participatory media education final report
TRANSCRIPT
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
1/122
PARTICIPATORYMEDIAFOREDUCATION
RESEARCHERS&AUTHORS
ErinKnight&NathanGandomi
PrincipalResearchers,CenterforNGTL
GraduateCandidates2010SchoolofInformation,UCBerkeley
FACULTYADVISOR
RobertGlushko
1
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
2/122
TABLEOFCONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 3
BACKGROUND 5
SOCIALMEDIACLASSROOMANDRHEINGOLDSAPPROACH 22
OURRESEARCHANDMETHODS 30
FINDINGS:USAGEPATTERNS 34
FINDINGS:PERCEPTIONS,MOTIVATIONSANDEXPECTATIONS 47
DISCUSSIONANDCONCLUSIONS 70
IMPLICATIONS 89
APPENDIX 92
BIBLIOGRAPHY 93
SYLLABUSENGINE 98
INTERVIEWQUESTIONS 121
2
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
3/122
Introduction
ABSTRACT
IntroductiontoourresearchonParticipatoryMediaforEducation.
3
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
4/122
Introduction
ABSTRACT
Participatorymediaforeducationisanemergingspacethatlookstocapitalizeonthesocial,participatoryandactive
natureofvariousWeb2.0toolstofacilitatesociallearning,constructionofknowledgeandstudent-centeredlearning
environments.Researchinthisareaisstillemergingandistypicallyfocusedonasingletoolinasinglecontext.Early
adoptionoftheSocialMediaClassroom(SMC),asuiteofsocialmediatools,infourcoursesprovideduswithaunique
opportunitytoobservepatternsofusageofthesiteandembeddedparticipatorymediatoolsacrossvariouscourses,
instructorsandstudents.Ourmainresearchgoalsweretoobservestudentandinstructorusageacrosscourses,identify
andanalyzeusagepatterns,expectations,motivationsandsocialconstraints,aswellastoinformfutureresearch
questionsanddirections.Ourworkmovesawayfromthetypicalsingletoolinasinglecontextresearchapproach,which
oftenattemptstodemonstrateeffectivenessandgeneralizetoaone-size-fits-allsuggestion.Instead,weexaminethe
organicandemergenttrends,issuesandcomplexitiestostarttoinformaricherunderstandingofthespace.Ingeneral,
ourobservationsdemonstratethepromiseofparticipatorymediaforeducation,whilehighlightingvariouscomplexities
andissues.Wealsomakeacallforamoveawayfromthecommontool-firstfocuswhereeducatorsadoptatooland
thentrytofindusesforit,toalearning-activitywhichfirstidentifiestheunderlyinglearningactivitiesandgoalsandthen
alignsvarioustechnologiestosupporttheactivityorgoal.Thisapproachcanmakeparticipatorymediaforeducation
moreapproachable,morestraightforwardtointegrateandpotentiallyeasiertoevaluate.Otherfindingsandconclusions
includedifferencesinusagepatternsacrosscoursesandamultitudeofpotentialinfluencesdrivingthedifferenceinuse,
includinginstructorinfluence,studentmotivations,courseattributesandsocialnorm.Additionally,wediscussan
observedpotentialforself-directedstudentuseandlearning.Finally,wesummarizeimplicationsforfutureresearch
projectstosupportthisemergingandpromisingarea.
4
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
5/122
Background
ABSTRACT
Areviewofthebackgroundtheoryandexistingresearchonparticipatorymediafor
education.
5
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
6/122
Background
PARTICIPATORYMEDIA
Participatorymediareferstomediatoolsthatsupportsocialinteraction,participationandcommunication(Rheingold,a).
OftenalsoreferredtoassocialmediaorWeb2.0,participatorymediaemploysweb-basedtechnologiestoallow
userstocontributecontentandinteractwiththecontentandeachother.Thesetechnologiesarecharacterizedbyuser
participation,richuserexperiences,openness,lowbarriertoentryandnetworkeffects,inthatthemorethatuseit,the
morevaluethetoolhas(OReilly,2005).Commonparticipatorytoolsintodayswebworldareblogs,wikis,forums,social
bookmarking,socialnetworkingandsynchronouschat.
WiththeriseofparticipatorymediaintheWeb2.0worldandthesubsequentproliferationofparticipation,sharingand
networking,manyhavebegunexploringhowtheembeddedprinciplesofWeb2.0,suchasopennessandnetworkeffects,
asdiscussedabove,canbeappliedtotraditionaleducationaxiomslikelearnerengagement,interactioninlearning,and
learnerownershipandmanagementoflearning(Mason&Rennie,2008).AsOwenetal.(2006)write,educational
agendasareshiftingtoaddressideasabouthowwecancreatepersonalizedandcollaborativeknowledgespaces,where
learnerscanaccesspeopleandknowledgeinwaysthatencouragecreativeandreflectivelearningpracticesthatextend
beyondtheboundariesoftheschoolandthelimitsofformaleducation(p.4).Whilemanyofthesetoolsandtheir
applicationtoeducationarerelativelynew,theideasandassumptionsbehindtheseeffortsarenotnewandmanyare,in
fact,foundationaleducationaltheoriesandworks.
EDUCATIONALROOTS
Constructivism
OnesuchfoundationalperspectiveisConstructivism(Piaget,1926).Constructivismisrootedinthebeliefthatlearning
andknowledgeoccursthroughmentalconstruction,orthroughfittingnewexperiencesandideasintoexisting
knowledge.Piaget,thefatherofConstructivism,wasconsideredacognitiveconstructivistandemphasizedtheroleofa
learnersinteractionwiththeenvironmentandsurroundingsascriticaltotheirunderstandingoftheworldandcognitive
capacity.
SocialConstructivism,whichgrewoutofConstructivism,claimsthatwelearnthemostthroughsocialandcommunal
activitiesandthatmeaningisshapedandknowledgeisconstructedthroughinteractionwithpeersandreflection(Higgs
andMcCarthy,2005).Inhiswell-knowntheoriesofsociallearningandtheZoneofProximalDevelopment,Vygotsky,a
SocialConstructivist,claimsthatstudentsareonlyabletoachieveacertainleveloflearningbythemselves,butcanlearn
andaccomplishmorebyworkingwithorobservingacapablepeer(Rogoff,1990).
MorerecentadaptationsofConstructivismfurtheremphasizethesocialprocessesoflearning,andclaimthatlearningis
moreeffectivewhenitoccursthroughinterpersonalchannelsandincooperativeenvironments.Theseconstructivists
believelearningiscooperative,collaborativeandconversational,providingstudentswithopportunitiestointeractwith
eachothertoclarifyandshareideas,toseekassistance,tonegotiateproblemsanddiscusssolutions(Miers2004).
6
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
7/122
Background
Effectivelearningisconversationalinnature,andthatitnecessitatesasocialdimension,includingcommunication,
dialogueandsharedactivity(McLoughlin&Lee,2007).
OthermodelshavegrownoftheConstructivistmodel,suchasknowledge-creation(Paavola&Hakkarainen,2005),
knowledgebuilding(Bereiter,2002),andexpansivelearning(Engestrm1987,1999).Thesemodelsseestudentsas
producersandconsumersofknowledgewhoengageinlearningthroughinteractionwiththeinstructionaswellasfellow
studentsbycontributingtotheircommunitysgeneralbodyofknowledge.
Constructionism
Anotherkeyunderlyingperspective,PapertsConstructionism,haditsrootsinConstructivismaswell(Papert,1980).With
Constructionism,Papertchallengedtraditionalteachingmethodsandmadeacallforintegratingcomputersand
technologyintotheclassroom.Constructionismassertsthatbymanipulatingandcontrollingcomputers,learnerscan
developadeeperconnectionwithabstractideassuchasgeometryandcalculus.Withlessemphasisonarightorwrong
approach,learnersconstructtheirlearningthroughiterationandexploration.ToPapert,thisnecessarilymeansthat
textbooksandformallectureplansplaylessofarole,andthestudentsthemselvesdriveorconstructhowlearningtakes
place.AnotherkeypartofConstructionismissociallearning.Papertwritesthatlearninghappensespeciallywellwhenwe
interactwithpeers,observesomeoneelseorcollaborativelybuildasolution.Whilesomedebatehisfocuson
programmingandanecdotalresearch,hisunderlyingvisionspavedthewayforagreaterfocusontechnologyand
student-centered,sociallearningapproachesweseetoday.
Student-CenteredApproach
Anotherrelevantandrelatedmovementineducationhasbeentoshiftparadigmsfromateacher-centeredmodeltoa
morestudent-centeredapproach.Thisapproach,alsooftenreferredtoasactivelearningorstudent-centeredlearning,
focusesonthestudentsandattemptstomapthecurriculumtotheirinterestsandneeds.Whereasinteacher-centered
models,theinstructorpossessesallofthecontenttobelearnedanddeliversknowledgetostudents,student-centered
learningstrivesforamoreflexibleandadaptiveapproach(Mason&Rennie).Inthestudent-centeredapproach,
learnersarenotonlyatthecenteroftheenvironment;theyareintegraltoit.Universaloutcomes,activities,and
assessmentsoftencannotbeestablisheda-priori,butmustbederivedthroughtheeffortsofindividuals(Hannfin&
Land,1997,p.187).RelatingitbacktothepreviousperspectivesofConstructionismandConstructivism,Siemens(2004)
coinedstudent-centeredlearningasconnectivism,wherelearningisviewedasthebuildingofconnectionswithin
communitiesandtheactivecreationofmeaningandunderstandingthroughparticipation.
Thereareseveralwell-researchedunderlyingtenetsthatsupportthestudent-centeredmodel(adaptedfromHannafin&
Land):
Understandingevolvescontinuously Individualsmustassumegreaterresponsibilityfortheirlearningthanintraditionalenvironments Studentsmake,orcanbeguidedtomake,effectivechoices
7
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
8/122
Background
Knowledge/Understandingismostrelevantwhenrootedinpersonalexperienceorrelevantcontexts Teacher-centered,top-downinstructionistoonarrowtosupportthesevariedlearningrequirements
Astudent-centeredmodelsupportsanenvironmentthatallowslearnerstoconstructtheirunderstanding,testandrevise
theirowntheories,activelycontroltheirlearningandconnectdeeplywithconcepts.Manyhaveempiricallydemonstrated
thatwhenitisproperlyemployed,student-centeredmodelscanleadtohigherretention,deeperunderstandingand
increasedmotivationtolearningthaninothereducationalmodels(McKeachie,1994;Bonwell&Eison,1991;citedin
Felder&Brent,1996).However,theproperlyemployedqualification,whichisoftendifficulttomeasureformany
contexts,isakeyreasonthatstudent-centeredlearningisstilldebatedtoday.Further,additionalbarrierssuchas
instructorlackofskillwithorknowledgeabouthowtointegratethenewapproach,thepotentialsenseoflossofcontrol
frombothinstructorsandlearnersanddisconnectininstructororlearnerrolesoridentitiesalsomaylimittheshiftto
student-centeredlearning(Bonwell&Eisen,1991).However,thepromiseofstudent-centeredlearningremainsan
alluringtopicforeducatorsandresearchers,manyfocusingonhowtolowerorreducethebarrierstotheshift.Hannafin
&Land(1997)pointtotechnologyasapotentialsolution.Byactingasacapablepeer,enablingtestingandrevisingof
hypothesesandunderstanding,supportingactivecontroloflearningandpotentiallyprovidingmoreavenuesfor
guidance,technologycanovercomemanyofthebarriersandfacilitateabalancedandintegratedstudent-centered
model.
Summary
Thereisasignificantamountofexpertiseandliteraturearoundthebenefitsofstudent-centered,socialenvironments
wherestudentscanconstructadeeperunderstandingandconnectiontolearning.Manyarelookingtotechnology,
specificallyparticipatorymedia,asonewaytohelpfostersuchlearningenvironments.
