July 15, 2010, 11:00 AM ET
Study Finds No Link Between Social-Networking Sites and Academic Performance
By Kelly Truong
Spend as much time on Facebook as you want—it won’t affect your GPA, a new study says.
Researchers at Northwestern University found no connection between time spent on social-networking sites and academic performance. The study, the results of which appear in the latest issue of Information, Communication & Society, included responses from approximately 1,000 first-year students at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Sites such as Facebook and MySpace had no effect on grades, despite how often students used them or how many they used.
Eszter Hargittai, associate professor of communication studies and sociology at Northwestern, suggests that the benefits of social-networking sites may cancel out the distractions they pose.
“You could go on there and waste your time,” she said. “On the other hand, you can connect with your classmates, get information about homework assignments, get to know people better, and feel more comfortable engaging with them on academic matters.”
A past study at Ohio State University suggested that students on Facebook earn lower GPA's than nonusers. However, the scholar who did that research later said that she lacked enough data to determine whether that conclusion was true.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Week 5 - Journal Entry
I'm playing catch up this week. I was at a Jobs for the Future conference in Miami most of the week.
I have continued to participate with the communities I joined for the assignment and I am really enjoying it. I have become more actively engaged in the one I merely observed.
I have spent a lot of time considering the produsage assignment. I think I have landed on a concept and will spend today and tomorrow building it. I want it to be something that lives beyond this class so I decided to use Web 2.0 to help formulate a formative assessment of a new initiative to encourage adults to complete their degrees. I have the basics in mind but I really want to jazz it up --- that will be my challenge.
I'm happy to report that I am following USDOE and The Chronicle on Twitter. I love the snipets.
While I hate to admit it, I have been lurking on classmate's blogs and checked the class wiki a couple of times this week.
I have continued to participate with the communities I joined for the assignment and I am really enjoying it. I have become more actively engaged in the one I merely observed.
I have spent a lot of time considering the produsage assignment. I think I have landed on a concept and will spend today and tomorrow building it. I want it to be something that lives beyond this class so I decided to use Web 2.0 to help formulate a formative assessment of a new initiative to encourage adults to complete their degrees. I have the basics in mind but I really want to jazz it up --- that will be my challenge.
I'm happy to report that I am following USDOE and The Chronicle on Twitter. I love the snipets.
While I hate to admit it, I have been lurking on classmate's blogs and checked the class wiki a couple of times this week.
Week 5 - Post Prompt
How do issues such as authorship, copyright and open access impact your desire, ability and willingness to engage in produsage, both personally and professionally?
Personally, these issues don't impact my desire to engage.
Professionally, however, I am concerned about open access without quality control. Florida is moving forward with Orange Grove Text Plus (http://www.theorangegrove.org/open_textbooks.asp), a repository of textbooks that are available to faculty and students free of charge. Currently, there is no quality control and the textbooks in the repository are just those that have been found on the web or shared freely. Without peer review or some type of content review there is a likelihood that not all textbooks are high quality.
Personally, these issues don't impact my desire to engage.
Professionally, however, I am concerned about open access without quality control. Florida is moving forward with Orange Grove Text Plus (http://www.theorangegrove.org/open_textbooks.asp), a repository of textbooks that are available to faculty and students free of charge. Currently, there is no quality control and the textbooks in the repository are just those that have been found on the web or shared freely. Without peer review or some type of content review there is a likelihood that not all textbooks are high quality.
Using Creative Commons for Educational Content
“Using Creative Commons for Educational Content” by Lila Bailey from Creative Commons.
August 5, 10AM EDT.
This would be a great primer for those interested in using Creative Commons for educational contents. Lila, Counsel for Creative Commons, will cover the basics of using Creative Commons for different situations.
http://collegeopentextbooks.ning.com/events/using-creative-commons-for-1?xg_source=msg_mes_network
August 5, 10AM EDT.
