IPL-SI: Group Design Project 2

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[edit] Instructions for Literature Review

  1. For week two, you should collaboratively conduct a literature search for research on social networking and Web 2.0. You can browse the Internet and discuss what you find within the VMT chat room. For instance, you might want to go to [1] and read the section about Social networking/Internet social networks or go to [2]. Of course, you want to find information that is not so well known and that is particularly relevant to computer support for knowledge-building communities. So these sites can just be starting points for your team.
  2. Meet as a group in a VMT chat room and discuss the project.
  3. Discuss a group statement about the project that everyone can agree represents your group's finding.
  4. Summarize your finding in the SUMMARY area of the chat room whiteboard.
  5. Post your group's summary below.

Make sure that you are logged in. You can create a timestamp with your individual name by deleting the words "Date and Time of posting" and typing ~ ~ ~ ~ (a sequence of 4 tildes, with no spaces).

[edit] Some issues to discuss

  1. How would you define "social networking" and "social interaction" for this course?
  2. Is the Web 2.0 a vision of a set of technologies and infrastructures that allow people to connect to others, to form groups and to build knowledge together in these groups?
  3. Is Wikipedia a good model of "social networking" as you define it? Is this course? Is VMT?
  4. Is the wiki technology a good model of "Web 2.0" technology as you define it? Is the wiki for this course? Is VMT's environment, which combines synchronous chat, persistent whiteboard, asynchronous wiki, messaging and simple awareness in the chat room? What is missing from these?
  5. What technologies did you find to help people find and connect with people who would make good teammates for knowledge building? (For instance, what if you were supposed to do your group projects with people in other countries who were also interested in these research questions, instead of with other students who are already members of this course -- how would you find and contact them?)
  6. What technologies would help you to conduct this literature review collaboratively -- both the browsing and the analysis of your findings.

[edit] Comments on Group Statements

[edit] Team 1 Statement

1. How would you define "social networking" and "social interaction" for this course?

Social networking - This can be described as the concept of people voluntarily linking to each other in some way, establishing a relationship. For example, people who have similar interests can form a group, meet regularly, discuss new findings, increase the number of people in their group, etc.

Social interaction - This is the concept encompassing the many actions between people in reaction to one another; Social interaction leads to social networking.

For this course, we would say that social networking and social interaction could mean meeting up with people, not just inside but also outside the classroom, from whom we can get more information about our topics of research like the literature search for the IPL. We can find out more about our studies by not just reading articles or journals on the internet but also through interactions with individuals having expertise in the area and those who are working in the same domain.


2. Is the Web 2.0 a vision of a set of technologies and infrastructures that allow people to connect to others, to form groups and to build knowledge together in these groups?

Yes, exactly ... the literature refers to many different types of technologies under the umbrella of web 2.0 that do just this. In one case, these technologies are referred to as "social computing devices".


3. Is Wikipedia a good model of "social networking" as you define it? Is this course? Is VMT?

We wouldn't consider Wikipedia a good model, as it doesn't seem to be as conducive to forming social relationships so much as it is designed to build knowledge. Wikipedia is a place where one can share information. But this sharing is done without any direct interaction between the author and the person who edits or reads the information. In fact the authors may not even know who edited their posts. Social networking requires interaction between the parties involved and since there is not a very big opportunity for that in wikipedia, we dont think it is a good example of social networking.

This course is definitely an example of social networking since we get to interact with students coming from various backgrounds and so in this course we are networking socially, so it fulfills the requirements of the definition. Plus the course also gives us opportunities to meet people outside of the classroom for gaining more knowledge. Despite these advantages, this course may restrict the networking due to time constraints on the students and also the short length of the course.

The VMT provides the means for social networking and would be a good model. It covers up for those things which are missing in Wikipedia namely, direct interaction. Although it would be a better model if more people joined voluntarily.


4. Is the wiki technology a good model of "Web 2.0" technology as you define it? Is the wiki for this course? Is VMT's environment, which combines synchronous chat, persistent whiteboard, asynchronous wiki, messaging and simple awareness in the chat room? What is missing from these?