PARTICIPATORYMEDIAFOREDUCATION
PullingfromPiaget,Papert,Vygotskyandthestudent-centeredmovement,theuseofparticipatorymediatoolsin
educationistypicallygearedtowardscreatingamorestudent-centered,adaptiveenvironmentwherelearnerscan
contributetothecoursematerial,formulateandexpresstheirowninsightsandopinions,constructtheirown
understandingofmaterialbyconnectingconceptstopersonalexperienceorcurrenteventsandlearnfromoneanotherin
collaborativeenvironments.
Thus,theideasbehindparticipatorymediaforeducationarefarfromnew.Evenwiththisunderlyingfoundation,itisstill
unclearexactlyhowtousethesetoolseffectivelyforeducation.ManyaretryingallofthemajorLearningManagement
Systemprovidersoffersocialmediatoolsinsomecapacity.Butevenwhenthesocialmediatoolsareavailable,most
instructorsrarelyusethem.Onestudydemonstratedthat95%ofLMSusageinvolvedasetoffivecorecontent
managementandbroadcastcommunicationtools,suchasasyllabus,announcementsandassessments,whichfitthe
teacher-centeredparadigmandmerelyreplicatedthetraditionalcoursemodelonline;whereastoolsthatencourage
participation,collaborationandamorestudent-centeredparadigm(Wiki,DiscussionBoards/Forums)werenotused
8
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
9/122
Background
muchatall(Hanson&Robson,2004).Useofparticipatorytoolscurrentlyoccursinthelong-tailofteachingandlearning
andisoftenunsupportedandisolated(Severance,2009).
Onereasonwhyparticipatorymediamaynotbewidelyusedineducationcouldbethefactthatincorporatingthetools
oftenrequiresashiftineducationalparadigms,towardamorestudent-centeredparadigm.Aspreviouslydiscussed,
thereareanumberofbarrierstothisshift,includingtheadjustmenttoamoreopenandflexiblelearningenvironmentfor
instructorswhoareusedtocontrollingthecoursecontentandflow.Anotherreasonadoptionofparticipatorymediafor
educationhasbeenslowmaybetheuncertaintyofwhichtoolorsuiteoftoolstouseandhowtousethem.Selectinga
tooltousecanoftenbeoverwhelming,sinceparticipatorymediaencompassessuchabroadspacewithanarrayof
toolsthatenabledifferenceuserexperiencesandaffordances.Also,theexistingsetofbestpracticesandinformation
abouthowtousethetoolsismostlybasedonobservationsofsuccessstoriesoutsideoftheclassroom,gutfeelorsingle-
tool-in-single-contextresearch.Theresearchitselfisstillemergingwithlittleconsistencyinunderstandingofgeneral
applicationoreffectiveness.Todemonstratetheexistinglandscape,wewillbrieflyreviewoftheliteratureforeachof
fivekeyparticipatorymediatools.
EXISTINGRESEARCHLANDSCAPE
Again,theexistingresearchlandscapeisheavilytool-focused,withinconclusivefindingsacrossstudiesduetheircontext-
specificnature.Someresearchersattempttoprovetheeffectivenessofcertaintoolsincertainenvironments,andoften
makeboldgeneralclaimsaboutthevalueofsocialmediatools.UsingaframeworksimilartotheoneusedbyMason&
Rennie(2008),includinggeneraldetails,benefitsandlimitationsofeachtool,wesummarizethecurrentliteratureon
eachtoolbelow.
Blogs
General
Ablog1,oraweblogisawebtoolthattypicallysupportsaparticularindividualsopinions,thoughtsandprose.Blogs
areoftencomparedtoofflinejournalsordiaries,althoughwithoneimportantdistinctionblogsaretypicallypublished
ontheWebwhereothers,oftenthegeneralpublic,canviewthem.Ablogisthustypicallyone-to-manymediumof
expressionandrecord.Bloggingsoftwareiswidespreadandoftenfree,makingblogsaneasyandapproachablewayto
giveindividualsavoiceoraplatformthroughwhichtosharetheirideasandthoughts.Manyrefertoablogasasoap-
boxforaparticularindividualtoexpressthemselves.
1Thewordblogisoftenalsousedasaverb,meaningtopostcontentonablog.
9
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
10/122
Background
ExistingResearch
Duetothelowbarriertoentryandwriting-for-an-audiencenatureofblogs,manyinstructorshavebeenexploringwaysto
usethemintheclassroom.Muchofthisattentionhasoccurred,notsurprisingly,withintheblogosphereitself([a],[b],[c]
asexamples).Empirical,academicresearchonblogsforeducationislessplentiful,stillemergingandhasexhibited
inconclusivefindings.
Benefits
Existingresearchhasfoundthatblogscan:
Givestudentsmoretimetoreflectandarticulateideas,socouldleadtomoreeffectivedebatediscussionsandcollaborationthanface-to-face(Koschmann,1996)
Facilitatestudentsuniquevoicesbyempoweringthemtoasserttheirideasandopinionsandencouragingthemtothinkcritically(Oravec,2002,citedinWilliams&Jacobs,2004)
Fosterreflection(Ferdig&Trammel,2004) Facilitatedeeper,richerunderstandingduetohyperlinks,contextualinformationandrevisitingconcepts(Ferdig
&Trammel,2004)
Provideopportunitiesforstudentstoexpressdifferentopinions,thusstimulatingcognitiveconflictanddiscussion(Herringetal.,2004)
Limitations
Otherstudieshaveshownthatblogs:
Donothavethesamebenefitsoradoptionforallstudents:theeffectsofblogscandifferbasedonlearningstyle(Saeed,2008),studentfamiliarityandpreferences(Flierl&Fowler,2007),andstudentwillingnesstoacceptthe
tool(Raajj&Schepers,2008)
Oftenrequiresignificantadministrativeinterventionstostimulateusage(Tri-Dangetal.,2008) Aretypicallypublic,whichcanintimidatestudentsanddiscourageuse(Mason&Rennie,2008) Mustbekeptactiveandmaintained;lackofconsistentattentionorflowmayleadtolessuseorvalue(Mason&
Rennie,2008)
Requireahighlevelofstudentandinstructormotivationtoparticipate(Mason&Rennie,2008)Inanatypicalstudy,WilliamsandJacobs(2004)observedtheuseofablogintwocoursesattheBrisbaneGraduate
SchoolofBusinessatQueenslandUniversityofTechnologyandinadditiontotrackingusage,alsosurveyedstudents.
10
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
11/122
Background
Theirmainfindingswerethatstudentsgenerallyfavoredtheblogandfeltitwashelpfultotheirlearning.Alsoofinterest
isthattwo-thirdsofrespondentssaidthattheywouldhavecontinuedtoblogregardlessofbeinggraded.Thisstudy
startstomoveawayfromcontextually-basedeffectivenessmeasuresanddelvesintotheunderlyingperceptionsand
motivations,somethingwewouldliketoseemoreofandinfact,wasamaingoalinourresearch,asdiscussedbelow.
Summary
Existingresearchpointstothepotentialofblogsforreflectionandstudentopinioninsomecases,butalsoreportslackof
useorvalueinothercasesandcautionsthatsignificantinfrastructureandsupportmaybeneeded.Theseconflicting
findingslikelymirrorthedifferencesacrosslearningenvironmentswherethestudieswereconducted,butthisisrarely
discussed.Whileafewnewerstudiestouchuponindividualpreferencesandlearningstyles,therealsoseemstobea
generallackofattentiontodifferencesinuseandperceptionsacrossstudentsandinstructors,andacrosscourses.
Forums
General
Forums2aretoolsthatsupportmany-to-manyasynchronousdiscussions.Typicallyoneuserstartsaconversationby
postingaforumtopicandthenothersrespondviarepliesorcomments.Thesediscussionscanbeeitherflat,wherethe
repliesarepresentedlinearlyinreversechronologicalorder,orthreaded,whererepliesarepresentedinahierarchy
basedontheparentpost(Mason&Rennie,2008,p.91).Forumsandblogsaresimilarinthattheybothprovideavenue
forstudentstoexpressopinionsandinsights.However,whereasblogsputtheindividualintheforeground,forumsare
typicallysharedcommunityspaceswithmultipleparticipantsastheforeground(Duffy,2006).
ExistingResearch
Theconceptofdiscussionasalearningtechniquehasbeenaroundineducationforsometime.McKeachieetal.(1986)
demonstratedthatclassroomdiscussioncouldcontributetohigherretentionofmaterial,increaseinstudentmotivation
anddevelopmentofhigherlevelthinkingskills.Thus,forums,whichinitiallyemergedevenbeforetheWebitselfto
provideameansofdiscussingtopicsorissueswithawideronlinecommunity,werethoughttobeobviousearlytoolsfor
theclassroom.Thiswasevidencedbythefactthatdiscussionboardsweredefaultfeaturesintheearlyiterationsofthe
firstonlineLearningManagementSystems.However,despitetheseeminglynaturalfitandyearsofexperience,thereis
stillongoingworktodeterminehowtouseforumseffectivelyforlearning.
Benefits
Existingresearchhasdemonstratedthatforumscan:
2Forumsarealsoreferredtoaswebforums,discussionboards,threadeddiscussionboardsorbulletinboards(Mason&Rennie,2008,
p.90)
11
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
12/122
Background
Provide24/7availability(Mason&Rennie,2008) Leveltheplayingfieldformorestudentstocontribute(versusface-to-face);forexample,somestudentsmaybe
morecomfortableparticipatinginadiscussiononlinethanintheclassroom(Mason&Rennie,2008).Also,
forumscanreducethedominantstudenteffect,whichsometimescharacterizesface-to-faceclassroomsessions
(Groves&Pugh,2010)
Facilitatedeeperdiscussionsonissuesorconcepts,whichcanfostersocialconstructionofknowledge(Mason&Rennie,2008)
Leadtomorestudentsatisfactionandhigherstudentoutcomes(Jungetal.,2002;Kentler&WillisFlurry,2005).Althoughitshouldbenotedthatsincethesestudiescomparedgradesandparticipationrates,theirfindings
couldalsobeexplainedbythebetterstudentsparticipatingmoreaspartoftheirquestforagoodgrade.
Buildcommunityandencourageprofessionalidentityformation(Duemeretal.,2002)Limitations
Ontheotherhand,theliteraturecautionsthatforums:
Donotleadtomuchusagebeyondtheminimumlevelrequiredtoqualifyfortheassignmentmarks(Palmeretal.,2008)
Areasynchronous,sotheyrequireagreatdealofmotivationforstudentstoparticipateandweighinwhenthereisnoassuranceofresponse(Mason&Rennie,2008)
Aretypicallytext-only,whichcanbeoverwhelmingandlengthytoreadorcatch-up,andtypicallypresentedasathreadedinterface,whichoftenbecomesunwieldy(Mason&Rennie,2008)
Requireacoursemediatortocontinuallypaycloseattentioninordertocoordinatelearnersactivities.Monitoringaforumistimeconsuminggiventhatitisimpossibletoknowinadvancewhennewmessagesare
goingtobeposted(Gerosaetal.,2010).
Summary
Forumshavebeenaroundforsometime,andwhileexistingliteraturepointstotheircapacityfordiscussionanddebate,
andeveninsomecases,higherstudentoutcomesthanthosethatdonotuseforums,thesefindingsarenotconsistent
andmanypointtouserexperienceissuesthatmaylimitthequantityandqualityofthediscussions.Again,thesestudies
aretypicallycontext-boundandverylittleworkhasexploredthedifferencesinusageandperceivedvalueacross
students,instructorsandcourses.
12
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
13/122
Background
Chat
General
Chat3isatoolthatprovideslightweight,synchronouscommunicationbetweentwopeopleoragroupofpeople.
Messagesaretypicallytext-basedandshortinlength,fosteringconversation.Forthesereasons,chatisoftenmorelike
telephoningthanemailing(MasonandRennie,2008,p102).
ExistingResearch
Theimmediacyoffeedbackandinformalityofthechannel,andthusthelowbarriertoentry,hasattractedmanytochat
asaneducationaltool.Muchoftheresearchwithchathasbeeninthelanguagesdiscipline,perhapsbecause
conversationissocriticaltolearningalanguageandachievingfluency.