This would be a great primer for those interested in using Creative Commons for educational contents. Lila, Counsel for Creative Commons, will cover the basics of using Creative Commons for different situations.
http://collegeopentextbooks.ning.com/events/using-creative-commons-for-1?xg_source=msg_mes_network
KnowHow2Go Learning Community: Connectivity Drives Change
http://www.luminafoundation.org/newsroom/newsstories/topics/connectivity-test.html
Use of Ning to promote collaboration to increase access to college.
Use of Ning to promote collaboration to increase access to college.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
How Twitter Helps Researchers Visualize The Moods Of Americans
http://edudemic.com/2010/07/how-twitter-helps-researchers-visualize-the-moods-of-americans/
Maybe I need morning Twitter instead of coffee...
Maybe I need morning Twitter instead of coffee...
Week 4 - Journal Entry
This week I focused my energy to my online communities - Lumina Foundation Knowledge Collaborative (KC) and Community College/Technical Center MIS (CCTCMIS) Let's Discuss It! Both are related to higher education and relevant to my work. The KC is a multi-state, invitation only community focused on innovation and accountability in higher education. Participants include high level state and institution administrators, well established researchers and education advocacy groups. There are many ongoing discussions ranging from initiatives to increase college access and completion to strategies to improve persistence. Let's Discuss It! is a Sharepoint space, closely related to a wiki, where college MIS administrators discuss common reporting issues. I observed.
I also participated in the discussion board, albeit minimally this week. I worked on the assignment and piddled in Second Life with my daughter.
I want to like Twitter but I still haven't intergrated into my routine.
I also participated in the discussion board, albeit minimally this week. I worked on the assignment and piddled in Second Life with my daughter.
I want to like Twitter but I still haven't intergrated into my routine.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Week 4 - Post Prompt
How do you judge the value of expertise on the Web? Does it differ from your notion of expertise in face-to-face settings? Why or why not?
Expertise on the Web? Hmm... When my daughter asks me a question that I don't know the answer to I say, "I dunno, why don't you Google it?" I consider the Web a perfectly acceptable method for her to learn about how rainbows are formed or why bugs are attracted to light. I'm not as willing to "Google" questions that arise at work. I know the experts so I seek face-to-face exchange of information. The face-to-face setting facilitates interaction.
In general, I think of the expertise on the Web as being contained within the libraries. Journals and books written by experts in a given field. Materials that are known and available outside the Web. The individuals who contribute content to the Web may be experts but I don't have time to seek them out.
Expertise on the Web? Hmm... When my daughter asks me a question that I don't know the answer to I say, "I dunno, why don't you Google it?" I consider the Web a perfectly acceptable method for her to learn about how rainbows are formed or why bugs are attracted to light. I'm not as willing to "Google" questions that arise at work. I know the experts so I seek face-to-face exchange of information. The face-to-face setting facilitates interaction.
In general, I think of the expertise on the Web as being contained within the libraries. Journals and books written by experts in a given field. Materials that are known and available outside the Web. The individuals who contribute content to the Web may be experts but I don't have time to seek them out.
Friday, July 23, 2010
seamless integration
I've been contemplating Web 2.0 in an education context this week rather than exploring more tools (there's so many). The reason Facebook works for many of us is because they have made it so we can seamlessly integrate it into our lives. It doesn't require much work or thought. That's what educators need to do - firgure out ways to use the tools in a way that seems natural and obvious. In order to take root, the integration of Web 2.0 in the learning envrionment needs to be more than just introducing the flavor of the week. With the mass of collaborative, user-driven tools out there, I think there's potential for an educator to be drawn to the coolness of a new technology or tool without really considering how to fully and seamlessly integrate it into the overall instructional design.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Wikis in Higher Education, Part 2
http://en.nursingwiki.org/wiki/Talk:Main_Page
This page has been subject to recent vandalism. Please allow some time for it to be repaired.
In my perusing, I landed on the nursing wiki linked above. One aspect of wikis and other open collaboration sites is the potential for inappropriate content to be added.
This page has been subject to recent vandalism. Please allow some time for it to be repaired.
In my perusing, I landed on the nursing wiki linked above. One aspect of wikis and other open collaboration sites is the potential for inappropriate content to be added.