The Wiki technology doesn't provide a lot of support for linking to other users, as its focus is different - this is lacking from making it truly Web 2.0, as defined in Q2.

The Wiki for this course is a step closer, as it links to users, but it is lacking in enabling users to link to one another

The VMT environment fulfills all of the requirements and I would consider it to be "Web 2.0".


5. What technologies did you find to help people find and connect with people who would make good teammates for knowledge building? (For instance, what if you were supposed to do your group projects with people in other countries who were also interested in these research questions, instead of with other students who are already members of this course -- how would you find and contact them?)

Social networking sites, social networking search engines (literature examples in large corporations), blogs, etc would all be the technologies that would help people to connect to each other. Other than these websites like orkut, facebook, myspace, friendster, etc. we will also use groups and communities on gmail and yahoo to connect to people. Messengers like gtalk, yahoo messenger, etc can also be used once initial contacts have been made with others.


6. What technologies would help you to conduct this literature review collaboratively -- both the browsing and the analysis of your findings?

Online chat, telephone, the VMT, e-mail, messaging features on social networking sites, collaborative environment software would help us to conduct the literature review collaboratively. Technologies which provide synchronous communication like instant messengers, phone should be a good bet. 

--Abhishek 16:45, 25 January 2008 (EST)Abhishek Verma

[edit] Team 2 Statement

[edit] Team 3 Statement

[edit] 1. How would you define "social networking" and "social interaction" for this course?

Social Networking is the ability to connect people's ideas and information across space through the use of web technologies. These technologies include services such as blogs, Wiki pages, and discussion boards. Social networking incorporates technology-enabled solutions for connecting people with similar interest and/or activities and providing the means to share information through web-based applications.

In this course students exchange their ideas, concepts, and results, using a Wiki and an interactive chat system. Therefore, the available online tools (Wiki and VMT chat) allow social networking between the students. As a result, an online community is created that builds knowledge due to interactions between the students.

However, when trying to define “social networking and interaction”, it is important to think about the meaning of the term “social” first. Students tend to show a certain “social” behavior when interacting with other students and this course affords students and faculty the opportunity for face-to-face interaction, as well as an online collaborative learning experience. Therefore, this course offers a unique hybrid learning environment upon which “social networking and interaction” coupled with “professional networking and interaction” provides students with both facets of collaborative education.

Ultimately, social networking and interaction in this course can be defined as a concept in which people across the internet are able to communicate and share information. Groups are able to discuss an issue and collaboratively learn through interaction. Wiki pages are an effective medium to communicate, but it strictly serves the idea of collaborative learning.

[edit] 2. Is the Web 2.0 a vision of a set of technologies and infrastructures that allow people to connect to others, to form groups and to build knowledge together in these groups?

On the one hand, Web 2.0 builds on the existing technologies and infrastructures from Web 1.0 through its service-oriented architectures and web-based API’s. On the other hand, most researchers tend to feel that there is not a clear definition of Web 2.0 and that it is merely a theoretical enhancement to web design and development that looks to improve on the collaborative interactive developments of the Web.

An IBM social networking analyst, Dario de Judicibus, has proposed a definition for Web 2.0, which is focused on social interactions and architectural implementation:

"Web 2.0 is a knowledge-oriented environment where human interactions generate content that is published, managed and used through network applications in a service-oriented architecture." (Dario de Judicibus (2008-01-02). World 2.0.)

This definition by Dario de Judicibus represents what many people think when hearing the term "Web 2.0". Also, websites, such as Facebook or MySpace, are often associated with the "Web 2.0" term. An article by Bryan Alexander in Educause Review (2006) suggests that

"Web 2.0 builds on the original microcontent idea, with users developing Web content, often collaboratively and often open to the world. Moreover, technical innovations suggest still further refinements in micro-content. The openness involved is crucial to current Web 2.0 discussions. The flow of microcontent between domains, servers, and machines depends on two-way access." (Alexander 2006)

Alexander supports our thinking that web 2.0 is a still evolving information microcontent system and that is a very important tool in opening up knowledge to students spanning the entire globe.