Benefits
Chathasbeenshowto:
LeadtobetterstudentoutcomesinESLbecauseitallowedstudentstousethelanguagetoexpresstheirownideasandhaveconversationswithpeers(Yaun,2003).Theyfoundthatpeerswouldcorrecteachother's
grammarandspellingalongthewayaswell,providingahigh-quality,student-drivenplatformforlearningthe
language.
FosterdeeperunderstandingofthematerialandmorestudentengagementinanEnglishcourse(Cameron,2006)
LowerthedisadvantageforESLstudents(Cameron,2006).However,Cameronqualifiestheseresultswithanacknowledgementthatthecoursewasdesignedtosupportthesediscussions,includingsmall,assessabletasks,
easyandapproachablechatsoftwareandasmallgroupenvironmenttoensurethatstudentsdidnotneedtobe
assertivetotakepart.
Encouragemoreinstantcommunication(Jeong,2007) Expandthestudentcomfortzone(Jeong,2007) Providemoreflexibleofficehours(Jeong,2007)
3Chatisalsoreferredtoaschatrooms,instantmessaging,IMorIRC,thelatterofwhichreferstoaparticulartechnologythatsupports
synchronouscommunicationonline.
13
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
14/122
Background
Lowerthebarriertoentrysincechatcanbemoreinformalandintimatethanemailorevenface-to-faceandlogscanserveasremindersofdiscussionsthatcanberevisitedlater(Mason&Rennie,2008)
Limitations
Thesamequalitiesofchatthatareoftenconsideredbenefits,suchasimmediacyoffeedbackandlowbarriertoentry,can
alsobeitsbiggestlimitations.Chatcan:
Haveoverlappingmessagesanddiscussions,whichcanunderminelanguageandcommunicationskillsdevelopment(Jenks,2009)
Leadtomiscommunicationduetolackofcues(Jeong,2007) Createissueswithprivacyorsecurity(Jeong,2007) Encouragestudentstoexpectthattheinstructorbeavailableatalltimesandexperiencefrustrationand
decreasedsatisfactionwhenthoseexpectationswerenotmet.(Jeong,2007)
Oftenbedisruptiveforstudentsandinstructors,especiallywhenthereareseveralconversationsgoingonatonce.Typicallyperceivedasaninformalmediumthatsometimestranslatesaslowerquality,andcanencourage
poorgrammar,gossipandnon-educationaluse(Jeong,2007;Mason&Rennie,2008)
Summary
Theresearchonchathighlightsthelimitationsofcontext-specificstudiesinthatthosefeaturesandqualitiesofchatthat
arebenefitsinsomecontexts,canbemajorlimitationsinothers.
Wiki
General
Awiki4isatypeofwebpagedesignedtoallowitscontenttobecreatedandeditedbyanyonewhohasaccesstoit.They
canbeaccessedwithawebbrowserwherechangescanbearchivedandrecoveredeasily.Awikicanprovidetoolsto
allowonlymemberstoeditapagescontentoritcanbecompletelyopen.Consequently,wikisofferalowtechnical
barriertoentry,andevennoviceuserscancontributetobuildinganonlinecommunity.Themostobviousexampleofa
wikiistheonlinecollaborativeencyclopedia Wikipedia;howevermostwikisservemuchsmaller,morespecific
communitiesorknowledgemanagementgoals.
4ThetermwikicomesfromtheHawaiianphrasewiki-wikiwhichmeansquick,highlightingtheeaseofuseofthiswebtool.
14
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
15/122
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
16/122
Background
Havealimitedassuranceofaccuracy(Denning,2005) Behighlyvolatile.Contributionsandcorrectionsmaybenegatedbyfuturerevisions(Denning,2005) Havebiasandlackofappropriatenessincoverage(Denning,2005).Unmonitoredenvironmentcanleadtoa
verylowlevelofcontentornocontextualrelevance(Mason&Rennie,2008).
Teachimproperattributionduetothecollaborativenatureofwritingandlackofclarityaroundownershipandaccountabilityinsomecases(Denning,2005)
Summary
Whilesomeresearchshowsthatwikiscanbeusedtoencouragewiderparticipation,deepunderstandingandgroup
collaboration,otherstudiescautionthatwikisarehighlycontextualandcanleadtoissuesinaccuracy,accessand
appropriateness.
SocialBookmarking
General
Socialbookmarkwebservicesweredesignedtoallowuserstosaveorbookmarkwebresources(URLs)andorganize
themwithkeywordsortags.Theseservicesleadtoeasysharinganddistributionofresources,whereuserscollectand
annotatetheirresourcesinanopen,onlineenvironment(Kamel&Bolous2007).Thisservicehasmanyadvantagesover
bookmarkinglocallyorwithinabrowser.First,resourcescanbeaccessedfromanycomputer.Second,thebookmarksare
oftensharedwithalargercommunitysothateachuserisnotconfinedonlytoresourcetheycanfind,butcandiscover
relevantresourcesthroughotherusers.Also,theabilitytotagresourcesmakessocialbookmarkingvaluableasa
communitybasedtool.Emergenttagtaxonomies,orfolksonomiescanmakeiteasiertofindresourcesfromausers
owncollection,aswellasthelargercommunitycollection.Additionalmetadata,suchasthepopularityofaresource
basedonhowmanypeoplehavebookmarkedit,canbeusedtoorganizeandcategorizeresourcesinnewways.Finally,
someservicessuggesttagsandnotesfromotherusersforpreviouslytaggedresources,allowinguserstolearnfromother
taggers(Alexander2006).
ExistingResearch
Whilereferenceandcitationmanagementtoolshavebeenusedforyearsineducationandacademia,socialbookmarking
isfairlynewtotheclassroom.Thepotentialforsupportingstudentresearchandcourse-specificresourcerepositories
thataredynamicandresponsivetostudentinterestsandcurrenteventsmakesocialbookmarkingatoolofinterestfor
manyeducators,howeverexistingresearchisinconclusiveonitsvalue.
Benefits
Socialbookmarkingcan:
16
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
17/122
Background
Providepersonalinformationmanagementforresourcesthatmightbelosttotimeorscatteredacrossdifferentmachines(Alexander,2006)
Fosterdiscoveryrelevantresourcesorotherpeoplewithsimilarinterestsandabroaderscopeforstudentandgroupresearch(Alexander,2006)
Fosterdevelopmentofcommunitiesofpracticeinthatitprovidesacommonlocationforcommunity-generatedlinks,encourageslearningfromothersandpromotescollaboration,potentiallyrevealsrelationships
betweeninformationandpeoplethatmighthavebeenmissedinamorecontrolledenvironment,permits
collectivegenerationofcommunity-valuedartifactsandallowscommunitymemberswithsimilarinterestsor
researchgoalstofindoneanother(Evans&Powell,2007)
Limitations
However,otherstudieshavedemonstratedthatsocialbookmarking:
CannothandleresourcesthatareburiedintheLMS,library-licensedorotherwiserestrictedorprotected(Churchilletal.,2009).Inessence,theconceptofwebresourcecanbetoolimitingforeverydayusebyteachers
andstudents.
Oftenlacksacontrolledvocabularywhichcanleadtoamessylearningenvironment,andthiscanoccurformanyreasonssuchaslackofstandardsforstructureoftags,spellingmistakes,polysemyorsynonymy(Brown&
Duguid,2008)
Involvespersonalizedschemasandtagswhichcanlimitthecollectivevalue(Mason&Rennie,2008) Isoftenopentocontributionfromallwithoutmoderation,leadingtolittleassurancethattheresourcesare
valuable,relevantandappropriate(Churchilletal.,2009)
Summary
Again,despitethebenefitsandpromiseofsocialbookmarkingforcertainlearningcontexts,someresearchalsopointsto
lesssuccessfulimplementationsinothers.Inthiscase,theinconsistencyofuseofsocialbookmarkingmaycomefromthe
natureofthetoolandnotnecessarilyjustfromcontextualdifferences.
SummaryofExistingResearch
Thisresearchreviewisnotmeanttobecomprehensive,butinsteadtodemonstratethepotentialforparticipatorymedia
foreducation,andtheinconclusivenessoftheexistingresearch.Clearly,thesetoolscanhavecompellingpositiveeffects
onlearningandthelearnerexperience,butresultstendtobehighlycontextualandasdemonstratedabove,whenused
inothercontexts,resultscansometimesshownegativeusageoreffects.Further,thecurrentsetofbestpracticesor
instructionalmaterialisalsoheavilyreliantonthesestudiesofasingletoolinaparticularenvironment,orbasedsolelyon
17
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
18/122
Background
usageofthetooloutsideoftheclassroomandagutfeelthatitshouldalsobeapplicableinaclassroom,bothofwhich
arelimitedinvalueandapplicability.Theinconsistencyoffindingsisnotsurprisingsinceeveryclassroomisnuancedanda
differentcombinationofcoursestructures,instructorstylesandstudentneeds.Forthisreason,itisdifficulttomake
generalstatementsabouteffectivenessorlistbestpractices.However,muchoftheexistingworktriestodojustthis,
oftendeclaringdirectimplicationsforgeneralfutureusefromthefindingswithinasinglecontext,whileignoringthe
manycomplexitiesandsocialforcesinplaysuchasinstructorandstudentexpectations,perceptionsandmotivations.
OURRESEARCH
Giventheemergingnatureofthespaceandthecomplexityofeachlearningenvironment,wefeelthatresearchshould
focuslessondefiningasingleapproachorprovingeffectivenessinasinglecontext,butinsteadonimprovingour
understandingofusagepatternsandperceptionsacrosscoursesandcontexts.Identifyingandanalyzingthesetrendscan
helpusstarttounraveltheissuesaroundwherethesetoolsaresuccessfulandwheretheyarenot,bothfromausage
perspective(Didstudentsusethetool?),butperhapsmoreimportantly,fromtheperspectivesoftheinstructorsand
studentsthemselves(Whydidtheyuseit?Whatdidtheythinkofthevalueadded?Whatdotheyexpectinfuture
courses?).Furthermore,insteadofanenvironmentwhereasingletoolisused,observinginstructorandstudentchoicein
anenvironmentwithasuiteofparticipatorymediatoolscancapturetheinterplaybetweentools,usagetendenciesand
socialnormsthatemerge.Andfinally,insteadofatool-firstfocuslikemostofthetool-specificresearchcited,wefeel
thatidentifyingtheunderlyinginstructorandstudentgoalsfirstandthenlaterapplyingvarioustechnologiestowards
meetingthosegoalscouldlowerthebarriertoentry,providemoregeneralguidancetotheuseofthesetoolsand
empowerstudentsandinstructorstocreatelearningenvironmentsthatfittheirneeds.
OurresearchlooksatfourcoursesusingtheSocialMediaClassroom(SMC)asthededicatedcoursesite.TheSMCisan
opencoursesuiteofparticipatorymediatoolsdevelopedbyHowardRheingold,whichisbuiltaroundfiveembedded
participatorymediatools-ablog,wiki,forum,chatandsocialbookmarkingtool.Earlyadoptionofthissystemprovided
uswiththeuniqueopportunitytoobservetheusageacrossdifferentcoursesandcontexts,andanalyzestudentand
instructorusagepatterns,perceptions,expectationsandmotivations.
RESOURCES
Alexander,B.(2006).Web2.0:Anewwaveofinnovationforteachingandlearning.Learning,41(2),3244.
http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERM0621.pdf.
Augar,N.,Raitman,R.,andZhou,W.(2001).Teachingandlearningonlinewithwikis.Introducingwikis:95-104.
Barab,S.A.,Makinster,J.G.andScheckler,R.(2004).DesigningSystemDualities:CharacterizingAnOnlineProfessional
DevelopmentCommunity.DesigningforVirtualCommunitiesintheServiceofLearning,812.
http://java.cs.vt.edu/public/classes/communities/readings/barab+2.pdf.