Wikis in Higher Education
Here's a great resource for using and building wikis - http://www.udel.edu/sakai/training/printable/wiki/Wikis_in_Higher_Education_UD.pdf.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
My daughter says...
After seeing that I am blogging, my daughter said with disgust in her voice, "Are you blogging?" I told her that I'm required to blog for class. She thought about it and retorted with "blogging is a waste of time."
Hannah is 9 years old.
Hannah is 9 years old.
We do have something to say...
In reading over the discussion board entries for Tweet, Tweet, it appears that many of us don't Tweet or blog because we don't have that much to say...publicly. What I'm finding from reviewing your blogs and our class wiki is that we do have something to say. I think we just needed this class to get us jump started. Not every post has to be deep, well informed or particularly interesting. :-)
The cloud
I have been hearing about "cloud computing" lately so I decided to check out Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing
Cloud Computing is Internet-based computing, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices on demand, like the electricity grid.
The concept seems analogous to Web 2.0.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing
Cloud Computing is Internet-based computing, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices on demand, like the electricity grid.
The concept seems analogous to Web 2.0.
Week 3 - Post Prompt
What uses might a collaborative wiki or blog have in your chosen (current or desired) work environment? How would they support learning and/or performance? What would be the design and implementation challenges if management tried to do this? What would be the design and implementation challenges of a user-initiated effort?
A collaborative wiki would be useful in my work context to plan and track legislative session. There are many people involved - some within my unit and Division and others outside the Division but within the Department. During the months leading up to session, there's a lot of action and deal making. A wiki could help us keep track and colloborate on proposed legislation since we aren't generally in physcial proximity or on the same computer network. Many times emails are lost in overloaded inboxes. The wiki would support the Division and Department's legislative priorities and provide a forum for negotiating language, sharing concerns, and discussing legislator reactions. It could also be used to get information to the folks in the field quickly which is a necessity during session.
Management challenges: There might be management challenges since there are designated liaisons responsible for coordinating activities during session. They might perceive this as a threat to their authority or an indication that they are not meeting expectations.
User challenges: With the numerous "players" in the mix, it might be difficult to coordinate the effort. There might also be individuals resistant to change and/or afraid of new technology. Organization and information management could be a challenge if the original design isn't well conceived.
A collaborative wiki would be useful in my work context to plan and track legislative session. There are many people involved - some within my unit and Division and others outside the Division but within the Department. During the months leading up to session, there's a lot of action and deal making. A wiki could help us keep track and colloborate on proposed legislation since we aren't generally in physcial proximity or on the same computer network. Many times emails are lost in overloaded inboxes. The wiki would support the Division and Department's legislative priorities and provide a forum for negotiating language, sharing concerns, and discussing legislator reactions. It could also be used to get information to the folks in the field quickly which is a necessity during session.
Management challenges: There might be management challenges since there are designated liaisons responsible for coordinating activities during session. They might perceive this as a threat to their authority or an indication that they are not meeting expectations.
User challenges: With the numerous "players" in the mix, it might be difficult to coordinate the effort. There might also be individuals resistant to change and/or afraid of new technology. Organization and information management could be a challenge if the original design isn't well conceived.
By George, I think I've got it!
I must admit that I've been slow to conceive of educational applications with Web 2.0 but I just found a really cool blog - http://askatechteacher.wordpress.com/. The Google Earth projects drew me in and I have spent a good 15 minutes down the rabbit hole of this blog. There are links to wikis by grade level. This would be awesome for homeschoolers.
xobni
Does anyone use xobni for organizing Outlook? I'm surfing Web 2.0 - found a cool conference website (http://www.web2expo.com/webexsf2010) - and stumbled across xobni. My work email is a catastrophe. It looks like you can also use a gadget to connect Outlook with Facebook and Twitter profiles. AHHH, my head is going to explode!
