,  Linköping,  SWEDEN  Email:  [email protected]   Page  14    

objectives,  feedback,  ...)   envision  that  the  proposed  platform  would  help  teachers  to  perform  a  “continuous  examination”  of  the  students  during  the  course  duration  and  provide  them  with  continuous  individualized  feedback.  

The  online  eSocialClassroom  environment  is  ideally  suited  to  constructivist  educational  models,  which  use  technology  to  engage  learners  in:  

• Knowledge  construction  rather  than  reproduction.  • Exploring  media  rich  and  complex  environments.  • Conversation  rather  than  reception.  • Collaboration  rather  than  competition.  • Reflection  rather  than  prescription.  

6 Conclusions  and  Future  work  The  proposed  eSocialClasroom    platform  was  adapted  very  quickly  by  the  students  despite   the  fact  that  students  expect  social  networks   to  be  social  and  not  necessarily  educational.  At   the  end  of   this  experiment  we  could  clearly  see  the  potential  of  social  networks  as  an  educational  tool  for  extending  the  traditional  classroom  education.  

We   intend   to   repeat   the   experiment   and   the   deployment   of   the   eSocialClasroom   platform   again  during   the   fall   term   2012   and   2013.   The   student   satisfaction   and   learning   improvement   will   be  systematically  measured  by  conducting  interviews  with  the  students  and  systematic  evaluation  of  the  impact  that  the  proposed  framework  has  on  the  learning  process.  The  didactical  success  of  the  system  can  be  defined  by   the  student  satisfaction  and   the  degree  of  how  much   the  eSocialClasroom  boosts  collaboration  of  students  that  would  otherwise  work  on  their  own.    

7 References    [1]   Ellison  Nicole  B.,  Steinfield  Charles,  and  Lampe  Cliff.  (2007)  "The  Benefits  of  Facebook  "Friends:"  Social  Capital  

and  College  Students'  Use  of  Online  Social  Network  Sites."  Journal  of  Computer-­‐Mediated  Communication,  vol.  12:  4,  pp.  1143-­‐1168,  2007.  

[2]   Granovetter  Mark  S.  (1973)  "The  Strength  of  Weak  Ties."  American  Journal  of  Sociology,  vol.  78:  6,  pp.  1360,  1973.  

[3]   Hargittai  Eszter.  (2008)  "Whose  Space?  Differences  Among  Users  and  Non-­‐Users  of  Social  Network  Sites."  Journal  of  Computer-­‐Mediated  Communication,  vol.  13:  1,  pp.  276-­‐297,  2008.  

[4]   Jones  Sydney  and  Susannah  Fox,  "Generations  Online  in  2009,"  PEW  Internet  &  American  Life  Project,  2009.  [5]   Laurillard  Diana.  (1993).  Rethinking  University  Teaching:  A  Framework  for  the  Effective  Use  of  Educational  

Technology.  Routledge,  1993.  [6]   Lenhart  Amanda,  "Adults  and  social  network  websites,"  PEW  Interned  &  American  Life  Project,  2009.  [7]   Lewis  Kevin,  Kaufman  Jason,  and  Christakis  Nicholas.  (2008)  "The  Taste  for  Privacy:  An  Analysis  of  College  Student  

Privacy  Settings  in  an  Online  Social  Network."  Journal  of  Computer-­‐Mediated  Communication,  vol.  14:  1,  pp.  79-­‐100,  2008.  

[8]   Phillips  Rob,  "Models  of  Learning  Appropriate  to  Educational  Applications  of  Information  Technology,"  in  Teaching  and  Learning  Forum.  University  of  Western  Australia,  1998.  

[9]   Putnam  Robert  D.  (2007)  "E  Pluribus  Unum:  Diversity  and  Community  in  the  Twenty-­‐first  Century  The  2006  Johan  Skytte  Prize  Lecture."  Scandinavian  Political  Studies,  vol.  30:  2,  pp.  137-­‐174,  2007.  

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Linköping  University   [SOCIAL  NETWORK  CLASSROOM]    

Peter  Bunus  Department  of  Computer  and  Information  Science  SE  581-­‐32,  Linköping,  SWEDEN  Email:  [email protected]   Page  15    

[10]   Valenzuela  Sebastián,  Park  Namsu,  and  F.  Kee  Kerk.  (2009)  "Is  There  Social  Capital  in  a  Social  Network  Site?:  Facebook  Use  and  College  Students'  Life  Satisfaction,  Trust,  and  Participation<sup>1</sup>."  Journal  of  Computer-­‐Mediated  Communication,  vol.  14:  4,  pp.  875-­‐901,  2009.  

[11]   Zywica  Jolene  and  Danowski  James.  (2008)  "The  Faces  of  Facebookers:  Investigating  Social  Enhancement  and  Social  Compensation  Hypotheses;  Predicting  Facebook&#x2122;  and  Offline  Popularity  from  Sociability  and  Self-­‐Esteem,  and  Mapping  the  Meanings  of  Popularity  with  Semantic  Networks."  Journal  of  Computer-­‐Mediated  Communication,  vol.  14:  1,  pp.  1-­‐34,  2008.