We think that Web 2.0 is the combination of both existing Web 1.0 technologies and improvements of collaborative interactive applications. We also think that there is still much undiscovered potential in current Web 2.0 applications.

[edit] 3. Is Wikipedia a good model of "social networking" as you define it? Is this course? Is VMT?

All three, Wikipedia, INFO 608 and the VMT wiki are all good examples of social networking as the way we have defined it in question 1. They all incorporate the ability for users to collaborate and share information on topics of interest. Therefore, they are good models for collaborative learning, networking, and knowledge building.

The high popularity of Wiki pages on the internet clearly show the potential and success of social networking. Wiki pages and the VMT provide all of the requirements for social networking. It provides user-generated content, it allows for wide-spread information sharing over the internet, and it is readily available.

[edit] 4. Is the wiki technology a good model of "Web 2.0" technology as you define it? Is the wiki for this course? Is VMT's environment, which combines synchronous chat, persistent whiteboard, asynchronous wiki, messaging and simple awareness in the chat room? What is missing from these?

Wiki technology is a very good model of Web 2.0 technology. The Wiki provides an easy to use web-based application for collaborative sharing of ideas. It allows for a social network to exist in a secure environment where, if necessary, only invited guests can edit and contribute with relevant content. Wiki sites may be customized to be fully interactive with chat, discussion and whiteboards, blogs, and file exchange/data repositories. The VMT Wiki appears to provide all of these features, although they appear in a different format. The chat rooms are comprehensive with excellent collaboration supports through synchronous chat, whiteboards, summaries, topics discussion, links to copy chats to the Wiki, web browser functionality, etc.

We would like to see the chat room functionality extended to see other chat room availability and the ability to move between chat rooms without leaving the window. Also, an asynchronous discussion board, although indirectly implied through data repositories and edit postings to existing content, would be of additional help, i.e. Drexel Blackboard. This way content may be clearly discussed by topic.

[edit] 5. What technologies did you find to help people find and connect with people who would make good teammates for knowledge building? (For instance, what if you were supposed to do your group projects with people in other countries who were also interested in these research questions, instead of with other students who are already members of this course -- how would you find and contact them?)

For starters, one could go to the IPL site and see which colleges and universities are participating in the ongoing research and design of the site. From there, one could contact the faculty and staff from those universities to inquire about current research topics and which students/faculty may be contacted so that they may collaborate and combine their efforts. Through these contacts, one would find out which international universities are participating in similar research and where most of this research been concentrated. One would be able to determine who some of the foremost authorities and subject matter experts on technology-enabled collaborative learning are. One would also research some of the latest journals and publications on their particular subjects and see if there is an email that could be used to solicit information. Additional sources would be:

  • Wiki pages
  • Google / Yahoo / other search engines
  • Blogs, Forums
  • Sites of similar projects
  • Company web sites

[edit] 6. What technologies would help you to conduct this literature review collaboratively -- both the browsing and the analysis of your findings.

The VMT Wiki is a primary source, but we are also compiling all of our sites that we find along the way through del.icio.us that we can then share with the other team members. VMT is a good tool to present and analyse findings. However, a tool with included audio support would probably make it easier since all team members could listen to the presenter while reviewing the findings at the same time.

In this context, the concept of Library 2.0 is a useful technology to collaboratively conduct a literature review. Because it is readily available online, it is an very good tool for collaborative literature searching while paired with a real-time chat.

" A theory for Library 2.0 could be understood to have four essential elements:

  • It is user-centered. Users participate in the creation of the content and services they view within the library's web-presence, OPAC, etc. The consumption and creation of content is dynamic, and thus the roles of librarian and user are not always clear.
  • It provides a multi-media experience . Both the collections and services of Library 2.0 contain video and audio components. While this is not often cited as a function of Library 2.0, it is here suggested that it should be.
  • It is socially rich . The library's web-presence includes users' presences. There are both synchronous (e.g. IM) and asynchronous (e.g. wikis) ways for users to communicate with one another and with librarians.
  • It is communally innovative. This is perhaps the single most important aspect of Library 2.0. It rests on the foundation of libraries as a community service, but understands that as communities change, libraries must not only change with them, they must allow users to change the library. It seeks to continually change its services, to find new ways to allow communities, not just individuals to seek, find, and utilize information(Maness, 2006)."