Boulos,M.,Kamel,N.,Maramba,I.,&Wheeler,S.(2006).Wikis,blogsandpodcasts:anewgenerationofWeb-basedtools
forvirtualcollaborativeclinicalpracticeandeducation. BMCmedicaleducation,6(41).doi:10.1186/1472-6920-6-41.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16911779.
18
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
19/122
Background
Boulos,M.,Maged,N.&Wheeler,S.(2007).TheemergingWeb2.0socialsoftware:anenablingsuiteofsociable
technologiesinhealthandhealthcareeducation.HealthinformationandLibrariesJournal,24(1),2-23.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17331140.
Cameron,L.(2007).Teachingwithtechnology:Usingonlinechattopromoteeffectivein-classdiscussions.InProceedings
ofthe23rdAnnualConferenceoftheAustralasianSocietyforComputersinLearninginTertiaryEducation:"Who's
Learning?WhoseTechnology?",3-6December,2006,Sydney.
Chen,H.L.,Cannon,D.,Gabrio,J.,Leifer,L.,Toye,G.&Bailey,T.(2005).Usingwikisandweblogstosupportreflective
learninginanintroductoryengineeringdesigncourse.Proceedingsofthe2005AmericanSocietyforEngineering
EducationAnnualConference&Exposition,Portland,Oregon:June12-15.RetrievedMarch2009from
http://riee.stevens.edu/fileadmin/riee/pdf/ASEE2005_Paper_Wikis_and_Weblogs.pdf
Denning,P.,Horning,J.,Parnas,D.,Weinstein,L.(2005).Insiderisks:Wikipediarisks.CommunicationsoftheA.C.M
48(12),152.
Duemer,L.,Fontenot,D.,Gumfory,K.,&Kallus,M.(2002).Theuseofonlinesynchronousdiscussiongroupstoenhance
communityformationandprofessionalidentitydevelopment.TheJournalofInter-activeOnlineLearning,1(2).
Duffy,P.D.andBruns,A.(2006)TheUseofBlogs,WikisandRSSinEducation:AConversationofPossibilities.In:Online
LearningandTeachingConference2006,26Sep.2006,Brisbane.
Ebner,M.,Kickmeier-Rust,M.&Holzinger,A.(2008).UtilizingWiki-Systemsinhighereducationclasses:achancefor
universalaccess?UniversalAccessintheInformationSociety, 7(4),199207.doi:10.1007/s10209-008-0115-2.
http://www.springerlink.com/index/01898K53U2041651.pdf.
Evans,M.&Powell,A.(2007).Conceptualandpracticalissuesrelatedtothedesignforandsustainabilityofcommunities
ofpractice:thecaseofe-portfoliouseinpreserviceteachertraining.Technology,PedagogyandEducation16(2),199-214.
Felder,R.M.,&Brent,R.(1996).NavigatingtheBumpyRoadtoStudent-CenteredInstruction.CollegeTeaching,44(2),43-
47.
Ferdig,R.&Trammell,K.(2004).ContentDeliveryinthe"Blogosphere".T.H.E.Journal,31(7),12.
Flierl,R.&Fowler,H.(2007).EducationalUsesofBlogsandWikis.ThePhiDeltaKappan,89(3)http://www.jstor.org/stable/20442460.
Gerosa,M.A.,Filippo,D.,Pimentel,M.,Fuks,H.,&Lucena,C.J.(2010).Istheunfoldingofthegroupdiscussionoff-
pattern?Improvingcoordinationsupportineducationalforumsusingmobiledevices.Computers&Education,54(2),528-
544.
Glogoff,S.(2005).Instructionalblogging:Promotinginteractivity,student-centeredlearningandpeerinput.Innovate:
JournalofOnlineEducation,1(5).www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=126
Groves,F.H.,&Pugh,A.F.(2010).UsingSynchronousOnlineInstructiontoPromoteDiscussion.OnlineClassroom,3-5.
Hannafin,M.J.,&Land,S.M.(1997).Thefoundationsandassumptionsoftechnology-enhancedstudent-centered
learningenvironments.InstructionalScience,25(3),167-202.doi:10.1023/A:1002997414652.
Hanson,P.,&Robson,R.(2004).Evaluatingcoursemanagementtechnology:Apilotstudy.EducauseCenterforApplied
Research,ResearchBulletin,(24),Boulder,CO.http://www.educause.edu/library/ERB0424
Herring,S.C.,Scheidt,L.A.,Bonus,S.,&Wright,E.(2004).Bridgingthegap:Agenreanalysisofweblogs.Proceedings
oftheHawaiiInternationalConferenceonSystemsScience, HICSS-37.
Jenks,C.J.(2009).Whenisitappropriatetotalk?Managingoverlappingtalkinmulti-participantvoice-basedchatrooms.
ComputerAssistedLanguageLearning,22(1),19-30.doi:10.1080/09588220802613781.
19
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
20/122
Background
Jeong,W.(2007).InstantMessaginginOn-SiteandOnlineClassesinHigherEducation.EDUCAUSEQuarterly,30(1).
RetrievedMarch24,2010,from
http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/EDUCAUSEQuarterlyMagazineVolum/InstantMessaginginOnSiteandOnl/
157440.
Jung,I.,Choi,S.,Lim,C.,&Leem,J.(2002).EffectsofDifferentTypesofInteractiononLearningAchievement,Satisfaction
andParticipationinWeb-BasedInstruction.InnovationsinEducationandTeachingInternational,39(2),153.doi:
10.1080/14703290252934603.
Koschmann,T.,Kelson,A.,Feltovich,P.,&Barrows,H.(1996).Computer-supportedproblem-basedlearning:Aprincipled
approachtotheuseofcomputersincollaborativelearning.InT.Koschmann(Ed.),CSCL:Theoryandpracticeofan
emergingparadigm,LawrenceErlbaumAssociates,NJ,83-119.
Krentler,K.A.,&Willis-Flurry,L.A.(2005).DoesTechnologyEnhanceActualLearnerLearning?TheCaseofOnline
DiscussionBoards.JournalofEducationforBusiness,80(6),316-321.
Kvavik,R.,&Caruso,J.(2005).Studyoflearnersandinformationtechnology:Convenience,connection,controland
learning.EducauseCenterforAppliedResearch,ResearchStudy,6,Boulder,CO.
http://www.educause.edu/apps/er/erm08/erm0740.asp
Lamb,B.(2004).Wideopenspaces:Wikis,readyornot.EDUCAUSEReview,39(5)(September/October),36-48.
Mader,S.(2008).UsingWikisinEducation.StewartMaderetal.
Mason,R.&Rennie,F.(2008).E-learningandsocialnetworkinghandbook.Routledge.
McLoughlin,C.&Lee,M.(2007).Futurelearninglandscapes:Transformingpedagogythroughsocialsoftware.Innovate,
4(5).http://innovateonline.info/?view=article&id=539
Miers,J.(2004)BELTSorbraces?Technologyschoolofthefuture.Retrievedfrom:http://www.tsof.edu.au/
research/Reports04/miers.asp
Parker,K.,&Chao,J.T.(2007).WikiasaTeachingTool.InterdisciplinaryJournalofKnowledgeandLearningObjectives,3.
Piaget,J.TheLanguageandThoughtoftheChild.Routledge&KeaganPaul.London,1926
O'Reilly,T.(2005).WhatIsWeb2.0-DesignPatternsandBusinessModelsfortheNextGenerationofSoftware.O'Reilly
Blog.RetrievedApril8,2010from:http://oreilly.com/pub/a/web2/archive/what-is-web-20.html?page=1
Owen,M.,Grant,L.,Sayers,S.&Facer,K.(2006).Socialsoftwareandlearning.Futurelab,HAL,1,1-36.Retrievedfrom:
http://futurelab.org.uk/resources/publications-reports-articles/opening-education-reports/Opening-Education-
Report199/
Oravec,J.(2002).BookmarkingtheWorld:WeblogApplicationsinEducation.JournalofAdolescent&AdultLiteracy,
45(7),616-621.
Palmer,S.,Holt,D.,&Bray,S.(2008).Doesthediscussionhelp?Theimpactofaformallyassessedonlinediscussionon
finalstudentresults.BritishJournalofEducationalTechnology,39(5),847-858.
Papert,S.(1980).Mindstorms:Children,Computers,andPowerfulIdeas .NewYork,NY:BasicBooks.
Raajj,E.&Schepers,J.(2008).TheacceptanceanduseofvirtuallearningenvironmentinChina.Computersand
Education,50(3),838-852.
RaymondTri-DangFirpo,D.,Kasemvilas,S.,Ractham,P.&Zhang,X.(2009).FosteringParticipationinanOnline
IntellectualCommunityinaGraduateEducationalSetting:ACaseStudy.ProceedingsfromFourthInternational
ConferenceonInternetandWebApplicationsandServices .
20
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
21/122
Background
Rheingold,H.(a).WelcometoParticipatoryMediaLiteracy.SocialMediaClassroomWiki.RetrievedApril10,2010from
http://socialmediaclassroom.com/community/wiki/welcome-participatory-media-literacy
Rheingold,H.(b).IntroductiontoSocialBookmarking.SocialMediaClassroomWiki:
http://socialmediaclassroom.com/community/wiki/introduction-social-bookmarking
Rogoff,B.(1990).ApprenticeshipinThinking.NewYork,NY:OxfordUniversityPress
Saeed,N.,Yang,Y.,&Sinnappan,S.(2009).EmergingWebTechnologiesinHigherEducation:ACaseofIncorporatingBlogs,PodcastsandSocialBookmarksinaWebProgrammingCourseBasedonStudents'LearningStylesandTechnology
Preferences.EducationalTechnology&Society,12(4),98-109.
Schaffert,S.,Bischof,D.,Burger,T.,Gruber,A.,Hilzensauer,W.,&Schaffert,S.(2006).Learningwithsemanticwikis.In
ProceedingsoftheFirstWorkshoponSemanticWikisFromWikiToSemantics (SemWiki2006),1114.Citeseer.
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.123.2642&rep=rep1&type=pdf.
Schwartz,L.,Clark,S.,Cossarin,M.&Rudolph,J.(2004).Educationalwikis:Featuresandselectioncriteria.International
ReviewofResearchinOpenandDistanceLearning,5(1).RetrievedMarch2009from
http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/163/692
Seitzinger,J.(2006).Beconstructive:Blogs,podcasts,andwikisasconstructivistlearningtools.LearningSolutionse-
Magazine.RetrievedMarch2009fromhttp://www.elearningguild.com/pdf/2/073106DES.pdf
Severance,C.(2009).PreparingfortheLongTailofTeachingandLearningTools.SubmittedtoInternationalConferenceof
theLearningSciences2010.
Siemens,G.(2005).Connectivism:Alearningtheoryforthedigitalage.InternationalJournalofInstructionalTechnology
andDistanceLearning,2(1).
Tonkin,E.(2005).Makingthecaseforawiki.Ariadne,42,January.RetrievedMarch2009from
http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue42/tonkin/
Tryon.C.(2006).WritingandCitizenship:Usingblogstoteachfirst-yearcomposition.Pedagogy,6(1),128-132.
Wang,SK.,Hua,HY.(2008).ReflectionsonUsingBlogstoExpandIn-classDiscussion,TechTrends,52(3).
Watson,K.&Harper,C.(2008).SupportingKnowledgeCreation:UsingWikisforGroupCollaboration.EDUCAUSECenter
forAppliedResearch,ResearchBulletin,3,Boulder,CO,availablefromhttp://www.educause.edu/ecar.
Wheeler,S.,Yeomans,P.&Wheeler,D.(2008).Thegood,thebadandthewiki:Evaluatingstudent-generatedcontentfor
collaborativelearning.BritishJournalofEducationalTechnology39(6),987-995.http://blackwell-
synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2007.00799.x .
Wiley,D.(2002).Connectinglearningobjectstoinstructionaldesigntheory:Adefinition,ametaphorandataxonomy.
