Web+2.0+Technology+Ownership

A CASE STUDY OF WEB 2.0, TECHNOLOGY OWNERSHIP AND e-LEARNING IN COMPUTING SCIENCE

Web 2.0, Technology Ownership and e-Learning in Computing Science By: Mrie Devlin, Chris Phillips and Lindsay Marshall Newcastle University, UK
 * Case Title:**

This case study on the usage of Web 2.0 was conducted amongst new entrants to the School of Computing Science at Newcastle University in the academic year 2007-2008 for the future development of their eLearning strategy and future proposals in their Computing Science curriculum.
 * Case Description:**

Student’s level of access, ownership and usage of technology was assessed and what current students expect using Web 2.0 technologies from their professors in the learning process and if their usage is an enhancement to their learning experience.

A major aspect of the project focused on assisting students in developing and improving both their technical and communication skill in the context of the skills required for current trends in global software development.

Each team was giving their own wiki page for holding common resources and project information. Interestingly, some teams thought wikis were “difficult to edit effectively” and abandoned these in favor of their own alternative, such as, MediaWiki, Facebook, and Bebo. This caused a problem due to Newcastle University no longer having access to the work of the students and Newcastle was no longer able to monitor the student work. Students using their mobile phones for text messaging did so at their own cost but said they “would do this again to keep in touch with one another.”

Almost all students found a group-email address by far, the easiest way to communicate across sites. “For the most part, students tend to prefer a private communication to a public conversation.”

In the article it states, “Students dislike compulsory online participation which has often been characteristic of e-learning or blended e-learning approaches in the past.” I think this was not enough information. How did they not like it? What were the reasons behind students disliking compulsory online participation? This should have been a question in the survey.

I found it significant that 99% of students in their survey had access to a mobile phone; whereas, 53% of students did not have access to a landline phone.

A weakness the study agrees with is, “We should have distinguished more between the types of tasks they use their devices for. Again, they did not elaborate or go into more depths as to why or give any examples.

The statistics on Social Websites (Facebook), Sites for Sharing (YouTube, Flickr) and Virtual Communities (Second Life) was the most interesting aspect of the article.

Seventy-two percent of students use Facebook as a means of contacting students. Eighty percent of students felt, “Second life is not an environment where they would choose to spend time.” Students did not like the “commercial nature” of Second Life but thought it had potential for collaborative projects.

Another key finding of the study was found in this statement:

Our study has highlighted the need for us to be flexible when it comes to the technological preferences of our students and perhaps resist the temptation to totally hijack the technologies they use to socialize, for teaching and learning purposes, just because they are trendy.”
 * Case Evaluation:**

Devlin, Marie, Chris Phillips, and Lindsay Marshall. "Web 2.0, Technology Ownership and e-Learning in Computing Science." //Proceedings of the International Conference on e-Learning // (2009): 93-100.//Education Research Complete //. EBSCO. Web. 6 Mar. 2011.
 * References:**