These points explained by Mr. Maness demonstrate how useful Library 2.0 can be very useful in conducting a literature search in a group.

[edit] References and useful sources

[edit] Team 4 Statement

[edit] Team 5 Statement

1. How would you define "social networking" and "social interaction" for this course?

The terms “social networking” and “social interaction” in the context of this course mean 1) communication and collaboration to achieve a goal or educational outcome and 2) the use of technology to foster this collaboration.

Scardamalia and Bereiter, in “Computer Support for Knowledge Building Communities” posit the idea of a “second order environment,” where learners contribute to and continually increase to collective knowledge of the group.

Social networking/interaction can be viewed as using technology to assist in the achievement of such environments.


2. Is the Web 2.0 a vision of a set of technologies and infrastructures that allow people to connect to others, to form groups and to build knowledge together in these groups?

In his article “What is Web 2.0” (which coined the term), Tim O’Reilly listed “Harnessing Collective Intelligence” as one of the “principles” of Web 2.0. However this was not the only principle—there were several others such as “The Web as Platform,” which have to do with the technological aspects of Web 2.0. The thrust of O’Reilly’s article is to define the characteristics of a new generation of web applications.

Some of these applications are made for social networking and collaboration. One example is Wikipedia, which allows shared editing of files to allow the construction of a consensus in the form of an article on a particular subject. Another is chat software, which allows real time synchronous communication. There are many others, including MySpace, etc.

Web 2.0 encompasses more than solely knowledge building. However, the vision encompassed by Web 2.0 does hold promise for collaboratively building knowledge. In fact, there is research being done in this area. In “A model of collaborative knowledge-building based on Web2.0,” Wang et al (2008) propose a model of collaborative learning that “incorporates insights from Web 2.0…and CSCL.” And in research that may be applicable to wiki-like software, De Smet et al (2008) studied peer tutoring behavior in online asynchronous discussion groups.

3. Is Wikipedia a good model of "social networking" as you define it? Is this course? Is VMT? Is the wiki technology a good model of "Web 2.0" technology as you define it? Is the wiki for this course? Is VMT's environment, which combines synchronous chat, persistent whiteboard, asynchronous wiki, messaging and simple awareness in the chat room? What is missing from these?

As wikipedia can be defined as a multilingual, web-based, free content encyclopedia , we can say that it is a very good model for “Social networking”. The reason behind our viewpoint is the various features that the wiki supports. The features are:

1) Wikipedia is not a commercial website. They are run by a non-profit organization called as Wikimedia Foundation. They are not here to make business but to bring in free knowledge for everyone.

2) Wiki is available to everyone with all the rights of modification, copy and redistribution.

3) Wiki supports around 250 languages and so its data is available for even a largely percentage of the crowd all around the globe.

4) Wikipedia is a database with a memory designed to last as long as the user makes it. An article that is read today would just be a current draft; every time it gets changed, the user keeps both the new version and a copy of the old version. This allows the wikipedia to compare different versions or restore older ones as need be.

5) Wikipedia has a complex set of policies and quality control processes which are established by them to maintain high quality of work.

6) Wikipedia data is ever-changing and so they do not expect the users to trust them completely.

7) Articles in Wikipedia are not signed, and contributors are unpaid volunteers.

8) Wikipedia requires that verifiable sources be cited for all significant claims that are made by the users.

9) Wikipedia does not permit editors to publicize their personal conclusions when writing articles. All editors are expected to follow a neutral point of view.

10) Wikipedia is neither a dictator nor does it play any role in the political system.

11) Wikipedia is a transparent and self-critical body. Controversies are debated openly and even documented within Wikipedia itself when they cross a threshold of significance.