TheInstructionalUseofLearningObjects .Retrievedfromhttp://www.reusability.org/read/.
Williams,J.&Jacobs,J.(2004).Exploringtheuseofblogsaslearningspacesinthehighereducationsector.Australasian
JournalofEducationalTechnology,20(2),232-247.
Yaun,Y.(2003).TheUseofChatRoomsinanESLSetting.ComputersandComposition,20,194-206.
Educationblogs:
[a]McIntosh,E.http://edu.blogs.com/
[b]http://blog.blackboard.com/blackboard/
[c]http://educationpolicyblog.blogspot.com/
21
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
22/122
TheSocialMediaClassroomand
RheingoldsApproach
ABSTRACT
AbriefbackgroundontheSocialMediaClassroom
andhowHowardRhein oldusesit.
22
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
23/122
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
24/122
HowardRheingoldandtheSocialMediaClassroom
TheSocialMediaClassroom(SMC)hastwokeyfeaturesthatpositionitasapowerfulandpotentiallysignificanteducation
solutionforeducatorsandresearchers:
1. Openness-opensource,freelyaccessibleandopeneducationalcontentandresources2. Embeddedsocialmediatools -toolsbuiltdirectlyintothecourseenvironmenttoempowersocialconstruction
ofknowledgeandastudent-centeredlearningenvironment
Openness/OpenEducation:
TheSMCisalightweight,open,freelyavailablesolution.ItisbuiltasasetofmodulesontopofDrupal,anopensource
contentmanagementsystem(http://www.drupal.org)andisreleasedasacompletepackage,includingadatabase
template.OnecandownloadthepackagefromtheSocialMediaClassroomwebsite
(http://www.socialmediaclassroom.com)andinstallitonalocalserver,orrequestahostedinstanceforamoreturnkey
solution.TheDrupalcoreenablesaflexibleandextensiblesystemforthoseusingnon-hostedversions.Thissetsthestage
foralowerbarriertoentrythanmanyofthelargerLearningManagementSystems,whichrequiresignificantsupporting
infrastructuresandinmanycases,largefinancialcommitments.Instead,theSMCcanprovideasolutionthatiseasily
accessiblewithoutneedinginstitutionalbuy-in,heavytechnicaloverheadorlargepaychecks.
Inadditiontothelowerbarriertoentryandopensourcecore,theSMCfurthersupportstheidealoftheopenaccess
movement,thatknowledgeandknowledge-sharing(education)shouldbeopenandeasilyaccessiblebyallwhoseekit.
TheSMCfostersthismovementinthatitisapubliclyavailableresource.Also,asindicatedinRheingold'soriginal
proposal,hisgoalforthiseffortistonotonlyprovideacoursesitesolution,butalsouseitasaplatformtoresearchsocial
mediaanddevelopacoresetoftutorials,instructionalvideosandcommunity-builtbestpracticesthatareopenly
available.
SocialMediaForEducation:
TheotherkeyfeatureoftheSMCistheembeddedsocialmediatools.TheSMCisdeliveredwithfivesocialmediatools
integratedintothecoursesite:awiki,blog,forum,chatandsocialbookmarking.Rheingoldintentionallychosethesefive
toolstofitdifferentgoalsforhiscourse.Infact,healignseachtoolwithspecificlearningactivitiesandobjectives,as
indicatedbelow(Rheingold,2007).
1.
Blogsaffordtheexpressionofindividualvoice,theemergenceofamarketforintelligentinformation-filteringandknowledge-disseminationandpublicinteractionsintheformofcomments.
2. Forumsaffordmany-to-many,multimedia,asynchronousdiscussionsamongsmallorlargegroups,regardlessofdistance,overextendedperiods.
3. Wikisenablecollaborativedocumentandknowledgecreationaswellasweb-buildingasalearningmethod.4. Chataddssynchronousonlinetextchannelsthatcanbetunedandcultivatedforspecificpurposes.24
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
25/122
HowardRheingoldandtheSocialMediaClassroom
5. SocialBookmarking makespossiblesimple,bottom-up,collectiveknowledge-gathering.TheSMCattemptstocapturethepossiblebenefitsofeachsocialmediatool,aswellasthepotentialvalueofusingthem
intandem,byintegratingthemdirectlyintothecourseexperience.IntheSMC,thetoolsforsociallearningarerightin
linewithcoursematerialtocapitalizeonthesocialinteractionandencouragecollaborationandsociallearningtooccur.
Theideaisthatthiscanfosteradynamiclearningenvironmentthatcanadjustitselftostudent'sinterests,provide
appropriatecontexttothematerialandkeepstudentsengaged.
RheingoldsCourse
Aspreviouslymentioned,Rheingoldteachesacourseondigitalsocialmedia,andbuilttheSMCspecificallytoservethe
needsandrequirementsthathadbeenrefinedandwell-tunedoverhismultipleexperiencesteachingthecourse.
Regardingthedevelopmentofthetoolsandthecourse,Rheingoldwritesthatworkingcloselywithstudentsaboutthe
newmodesoflearningthatthesenewmediaafford,thewaytheclass[was]taughtbegantochange.Muchofthe
pedagogythatemergedinvolvedlettinggoofteachingandlearningtobethechieflearnerofacollaborativelearning
community(Rheingold,2009).
Again,RheingoldisanevangelistandhisuseoftheSMCandembeddedtoolsisprogressiveandfine-tunedforhiscourse,
withheavyscaffoldingandmanytechniquesrefinedovertheyearstoencouragestudentparticipation.Thecourseis,
afterall,aboutdigitalmedia,sotheconnectionwiththetooluseisobviousandexplicit.Additionally,hesets
expectationsupfrontthatstudentuseisrequiredandisveryclearaboutthetypeofuseexpectedwithineachtool.
CourseassignmentsarebuiltintotheSMCparticipatorymediatoolsandthestudentsgradesaredirectlytiedtotheir
participationthroughthesite.Healsoactivelyparticipatesthroughthesitethroughhisownpostsandcomments,and
employsawiderangeofpedagogicalapproachessuchasdedicatedcontentownersandcollectiveincentivestoencourageanddriveuse.Hiscomprehensiveandconsistentapproach,aswellashiscommittedparticipation,isreflected
intheusageaquickviewintooneinstanceofthecoursedemonstratedveryheavyandconsistentuseacrossallofthe
tools,exceptforchatwhichRheingoldhasrecentlyremovedandinsteadusesaTwittermicro-bloggingfeedinclasson
topoftheSMCuse.
RheingoldstatesthathefeelslikethecoursewiththeSMCisnowverysuccessful,basedonofhisinformalassessments
ofstudentengagement,aswellasmoreformalmeasurementsofstudentcontributionandevaluation.However,heis
stillconstantlyinnovating,addinginmindmapping1,presentationandvideotoolsoverthecourseofjustoneinstance.
Asdiscussedabove,theSMCisfreeandopenandcanthusprovidealighter-weight,moreaccessiblecoursesitesolution
forinstructorslookingtoincorporateparticipatorymediaintotheirclassroom.However,mostinstructorsadoptingthe
1Amindmapisadiagramusedtorepresenttherelationshipsbetweenconcepts,typicallyfocusedaroundacentral
conceptoridea(Buzan&Buzan,1996).
25
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
26/122
HowardRheingoldandtheSocialMediaClassroom
SMCwillnotbeteachingaboutdigitalsocialmediadirectly,willbefirst-timeorearlySMCusersthatwillnothavehada
chancetorefinetheuseanddirectivesaroundthetoolsormaywanttoseehowthetoolsareusedwithouthavingto
significantlychangetheirteachingstyleorthecoursecontent.Therefore,itisimportanttoobservetheusageinthese
morecommonandorganicinstances,togetabetterunderstandingoftheusagepatterns,perceptionsandneedsof
instructorsandstudents.
ADDITIONALUSAGETODATE
RheingoldreleasedtheSMCforpublicuseinMay2009.Whilethetotalnumberoflocalinstallsisnotknown,thereare
currentlyoverfifty(59asofApril2010)hostedinstallations,andtheSMChasbeenemployedinfourcoursesatthe
UniversityofCaliforniaBerkeley,threeofwhichareSchoolofInformationcourses.Thisearlyadoptiongaveusthe
uniqueopportunitytoobservethepatternsofuseofthesiteandtheembeddedtoolsacrossdifferenttypesofcourses,
withfirst-timeinstructorsatthehelm.Again,Rheingoldisoneexampleofaninstructorthatisveryfamiliarwiththe
tools,hasadirectconnectionbetweenthetoolsandcoursecontent,iswillingandabletotakerisksandrefineusageof
thesetoolsandinfact,activelyinnovatesashegoes.Hisusageisnotlikelytobereplicatedbymostadoptersofthe
systemsincetheywillhavedifferentgoals,experiencesandpedagogicalapproaches.ObservinghowtheSMCisusedina
widerarrayofclassroomswithdifferentteachingstyles,coursestructuresandneedsiscriticaltounderstandinghow
socialmediaisadoptedandused,andhowtopotentiallyguidefutureadoptersandusers.
SMCAdaptation
OnethingtonoteisthattheadoptersfromUCBerkeleyadaptedtheSMCtomeettheirneedsbydevelopingtheSyllabus
Engine.ThisnewfeaturegivestheSMCmoreinterconnectivitybetweentoolsandcontenttypesbypullingallofthe
relevantcontentintoadedicatedpageforeachlectureorsession.TheinstructorforCourse1and2,alongwithAuthor1
andanotherstudent2,wereresponsiblefordesigningandimplementingtheadditionalfunctionality:
TheSyllabusEngineconsistsofthreekeyelements,LectureTags,LecturePagesandaDynamicSyllabus:
LectureTags:WedevelopedasimplecontrolledvocabularycalledLectureTags,andconsistedoftagssuchasL1,L2,
throughL30whichwasthelastlecture.StudentsusedtheLectureTagstoaddmetadatatothesocialcontentthey
created,includingblogposts,forumrepliesandsocialbookmarks.Studentswereinstructedtotagtheirsocialcontent
withtheappropriatelecturetag,inadditiontotheirothertags,andadoptionwasquickanduniversal,allstudent
contributionsweretaggedwithatleastoneLectureTag.
2WewouldliketoacknowledgeandthankHyunwooPark,afellowgraduatecandidateattheUCBerkeleySchoolof
Information,whoassistedwiththeSMCinstallationanddocumentationforthefirsttwoinstances.Formore
documentationontheinstallandset-upprocess,seetheAppendix.
26
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
27/122
HowardRheingoldandtheSocialMediaClassroom
LecturePages:Wethencreatedadedicatedpageforeachlecture,theLecturePage,which,inadditiontotheinstructor
synopsis,readings,lectureslidesandotherinstructor-providedmaterial,alsoincludedtherelevantblogposts,forum
topicsandsocialbookmarks,orstudent-providedcontentpulledin.Thiscreatedadedicatedlocationforallofrelevant
contentforeachparticulartopic.TheappropriateLectureTagdeterminedrelevantsocialcontentandallowedusto
identifyandpullcontentfromacrosssocialmediatoolsdynamically.
DynamicSyllabus:RheingoldusestheSMCwikifortheagendaforeachsession,buttheinitialISchoolinstructorneeded
amorerobustsyllabusthatpulledinalloftheinstructor-providedcontentinadynamicandrobustway.Wetherefore
createdadynamicsyllabusgeneratorthatpulledintheappropriateinformationfromtheLecturePages,aswellasother
sourcessuchasAssignments.ItshouldbenotedthattheDynamicSyllabusispowerfulandappropriateforcoursesin
whichthesyllabusissetandfinalizedupfront.ForCourse3and4,thedynamicsyllabuswasabandonedduetotheneed
formoreflexibilitywithlecturetopicsanddatesandinsteadwejusthandbuiltthesyllabus.Bothcoursesstillusedthe
LectureTagsandLecturePages.