Week 1 Journal Entry
Week 1 Participation:
1) Reading assignments
2) Web 2.0 exploration on web
3) Created blog
4) Discussion board participation
5) Checked out 5 classmates' blogs
July 5, 2010 5:00 AM
1) Reading assignments
2) Web 2.0 exploration on web
3) Created blog
4) Discussion board participation
5) Checked out 5 classmates' blogs
July 5, 2010 5:00 AM
Week 2 Journal Entry
Week 2 participation:
1) Downloaded Shirkey book --- skimmed chapters 1-4, read 5-8
2) Wandered around the class wiki and posted a couple of times, still a little uncomfortable taking control of content
3) Checked out 3 classmates blogs
4) Checked out the class blog but spent more time on the wiki
5) Explored some of the Web 2.0 tools listed on the wiki, including Diigo and knol
6) Checked out the first wiki ever made, according to Shirkey
7) Got overloaded and needed a break
8) Participated in EME6635 Tool Wiki
9) Participated in the Knowledge Collaborative (a Lumina Foundation cross-state collaboration site for higher education issues)
10) Participated in the college registrars discussion board
July 11, 2010 6:06 AM
1) Downloaded Shirkey book --- skimmed chapters 1-4, read 5-8
2) Wandered around the class wiki and posted a couple of times, still a little uncomfortable taking control of content
3) Checked out 3 classmates blogs
4) Checked out the class blog but spent more time on the wiki
5) Explored some of the Web 2.0 tools listed on the wiki, including Diigo and knol
6) Checked out the first wiki ever made, according to Shirkey
7) Got overloaded and needed a break
8) Participated in EME6635 Tool Wiki
9) Participated in the Knowledge Collaborative (a Lumina Foundation cross-state collaboration site for higher education issues)
10) Participated in the college registrars discussion board
July 11, 2010 6:06 AM
Do you Ning?
Ning (Facebook alternative): http://blog.ning.com/2010/06/pearson-to-provide-ning-mini-for-free-to-educators.html
Ning Networks have become a valuable complement to many schools and other educational institutions by helping teachers, parents and students supplement class curriculums; allowing educators and administrators to share best practices; and by helping all these groups bring the vitality and vibrancy of their institutions online.
July 6, 2010 5:15 PM
Ning Networks have become a valuable complement to many schools and other educational institutions by helping teachers, parents and students supplement class curriculums; allowing educators and administrators to share best practices; and by helping all these groups bring the vitality and vibrancy of their institutions online.
July 6, 2010 5:15 PM
What is produsage?
The terminology is difficult to keep up with - seems like there's a new catchy term every day.
Produser? http://produsage.org/produsage
"...the collaborative and continuous building and extending of existing content in pursuit of further improvement."
July 6, 2010 4:42 PM
Produser? http://produsage.org/produsage
"...the collaborative and continuous building and extending of existing content in pursuit of further improvement."
July 6, 2010 4:42 PM
Week 2 - Post Prompt
How might the concept of produsage be applied in your life (personal and/or professional) as it stands today? Are you already a produser? If yes, what do you do? If no, why not?
Last week, I responded to the prompt at the beginning of my exploration but I thought I'd wait until the end of the week this time. In the wide scale world of the Internet, I am not a produser. I find it daunting and overly indulgent. I do, however, employ sharing and collaboration strategies within my work context. GoogleDocs and Sharepoint are frequently used for multi-person collaborations.
July 11, 2010 5:44 AM
Last week, I responded to the prompt at the beginning of my exploration but I thought I'd wait until the end of the week this time. In the wide scale world of the Internet, I am not a produser. I find it daunting and overly indulgent. I do, however, employ sharing and collaboration strategies within my work context. GoogleDocs and Sharepoint are frequently used for multi-person collaborations.
July 11, 2010 5:44 AM
Monday, July 5, 2010
Week 2
So, I just re-read the syllabus and I need to be sure to get 3 entries in my blog this week. One thing that has always struck me as curious about maintaining a blog is that folks feel like they have enough interesting stuff to say to put it out there in public...routinely. It would drive me nuts - too much pressure. I have to work hard at posting on our discussion boards where the topic has been identified and prompts for discussion provided. Maybe if I follow a few of your blogs, I'll start to get an idea of how it works - make it less scary.
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