Using Web 2.0 in education: privacy and integrity in the

virtual campus

Lisa Harris, Lorraine Warren and Kelly Smith

Who we are

• Lisa Harris is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing at Southampton University School of Management. She is currently investigating the role of Web 2 tools in education and also developing a new MSc programme in Digital Marketing

• Lorraine Warren is a Senior Lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Southampton School of Management. Her research interests include the emergence of new technologies

• Kelly Smith is Head of Enterprise at the University of Huddersfield. Her research interests include drivers and barriers to the use of new technologies, particularly for enterprise and entrepreneurship education and promotion

 

This talk will cover…

• Educational opportunities provided by Web 2 tools

• Opportunities • Challenges• Case study - Twitter

• We also hope to have a live Twitter demo between the authors during the presentation…

Educational opportunities presented by Web 2 tools

• Generically known as “social technologies” which are built around participation and collaboration – essential aspects of ‘action-based learning’– Communities such as Facebook or Ning for

communication and collaboration– Blogs and micro blogs to generate content, access

information on latest trends, or access global networks of expertise

– Wikis for collaborative working and editing– Bookmarking sites such as Delicious or Digg to save,

rate and organise material

Challenges

• How do we cross the chasm into ‘respectability’ – individual projects by enthusiast tutors usually work alone outside established university structures and technologies

• Are students really ‘digital natives’? Our evidence suggests that they span the whole spectrum of interest/skills in technology

• Levels of staff interest and commitment also embrace the full spectrum…

• How do we establish authenticity and credibility of sources in a world where information is a) abundant and b) constantly changing

• What are the evolving conventions of interaction between staff and students in this space (eg friending, timing of responses, appropriate use of language)?

The ‘digital native’ debate

• Many writers have noted the disruptive potential of Internet technologies on student behaviour (Prensky, 2001, Dede 2005, Tapscott 2008).

• Research conducted by the European Interactive Advertising Agency (EIAA, 2008) showed that European students were spending more time information gathering, online gaming and online chats, and less time watching TV or reading

• Kennedy et al (2007), British Library (2008), Littlejohn et al (2008), Sanders et al (2008), Ednor et al (2008) found that the skills and enthusiasm for Web 2.0 tools amongst the ‘Google generation’ were overrated:– students focused solely on social use of the tools– students actually expected more traditional means of interaction in the

classroom– Some studies reported a ‘pick and mix’ approach to Web 2.0 tools – high

usage of Wikipedia and social networking, but low uptake of blogging and social bookmarking – a focus on the more passive features of Web 2

Our Case Studies

• An assessed task where students were asked to create and develop a community using social media tools

• Using social media to network and showcase expertise

• Engaging students in social media to promote a client project

Case Study

• Students were asked to create a social media presence for a particular cause or interest of their choice, and to develop a number of free online resources in order to promote and build a community.

• Each group then had to make a formal presentation and write a supporting report reflecting on their experience, with particular reference to

a) what aspects worked well and why

b) what aspects worked less well and why

c) how well the group collaborated in carrying out the task

d) what particular challenges they faced in developing their community and how they were addressed

Results

• Despite initial scepticism and inexperience in micro blogging, Twitter was the most successful online tool for 6 out of the 8 groups.

• Twitter came into its own - from a standing start - by allowing the groups to reach out beyond their established Facebook networks and build new relationships that ultimately became higher in both quality and quantity.

• Student feedback:

– Some were persuaded to use Twitter for their own networking or social purposes.

– Others were more cautious as they feared it would be a distraction, and instead resolved to take it up after graduation.

– Others struggled to see the relevance to business or education of tools that they had grown up with and used purely for social purposes.

– One student noted that he felt older people had an advantage in appreciating the broader relevance of social media as they did not have this historical ‘baggage’ of trivial use of the tools.

Ethical issues raised

• Does communication through social media constitute an invasion of personal time or space (staff and student)?

• Are students comfortable engaging in a public forum which leaves a permanent record?

• Do tutors have a duty of care to ‘police’ the quality of sources that students may access online?

• Can students cope with the online model of quality evaluation which occurs after rather than before publication of content?

• What is the appropriate balance between the provision of course structure and exposure of students to the chaos of the web?

• Are staff and students comfortable with the changing role of the tutor from ‘sage on the stage’ to ‘guide on the side’?

Summary and next steps• Our stories clearly demonstrate that integrating social media into the teaching and

learning experience is likely to be a gradual process,• many of the opportunities are accompanied by significant challenges in the form of

privacy concerns and fear of the unknown. •  our findings do not support the notion of the ‘digital native’ student demanding

modernisation and change from his or her education provider. • many students expected (and in some cases actually preferred) traditional modes of

interaction in class and they tended to be comfortable with and competent in only the very basic applications of social media.

• One student felt that younger people actually had a disadvantage in appreciating the broader relevance of social media because of their historical ‘baggage’ of trivial use of the tools.  

• The next stage of our research will examine the institutional challenges of developing a culture of open education in order to present recommendations for more systematic integration of social media into the curriculum.

References• Dede, C. (2005) Planning for neomillennial learning styles EDUCAUSE Quarterly,

28(1), 7-12.• Ebner, M., Schiefner, M., & Nagler, W. (2008) Has the Net-Generation Arrived at the

University? - in Zauchner, S. et al (Eds.) Medien in der Wissenschaft [Digital media in science], volume 48, 113-123 Waxmann Verlag: Muenster, Germany.

•  European Interactive Advertising Association (2008). Available at http://www.eiaa.net/news/eiaa-articles-details.asp?lang=1&id=66 Accessed on March 27 2008.

• Kennedy, G. et al (2007) The net generation are not big users of Web 2.0 technologies: Preliminary findings. In ICT: Providing choices for learners and learning. Proceedings ascilite Singapore 2007. http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/singapore07/procs/kennedy.pdf 

• Littlejohn, A. et al (2009) Exploring students’ use of ICT and expectations of learning methods. International Journal of eLearning (IJEL). 

• Prensky, M. (2001) Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, Do They Really Think Differently? On the Horizon, MCB University Press, Volume 9, No. 6. October.