SampleLecturePage:
27
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
28/122
HowardRheingoldandtheSocialMediaClassroom
Syllabus:
RESOURCES
BuzanT.&Buzan,B.(1996).TheMindMapBook:HowtoUseRadiantThinkingtoMaximizeYourBrainsUntapped
Potential.PenguinBooks.
DigitalMediaandLearningCompetition.(2009).RetrievedOctober13,2009,fromhttp://www.dmlcompetition.net/
Drupal.(2009).Theofficialwebsite.RetrievedOctober15,2009,fromhttp://drupal.org/
HowardRheingold.(2,May2010).InWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia.RetrievedMay5,2010,from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Rheingold
Rheingold,H.(1993).TheVirtualCommunity:FindingConnectioninaComputerizedWorld.Addison-WesleyLongman
PublishingCo.,Inc.Boston,MA.http://www.rheingold.com/vc/book/intro.html
28
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
29/122
HowardRheingoldandtheSocialMediaClassroom
Rheingold,H.(2007).WhytheClassroom.Retrievedfromhttp://socialmediaclassroom.com/index.php/why-the-
classroom
Rheingold,H.(2008,February23).HowardRheingoldoneof17winnersofHASTAC/MacArthurFoundationCompetition.
[Weblogcomment].Retrievedfromhttp://www.smartmobs.com/2008/02/23/howard-rheingold-one-of-17-winners-of-
hastacmacarthur-foundation-competition/
Rheingold,H.(2009,December29).TheSocialMediaClassroom.[Weblogcomment]Retrievedfrom
http://dmlcentral.net/blog/howard-rheingold/social-media-classroom
29
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
30/122
OurResearch&Methods
ABSTRACT
Asummaryofourresearchgoalsandobjectives,aswellasanoverviewofour
methodsofanal sisandobservation.
30
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
31/122
Methods
RESEARCHSPACE
Theemerginginterestandinnovationaroundparticipatorymediaforeducationisgroundedinidealsofsociallearning,
constructionofknowledge,personalresponsibilityforlearningandstudent-centeredparadigms.Currentresearchis
oftenfocusedondemonstratingeffectivenessorsuccess,whichtypicallyrequiresaverycontext-specificapproach.
However,manystilltrytoformulategeneralbestpracticesfromthismyopicperspective.Also,manyoftheeducatorson
theforefrontofthismovement,suchasRheingold,areoftenmoreabletotakerisks,investagreatdealofeffortand
refineapproachestofindwhatworksforthem.Buttotrulyunderstandthespace,weneedabetterunderstandingof
howparticipatorymediaisusedandreceivedbeyondasinglecontrolledorfine-tunedcontext,andmoreoutinthe
wild.Identifyingcommontrendsorpatternsofusecouldinformfutureresearchquestions,andeventually,better,more
generalizedguidanceandbestpracticearoundtheadoptionanduseofthetools.
TheSocialMediaClassroomisoneofmanysystemsavailabletoeducatorstoincorporateparticipatorymediaintotheir
learningenvironmentsandstarttomaketheshifttoamorestudent-centeredapproach.EarlyadoptionatUCBerkeley
provideduswiththeuniqueopportunitytoobserveuseacrossdifferentcoursesandgetinsightintoinstructorand
studentperceptions,reactionsandmotivations.
Wewerecloselyinvolvedwiththefourcoursesandwereabletosurveyandinterviewstudentsandfacultytogetamore
in-depthviewintoobservedtrends.Thisreportcombinesdifferentmethodsofanalysisandobservationacrossthese
varyingcourses.Ourgoalwasnottomeasureorproveeffectivenessormakeabsolutestatementsorpredictionsabout
usageorsuccess.Norisittoimplyalinearcontinuumofstudentorinstructoruse,wheremoreequalsbetter.Given
thecomplexityandnuancednatureofeachindividualcourse,itisnotsufficientatthisstage,orperhapsever,totryto
identifyasingle,pre-definedwaytousethesetools.Instead,ourworkobservestheusagepatternsacrossthesedifferent
coursesandtriestounderstandthecomplexitiesandunderlyinggoals,perceptionsandmotivationstoinformfuture
researchquestionsandadoption.
RESEARCHGOALS
ObserveStudent/InstructorUsageAcrossCourses IdentifyandAnalyzeUsagePatterns,Expectations,MotivationsandSocialConstraints InformFutureResearch
OBSERVEDCOURSES
WeobservedtheuseoftheSocialMediaClassroominfourUCBerkeleygraduatecourses,includingthreeISchoolcourses
andonePublicHealthdepartmentcourse.Thiswasatotalofapproximately150students(althoughthereissome
overlapacrossthevariouscourses,soitisapproximately110uniquestudents).Wehaveanonymizedthecoursesand
instructor/studentnamestoprotecttheirprivacy.
31
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
32/122
Methods
Thecoursesobservedtodate:
Course1:Graduatelevelcorecourse,theoryandabstractconcepts,midtermandfinalexam,40students
Course2:Graduatelevelcorecourse,businessandappliedconcepts,finalproject,40students
Course3:Graduatelevelcorecourse,theoryandabstractconceptscourse,finalpaper,37students(samestudentsasCourse1)
Course4:Onesectionofagraduatelevelcorecourse,appliedconcepts,multipleinstructors,30students
SOCIALMEDIACLASSROOM
AllcoursesusedtheSocialMediaClassroomasthededicatedcourseplatformandthestudentexperienceofaddingor
consumingcontentwasverysimilaracrossallthecourses.Theonlykeydifferencewasthatbasedonexperiencewiththe
SMCinthefirsttwocourses,inwhichchatwasnotusedatall,chatwasdisabledforCourse3and4.
APPROACHES
LiteratureReview
Wereviewedtheexistingresearchandliteratureonparticipatorymediaforeducationtogetasolidunderstandingofthe
space.SeetheBackgroundsectionandBibliographyformoredetailsonthereview.
Observationofuse
Forallfourcourses,wewereabletocloselyobserveusageduringthesemester.Thisallowedustoexperiencequestions,
issues,requestsandadaptationsinreal-timeandalsogaveusanopportunitytoobservechangesinbehaviorovertime.
Wenotedtheseobservationsasthecoursesproceeded.
Quantificationofusagepatterns
Tounderstandusagepatternsandtrends,aswellastocompareacrosscoursesobjectively,wequantifiedtheusageusing
sitecontent,revisionsanduseraccounts.Thisinvolvedcountingvariousactivitiesandcontenttypesincludingnumberof
blogentries,forumrepliesandsocialbookmarks.Becausethewikiinvolvescollaborativeeditingandresourcebuilding,in
additiontonumberofpages,wealsocountedthenumberofrevisionstoeachpage.Andfinally,weusedindividualuser
pages,whichareafeatureoftheSMCthatdetailsthetotalofeachuser'scontributions,tocountindividualparticipation
patterns.
Forthelatter,weusedarudimentaryequationtocalculateparticipationandcompareacrosscourses:2pointsforeach
initialcontentaddition(blogentry,bookmark,wikipage,forum)and1pointforeachcomment.Wikirevisionsweretoo
difficulttocaptureonanindividualbasissothosearenotrepresentedintheindividualnumbers.
32
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
33/122
Methods
Surveys
Weadministeredsurveystostudentsinallfourcourses,whichtargetedfamiliaritywithvarioustools,perceptionsoftheir
educationalvalue,aswellasoverallexpectationsregardingtechnologyintheclassroom.InCourses1,2and4,students
weresurveyedbothpre-andpost-semester,togetasenseoffamiliaritiesandexpectationsbeforetheexperiencewith
theSMCandafterthesemesterofusingthetoolswithintheSMC.BecausethesamestudentswereinCourse1and3,
someofpre-semesterdataisalsorelevantforCourse3.Additionally,Course3studentsweresurveyedpost-semesteras
well.
Interviews
Togetadeepersenseofperceptionsandmotivations,weinterviewedstudentsandinstructorsfromallfourcourses.We
conductedatotalof10studentinterviewsand5instructorinterviews,whichrangedfrom20-45minuteseach.
ContextualInquiry
WealsoobservedseveralstudentswhileusingtheSMCinacourse.Weusedthecontextualinquirymethodtoobserve
theirtypicalexperience/use.Becausethiswasduringclass,wedidnotinterjectwithquestions,butnotedbehaviorsto
comebacktoinafterclassinterviews.Weobservedatotalof4students.
LIMITATIONS
Thesemethodshavesomeacknowledgedlimitationssuchasinconsistencyinapproachesanddatacollectionacrossall
coursesduetoaccessortimeconstraints.Similarly,thecoursesarenotarepresentativesampleofcoursessincewe
wereconfinedtothosecoursesthatwereearlyadoptersatUCBerkeley.However,despitethelimitations,wewereable
toobservetrendsandcompareacrossthecoursesonmanylevels,aswellasconnectvarioususagepatternsandtrends
withreportedperceptionsandmotivations.
33
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
34/122
Findings:UsagePatterns
ABSTRACT
AreviewofhowstudentsandinstructorsusedtheSMC.
34
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
35/122
Findings:UsagePatterns
GENERAL
EarlyadoptionoftheSocialMediaClassroomatUCBerkeleygaveusauniqueopportunitytoobservetheusageof
participatorymediatoolsacrossdifferentclasses,instructorsandstudents.Ourobservationsandinterviewsgaveustwo
typesofdatawhatpeopledidonthesiteandhowpeoplefeltaboutorinterpretedwhatthey(orothers)did.This
sectiondiscussestheobservationsfromtheformerwhatpeopledid,orhowtheyusedthesite.
STUDENT
CourseComparisons
EachcourseusedtheSMCandparticipatorytoolsdifferently,asindicatedbelow.Onethingtonoteisthatourstudydoes
notconsiderhigherusageasnecessarilyindicativeofmoresuccessorbetteruseoftheSMCsincetheusagewas
differentwithineachcourse.Instead,wearetryingtounderstandthedifferencesbetweenthecoursesandthefactors
thatinfluencetheuse.
Course #Students
Course
Length
(weeks)
#Blog
Entries
#Wikipages,
revisions
#Forum
posts,
replies
#Chat
messages
#Social
Bookmarks
1
40 15 204(13.6
perwk,5.1
perstudent)
2pages,0
revisions
24posts,52
replies
(2.17per
post)
3 115
2
40 15 16(1.07per
wk,0.375
perstudent)
60pages,360
revisions
0 0 21
3
37* 15 67(4.5per
week,1.8
perstudent)
2pages,2
revisions
0 NA** 43
4
52 15 43 7pages,45
revisions
106posts,
368replies
(3.47per
post)
NA** 36
*SamestudentsasCourse1
**TheChattoolwasdisabledforthiscourse.
35
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
36/122
Findings:UsagePatterns
ToolTendencies
Asapparentinthenumbersabove,usageinallofthecourseswasmostlyfocusedwithinasingletool,andthatparticular
tooldifferedacrosscoursesaswell.
Course FocusedTool
1 Blog
2 Wiki
3 Blog
4 Forum
IndividualUsePatternsWithineachcourseusagesignificantlyvariedaswell,withusersrangingfromhighusage,withseveralpostsperweek,to
veryminimalusageofoneortwopoststheentiresemester.AsoutlinedintheMethods,forCourse1,wedevelopedan
arbitrarysystemtocompareindividualusage,basically2pointsperoriginalpost,1pointpercommenttheymadeand
pointpercommentfromanotherstudentononeoftheirposts.Thisisaroughrubricbutcanserveasaadequatewayto
compareindividualusageacrosscourses.
Thischartdemonstratestheindividualusageacrosscourses.Course3hadalongtailofuse,withonlyafewstudents
withhighuseandlargenumberwithscoresbetween1and10.Course1and4wereverysimilarinusageacrossthe
36
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
37/122
Findings:UsagePatterns
students,witharoundhalfbelowthe15-20markandtheotherhalfrangingfrom20-60+.Course2isanapproximationof
aconsistentrateofuseacrossstudents.Thisisalimitationduetothedatawewereabletocollect-weexpecttherewas
morevariationamongstudentsinwikipagerevisions,butwefeelitisaccuratetorepresentitasmoreconsistentthan
theothercourses.