12) The Wikimedia Foundation directly operates eight sister projects to the encyclopedia which are all freely licensed and open to the contributors: • Wiktionary (a dictionary and thesaurus),

• Wikisource (a library of source documents),

• Wikimedia Commons (a media repository of more than one million images, videos, and sound files),

• Wikibooks (a collection of textbooks and manuals),

• Wikiversity (an interactive learning resource),

• Wikinews (a citizen journalism news site),

• Wikiquote (a collection of quotations), and

• Wikispecies (a directory of all forms of life).

Because of the above mentioned functionalities the wikipedia becomes a very easy mode of communication between the community and also a very good source of information.

Not only does wiki support the model for Social Networking but even vmt acts as a very good model for the same. The vmt provides means of interaction between groups of individuals working on a particular subject or trying to solve a particular problem domain. The features provided by the vmt include:

1) The chat room and the workspace area where all the users in the chat room can not only text message each other but can also copy paste content on the workspace which gets visible to everyone in the room simultaneously. The workspace is open to all the users in the chat room to be edited. Thus it provides a very high end feature of online communication with simultaneous editing of data.

2) The summary area where text can be entered by the various users available online.

3) The vmt also provides a direct access to its wiki page where users can enter new information, search for an existing one or edit each others content.

Web 2.0 supported technologies: Image:Web_2.0_supported_technologies.jpg

Thus the wikipedia, the vmt and the HCI course all of them are best examples of Social networking anf of web 2.0 according to us. The HCI course work is framed towards we achieving a design solution for any type of organization through a collaborative team work. Thus this course provides ways of social interaction among the class members through group discussions on various topics, through online communication among the team members, through sources like vmt. It also enables us to think from the users perspective by involving other people in our design.


What technologies did you find to help people find and connect with people who would make good teammates for knowledge building? (For instance, what if you were supposed to do your group projects with people in other countries who were also interested in these research questions, instead of with other students who are already members of this course -- how would you find and contact them?)

There are many online services which can help us connect with people with the purpose of knowledge building. These are:

  • personal blog
  • forum (including Google, Yahoo groups and similiar)
  • chat room
  • social networking site (myspace.com, linkedin.com)
  • social collaboration site (wikipedia.org, mathforum.org)
  • project collaboration site (sourceforge)

By using a search engine or directly searching websites providing blogging feature (Google blog) we can find people who have similar interests and share some ideas with them on their blog, or we can create our own blog. Forums are perfect for holding discussions and posting user generated content. Ofentimes it is the only resource where we can find the answer to our question, which doesn’t seem to be addressed in a literature. Chat rooms are a good way to find somebody to collaborate on a topic, share files, create your own virtual space and so on. Specialized websites, for example sourceforge.org – open source software development web site, can help in finding projects and subseqently their creators and contributors. It was also suggested in the post from previous term, that websites such as FaceBook.com can be used to organise groups for knowledge building.

What technologies would help you to conduct this literature review collaboratively -- both the browsing and the analysis of your findings.

There are many similar desktop software products and web applications produced by different companies, which could be used for online collaboration:

  • instant messaging/chat (google talk, windows live messenger, yahoo messenger, ICQ)
  • video conferencing (windows live messenger, ICQ, skype)
  • workspace sharing
  • email
  • desktop programs migrated to the web (online spreadsheet, text processor and so on)
  • online colaboration suite (WebEx, Marratech, GoToMeeting, VMT)
  • project collaboration (sourceforge, various version control systems)

Here is a wiki page which lists collaborative software http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_collaborative_software


References

De Smet, M., Van Keer, H., & Valcke, M. (2008). Blending asynchronous discussion groups and peer tutoring in higher education: An exploratory study of online peer tutoring behaviour. Computers & Education, 50, 207-223.

Wang, R., Fang, M. Q., & Chen, A. Y. (2008). A model of collaborative knowledge-building based on Web2.0. Research and Practical Issues of Enterprise Information Systems II, Vol 2, 255, 1347-1351.

Scardamalia, M., & Bereiter, C. (1994). Computer support for knowledge-building communities. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 3(3), 265-283.

O’Reilly, T. (2005). What is Web 2.0? http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html?page=1 Retrieved on January 22, 2008

MarkW 23:05, 24 January 2008 (EST)


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