Course1andCourse3
Course1and3hadthesamestudents,Course1intheFallsemester,andCourse3inthefollowingSpringsemester.
PlottingCourse1andCourse3scoresforeachstudent,thereappearstobearelationship.RunningaPearsons
Correlation,weseeafairlystrongpositivecorrelationbetweenscores,r(34)=0.709,p
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
38/122
Findings:UsagePatterns
thatinstructorshaveforthestudentuseofthetools.Ourreviewoftheliteratureandourownobservations
demonstratedthatofteneducatorsorinstructorswilladoptthetoolfirstandthentrytofigureouthowtouseit,whereas
startingfirstwiththedesiredlearningactivities,instructorsmayfinditeasiertoselecttoolsandintegratethem,aswellas
evaluatetheiruse.MorediscussiononthisintheDiscussionandConclusionssection.
Whilethelistofpotentiallearningactivitiesisboundlessandmaychangebasedontheparticularcourse,areviewofthe
literatureandresearchhighlightedasetcommonandfairlyubiquitouslearningactivities,outlinedbelow.
DescriptionofLearningActivities
Participationactiveengagementandcontributiontothecourse,throughdiscussionsandcontentcreation. Reflectioninsightandthoughtsaboutmaterialjustlearnedhelpingtoachievemeta-cognition,wherethe
studentdevelopsanunderstandingandawarenessofhis/herlearningprocess.
Synthesisconnectingideasandtopicstoformabroaderunderstanding. CriticalWritingformulatingopinionsandcritiquesandbeingabletoeffectivelycommunicateandsupport
throughwriting.
ContextualUnderstanding -similartoSynthesisbutinsteadofjustconnectingconceptsfromwithintheclass,thisentailsunderstandingeachconceptortopicinthebroadercontextualspace.Sothismayinvolveconnecting
ideastomateriallearninginothercourses,personalexperienceorcurrenteventsandnewscontent.
CollaborativeResourceBuilding collaborativelyauthoringaresource. Assistanceaskingforandreceivingsupportwithintheclass. Communitybuilding developingasenseofcommunityandcomfortabilitywithclassmates. Researchfindingqualityresourcesandreferences. Classification/Organization effectivelycategorizingcontentandresources(typicallythroughtags). Debate/Discussion criticalownershipofideasandopinionsbydefendingoropposingindebateordiscussionwithpeers. InformationFiltering*evaluatinginformationinfluxtodeterminequalityresources. Accountability*beingresponsibleandaccountableforinformationsharedwithothers. TechnicalCapability*beingfamiliarwithtoolsandhowtooperatethemeffectively.
*Thelastthreearetypicallygroupedunderthebroaderlearningactivityreferredtoas21stCenturyLiteraciesor21
st
CenturySkills.
LearningActivityToolAlignment/Usage
AsdiscussedintheBackgroundsection,currentliteratureinthespacetypicallyassignsparticularlearningactivitiesto
particulartools.Forexample,blogsaretypicallyprescribedforreflectionandindividualexpression,whereasforumsare
fordiscussion.Againpullingfromthevariousresearcharticles,popularpressandothersources(Mason&Rennie,2008;
Rheingold),thecommonlearningactivitiesassociatedwitheachtoolareindicatedbelowingrayandmarkedwithC.
Inourobservations,studentsdidinfactexhibitthecommonlyassignedlearningactivitiesinmanyofthetools.However,
theyalsousedeachtoolforawiderangeoflearningactivities,extendingpastthosecommonlyassignedtoeachtool.
ThelearningactivitiesobservedfromourresearchareindicatedbelowinredandmarkedwithO.
38
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
39/122
Findings:UsagePatterns
KEY:Ccommonlyassignedlearningactivities::::OOurobservedlearningactivitieswithineachtool
LearningActivityBlogs Wikis Forums
Social
BookmarkingChat
Participation O O O O
Reflection C O O OX OX
Synthesis O OX OX O
CriticalWriting C O OX O
ContextualUnderstanding C O OX C O
LearningActivityBlogs Wikis Forums
Social
BookmarkingChat
CollaborativeResource
Building C OX O
Assistance OX C OX C
Community-building O C OX C
Research O OX C OX
Classification/Organization O OX OX C O
Debate/Discussion O C O C
InformationFiltering C O C O O C OX
Accountability C O C OX C O OX
TechnicalCapability C O C OX C O C OX C
DescriptionofObservedLearningActivityUsage
ParticipationAllofthetools,exceptchat,wereusedasawaytoparticipateinthecourse.Manyofthecourseshada
participationgradeandusageofthesitewasonewaytoaccumulateparticipation.Severalstudentscommentedthat
theyfeltmorecomfortableparticipatingthroughthecoursesitethanbytalkinginclass.
39
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
40/122
Findings:UsagePatterns
ReflectionWeobservedreflectionbehavioracrossallthetools,exceptforchat:
Blog:Despitetrendsinblogentries,suchas"inthenews"stories,reflectionwasalwaysamainplayer.Withthenewstories,mosttiedthembacktoreadingsorlectureswiththeirowninterpretations.Andthereweremany
entriesthatweresimplythoughtsaboutsomethingsaidinclassorpersonalanecdotesthatwererelated.
Commentsinblogsalsodemonstratedreflectioninthatstudentswouldcommentlike"Nowitisclearwhythisis
soimportant.Thanksforthispost." Wiki:InCourse2,thewikirepresentedapointtoreflectonlearningthroughassignmentsanddedicatedrecap
spaces.
Forum:Someforumdiscussionsincludedreflectivematerialwherestudentsattemptedtoexplainaconceptoraopinionbasedontheirowninterpretation.InCourse4,studentspostedquestionsfromreadingstocapture
theirownunderstandingsandchallengeclassmatestothinkcriticallyaboutthematerial.
SocialBookmarking:Descriptionsofsomesocialbookmarkswereusednotonlytodescribetheresource,butalsotoexplainwhythestudentthoughtitwasrelevanttothematerialandtheirownunderstandingofit.
SynthesisAllofthetools,exceptchat,wereagainusedforsynthesisofconceptsandmaterial.
Blog:Manystudentsusedtheblogtoexpressconnectionstheyfoundbetweenmaterialinthecourseandothercourses,withinthecourseitselforwithrealworldexamplesorexperiences.
Wiki:Thewikiwastypicallyusedtotieconceptstogetherorbuildresourcesthatpulledconceptsandmaterialfrommultiplesourcesandstudents.ThewikiforCourse2wasprimarilyusedtotieeverythingtogetherthrough
aseriesofassignmentsbuildinguptoafinalproject.
Forums:Thediscussionsontheforumsweretypicallynotdirectlytiedtooneparticularconcept,butinsteadrequiredasynthesisofmultipleconceptsfromwithinthecourseandbeyond.InCourse1,thepreviousyears
examquestionswerepostedandstudentswroteanswers,whichrequiredconnectingconceptsfromthroughout
theentiresemester.Additionally,inCourse4,studentsansweredquestionsposedbyotherstudentsaroundthe
readingsandmaterialtoconnectconcepts.
SocialBookmarking:Descriptionsofsomesocialbookmarkswereusednotonlytodescribetheresource,butalsototieitbacktomultiplelectureorindicatehowitconnectedconceptsorideasforthem.
CriticalWritingOnebenefitofonlinetoolsisthattoexpressideas,writingisrequired.Studentsusedtheblog,wikiand
forumtoexpresstheirownopinionsorcritiquesofmaterialandconcepts.
Blog:Manyblogentrieswerewell-formulated,professional,well-writtenpieceswhichstudentsclearlyputalotofthoughtandworkinto.Studentscommentedabouttheleveloftheblogentriesinseveralclasses.Further,
manypostscriticallyanalyzedthematerialfromtheclassorrelevantoutsidematerial.
Wiki:InCourse2,thewikiwasusedtobuildfullreportsaspartofthefinalproject. Forums:Criticalwritingisinherentinforumsgiventhattodebateordiscussatopic,somelevelofargument
supportistypicallynecessary.Studentsdemonstratedthisthroughtheirdiscussionsofconcepts.Also,again,in
Course1,studentsconstructedwell-formulatedexamanswers,whichoftenaskedthemtocritiquecertain
concepts.
40
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
41/122
Findings:UsagePatterns
ContextualInformation Providingcontextaroundvariousconceptsisoftenneededtohelpstudentsrelatetoor
connectwiththematerial.Examplesofcontextualinformationweobservedwerenewstories,historicalexamplesand
personalexperiences.
Blog:Manyentriesincludednewsstoriesorwebresourcesthatthestudentsfoundrelevanttothecourse,orinsomecases,specificlecturesortopics.Inallcourses,studentscouldtagtheirpostswiththeappropriatelecture
tagsandthenvisiteachlecturepageandseealltherecent,contextualexamplesthatwererelevanttothisparticulartopic,afeaturethatwasveryhighlyratedamongthestudents.(formore,seetheAppendix)
Forums:Forumdiscussionsoftenincludedoutsidereferencessuchasvideos,articlesorexperiences.InCourse4,studentscitednewsarticlesandreportsthatansweredkeyquestionsaboutthematerialtheywerereadingin
thecourse.
SocialBookmarking:Thistoolisallaboutaddingmoreresourcestothecourserepositoryandstudentsandinstructorsusedthistooltoaddrelevantnewsstories,articles,websitesorvideos.Again,studentsalsotagged
theirbookmarkswiththerelevantlecturetagtopullthecontextualinformationallintooneviewforeach
topic/lecture.(formore,seeAppendix)
Assistance-ForumswereusedinallcoursesasawaytoaskquestionstotheTAs,aroundassignmentsortopics.These
weretypicallyveryshortthreadswithonequestionandareplyfromtheTA.
Wiki:InCourse2,studentscommentedthatlookingoverotherstudentsprojectwikipageshelpedthemunderstandvariouspartsoftheirprojectorgetnewideas.
Forums:Theforumswereoftenusedasachannelforstudentquestionssothattheentireclasscouldseetheanswersfromtheinstructor,TAsorotherstudents.
CollaborativeResourcebuilding -Typicallywikisarethetool-of-choicetosupportthecollaborativedevelopmentof
resources.Thusitisnosurprisethatweobservedthislearningactivityinwikis,however,wealsoobserveditinforums
foroneparticularclass.
Wiki:ThewikiwasclearlyconducivetocollaborativeresourcebuildinginCourse2,wherecompletefinalprojectswereiterativelybuiltthroughthewiki.
Forums:Course1usedtheforumstobuildanswerstosampleexamquestionstogetherandtheTAsweighedinandgavefeedbackontheanswers.
Community-building -Personalitiesandpersonalinterestsbecameveryevidentthroughvariousentriesandcommentsin
theblog,wikiandforumsinseveralcourses.
Blog:Course1developedbanterandfollowingintheblogasevidencedbythecommentsandinteractions.Somestudentscommentedthattheystartedtolearnpersonalitiesthroughbloggingstyle,orthattheyeventually
knewtheiraudiencewhendecidingwhatorhowtopost.
Wiki:Thewikisupportedcollaborativeresourcebuildingandprojectcollaborationformanycourses,whichcanhelpstudentsgettoknowoneanotherandlearneachothersskillsandcapacities.
ResearchFindingresourcesoutsideofclassthatwererelevantorsupportedvariousconceptswasdemonstrated
throughtheblog,wikiandsocialbookmarkingincourses.
41
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
42/122
Findings:UsagePatterns
Blog:Manyblogentrieswerefocusedaroundvariousconceptsinthenewsandstudentswereaskedtodosomelightresearchtofindrelevantmaterial,andthenpostthelinkandtheirowninsightsaboutthepiece.This
wasamainusagetypeinCourses1and3.
Wiki:Thewikiwasusedforprojectsinseveralcoursesandoftenincludedliteraturereviewsorreferencetrackingpages.
SocialBookmark:Studentsaddedresourcesthattheyfoundtoberelevanttoparticularissuesortopics.InCourse3,somestudentsaddedbookmarksrelevanttotheirownresearchpapertostoreresourcesand
demonstratetheiridea.
Organization/Categorization Weobservedorganizationandcategorizationskillsacrossallthetoolsexceptforchat
throughtags.Allofthecourseshadacontrolledvocabularyoflecturetags(L1,L2,etc.)inadditiontofree-formtags.
Studentsusedthelecturetagstoindicatethelecture/topicsthateachpost,replyorbookmarkwasrelevantto.Thenthey
couldgotoeachdedicatedlecture/topicpagetoviewalloftheinformationthatwasrelevant,includingnotonly
instructor-providedmaterial,butalsostudent-generatedsocialcontent.
Debate/Discussion Forumsaretypicallythego-totoolsfordebateanddiscussion.Weobservedforumsusedforthis
typeoflearningactivity,butalsosawsomeofitoccurringintheblogaswell.
Blog:InCourse1and3,thecommentswereusedtomoredeeplydiscussconceptsoropinionsfromposts. Forums:SomediscussionoccurredinCourse1,butitwaslimitedtoafewinitialpostsandonlyinvolvedafew
replies.InCourse4,therewasasignificantamountofdiscussionaroundthecoursereadings.
21stCenturySkillsBeyondjustlearninghowtousethetools,studentsexhibitedaccountabilityandinformationfiltering
acrossallthetools,exceptforchat.Severalstudentscommentedthatthiswastheirfirstexperiencewithanumberof
thesetools,andafewaskedTAstoreviewthefirstfewblogentriestosee"ifthisiswhatablogissupposedtobelike".
Likewise,selectingthenewsarticleorentrytopostrequiredthestudentstofilterincominginformation,selecttheyfelt
wasrelevant,expresshowitwasrelevantandpostitfortherestoftheclasstoconsume(ofteninlinewithinstructor-
addedmaterial),thustakingaccountabilityfortheappropriatenessandrelevancyoftheinformation.
INSTRUCTOR
CourseDesign(Assignments/Participation)
Whatassignmentsdidinstructorsgiveusingaparticulartool
Course Blog Wiki Forum SocialBookmarks Chat
1
Findnewsarticlerelevanttoone
ofthecourse
topics,postand
Postedsamplemidtermand
finalquestions
(non-graded)
42
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
43/122
Findings:UsagePatterns
tagtoblog,along
withabrief
reviewofthe
resourceand
howitrelates
2
Incrementalproject
assignments
wereposted
throughthewiki.
3
SimilarnewsstoryassignmentasCourse1buttheywerenotrequiredtopostit,justencouragedtoshareitontheSMCinsomeway.Theycouldchooseanytool
todoso.
NATheChattool
wasdisabledfor
thiscourse.
4
Findnewsarticlerelevanttoone
ofthecourse
topics,postand
tagtoblog,along
withabrief
reviewofthe
resourceand
howitrelates
Wikipediaarticle,signupfora
topicandpost
drafts
Posttwoquestionsbased
onreadingsto
forumtopicfor
eachsession
NATheChattool
wasdisabledfor
thiscourse.
Descriptionofassignments
Blog
Findareasonablyrecent"IntheNews"story(publishedsince1January2008).Thendeterminewhichlecturetopicsyourstorybestfitsunder.PosttheURLtotheBlog/SocialBookmarkssectionofthesitewiththe
appropriatelecturetag(s),suchas"L1","L2",etc.Alsoothertagstocategorizeyourpost.Writeabriefblog
entryaboutyourstory,summarizingitandhighlightingitsrelevancetothecourse.
Wiki
CollaboratewithyourteamonfinalprojectusingtheWiki.First,writeadescriptionofyourproject,theproblemspace,thedomain,andconcept.Posttheprojectconceptonyourgroupsprojectpageonthewiki.Later,post
43
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
44/122
Findings:UsagePatterns
otherstagesofyourprojects(ethnography,requirementsandusecases,blueprints,prototyping,final
presentationandreport).
StudentswillprepareanupdatedentryforaWikipediatopic.CollaboratewithateamtowriteaWikipediaarticle.First,signupforatopicandpostdraftstothecoursewiki.EachgroupwillreviewaWikipedia(orother
appropriatewebsite)articleandidentifyupto10topicsrelevanttoourcourse,whichwouldbenefitfrom
expansion.Eachofthesegroupsisresponsibleforpreparinganentry,submittingadraftforreview,andafter
incorporationofthosecommentssubmittingthefinalentrytothewebsite.
Forum
Studentswillrespondtosamplemidtermandfinalexamquestionsontheforum[notgraded]. Studentspostresponsestoforumtopicsbasedonweeklyreading.Posttwoquestionsaboutthereadingsinthe
appropriateForumtopicbymidnightthedaybeforeclass.Thisallowsthepresenterstoreviewthequestionsand
tailorthediscussiontomeettheneedsoftheclass.Bringahardcopyoftwoquestionstoclass.
SocialBookmark Verysimilartoblogassignmentabove.However,studentswerenotaskedtowriteabriefentrysummarizingthe
resourceandhighlightingitsrelevancetothecourse.
Grading/Expectations
Howdidinstructorsfactorparticipation/useofthesetoolsintograding?Whatweretheirexpectationsforuse?
Course Blog Wiki Forum SocialBookmarks Chat
Assignment:Inthenews,1of
8assignments
worthatotalof
35%ofgrade
(4.4%)
1
ParticipationinClassandOnline15%
TeamProject60%2
ParticipationinClassandOnline
15%
3
Participationwas10%oftheclass,butSMCusagewasnotrequiredforthis,
simplyencouragedasonewaytoparticipate.
NAChatwas
disabledforthis
course
44
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
45/122
Findings:UsagePatterns
Blogassignment10%
WikipediaEntry10%4
Classparticipation25% NAChatwasdisabledforthis
course
IndividualContribution/Usage
Howdidinstructorscontribute/usethefollowingtools
Course Blog Wiki Forum SocialBookmarks Chat
1
Mentioninclassduring
instruction,as
further
illustrationor
example
Commentwitharesponse
Contributewithownpost
Contributewithownpost
2 Contributewithownpost
3
Mentioninclassduring
instruction,as
further
illustrationor
example
Commentwitharesponse
Mentioninclassduring
instruction,as
further
illustrationor
example
4
Mentioninclassduring
instruction,as
further
illustrationor
example
Commentwitharesponse
Mentioninclassduring
instruction,as
further
illustrationor
example
Mentioninclassduring
instruction,as
further
illustrationor
example
DescriptionofInstructorContributionandUsage
Mentioninclassduringinstruction,asfurtherillustrationorexample: Aninstructorreferstoapostorcontentfrom
studentsduringclasstimeinordertodemonstrateaconcept.Theinstructormaysay,StudentAwroteareallygoodblog
postaboutthistheotherday,orStudentBsharedagreatarticleaboutthisintheNewYorkTimes.Sometimesthisled
tothestudentsharingabouttheirpost,orasmalldiscussionaboutthecontribution.Thiswasthemostcommonway
45
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
46/122
Findings:UsagePatterns
instructorsusedthesystem.WhileCourse1and2weretaughtbythesameinstructor,Course1sawagreatdealmoreof
thiskindofcontribution,whileinCourse2,therewaslittlementionofstudentcontributionsinrelationtocontent.In
Course3,theinstructorcontributedthemostinthisway.ThiskindofusagevariedinCourse4amongthefourinstructors
andwasperhapsthelowestofthefourcourses.
Commentwitharesponse.InstructorsusedthecommentoftheSMCtorespondtostudentcontributions.Instructors
contributedwithcommentslike,Greatpoint.ThanksforbringingthisuporYoumaywanttocheckoutthisresource
andlinktoarelevantsource.Instructorsalsopointedoutaconnectiontocoursematerialthestudentmayhavemissed,
orpraisethestudentformakinganon-obviousconnection.Instructorsalsoansweredstudentquestionsorchallenge
studentstogodeeperinaparticularlineofthinking.TheinstructorforCourse1alsocontributedinthisway.Studentsin
Course2receivedprojectfeedbackviaemailfromtheinstructorandTAs.Theotherinstructorsalsoaddedafew
commentsoverthecourseofthesemester.
Contributewithownpost.SomeinstructorsusedtheSMCtoposttheirowncontributions.Someoftheircontributions
wereawaytomodeltheirexpectationsofuse.Also,instructorspostedmaterialthatcameupinclassbutwasnot
includedintheirlectureortheirslides.Forexample,creatingasocialbookmarkHeresthatjournalarticleImentionedin
class.ThemostusedtoolsforthiskindofcontributionwereBlogsandSocialBookmarksTheinstructorforcourse1and
2wastheonlyinstructortousetheSMCinthisway.InstructorsdidnotusetheForumsoftheWikitoposttheirown
contributions.
REFERENCES
Mason,R.&Rennie,F.(2008).E-learningandsocialnetworkinghandbook.Routledge.
Rheingold,R.WhytheClassroom?SocialMediaClassroomWebSite.http://socialmediaclassroom.com/index.php/why-the-classroom
46
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
47/122
Findings:Perceptions,Motivationsand
Expectations
ABSTRACT
Areviewofinstructorandstudentfeedbackaboutthetoolsandusage.
47
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
48/122
Findings:Perceptions,ExpectationsandMotivations
GENERAL
Asdetailedinthelastsection,earlyadoptionoftheSocialMediaClassroomatUCBerkeleyandStanfordUniversitygave
usauniqueopportunitytoobservetheusageofparticipatorymediatoolsacrossdifferentclasses,instructorsand
students.Ourobservationsandinterviewsgaveustwotypesofdatawhatpeopledidonthesiteandhowpeoplefelt
aboutorinterpretedwhatthey(orothers)did.Thissectiondiscussesthelatter,howpeopleperceivedtheusageofthe
site.Becausethestudentandinstructorinsightsandopinionsweresuchanimportantpartofthisstudy,wefeltit
valuabletoincludemanyofthequotesinthissectionaswell.
STUDENT
Familiarity
Wesurveyedstudentsfromthreeofthecourses,Course1,2and4ontheirfamiliaritywiththesocialmediatoolsbefore
theexperiencewithitintheclassroom.Wedidnotdoapre-semestersurveystudentsinCourse3sincetheyalready
experiencedtheSMCinCourse1.
Familiaritywasmeasuredonascalefrom1-5with1beingNotFamiliarAtAlland5beingVeryFamiliar.
Course1and2wereadministeredthesamesurveyatthebeginningofthesemester,andbecausethesamestudentwere
alsoinCourse3,thoseresultscoverthestudentsfromCourse1,2and3.Ingeneral,studentsweveryfamiliarwiththe
tools(fallingbetweenSomewhatFamiliar)and(VeryFamiliar),withtheonlyexpectationbeingsocialbookmarkingin
Course4,whichfellbetweenNotVeryFamiliarandNeutral.
Familiarity Course1,2and3 Course4
Blog 4.9111 4.562
Wiki 4.8 4
Forum 4.778 4.344
Chat 5 4.875
SocialBookmarking 3.956 2.5
Wealsoaskedstudentstoratehowoftentheyusedeachtoolintheirownlivestogetanunderstandingbeyondsimply
knowingoftool,andhowmoreintothepersonaluse.Scoreswereagainfairlyhigh,withCourse4trendingloweracross
theboard,exceptforchat,whichwassimilartotheCourse1score.
48
-
8/9/2019 Participatory Media Education Final Report
49/122
Findings:Perceptions,ExpectationsandMotivations
PersonalUse Course1,2and3 Course4
Blog 3.867 2.906
Wiki 4.222 3.438
Forum 4.156 3.313
Chat 4.733 4.562
SocialBookmarking 3.956 3.045
Thus,moststudentswerehighlyfamiliarwiththetoolsbeforetheuseoftheSMC.Infact,manyintheinterviews
commentedthatsocialmedi