Chat as Instructional Tool

 

In the Ljubljana new media seminar, we have been using the chat / discussion facility in Blackboard with mixed success, the last effort being more failure than success. Chat has, however, gained considerable reputation among others who have used it in the educational setting. The following article by Ruth Reynard provides a reasoned overview of this form of mediated communication as tool in an instructional environment.

 

Tips for Using Chat as an Instructional Tool

10/31/2007

By Ruth Reynard

Chat software (text or media-based) provides an excellent tool in supporting academic dialog (exchange), critical thinking, and knowledge building. The immediacy of the technology provides students with a direct connection with the instructor as well as other students. While chat software is usually used for "chatting," and, therefore, it has a relaxed and colloquial protocol, with a little thought and planning, it can also be used well to support instruction.

Many classroom instructors and online instructors use chat software to provide virtual office hours and for easy question and answer sessions. More, however, can be achieved in the instructional process using the tool to create real-time collaboration and discussion that leads to in-depth academic processing of course material.

 

Reference information: Ruth Reynard, "Tips for Using Chat as an Instructional Tool ," Campus Technology, 10/31/2007, http://www.campustechnology.com/article.aspx?aid=52470

 
 

 
 

The site where this article appeared, Campus Technology, is an important resource for the broad area of education and technology. The text below, from the "About" page of the site, describes the mandate of the initiative:

 

Campus Technology is the only monthly publication focusing exclusively on the use of technology across all areas of higher education. Campus Technology provides in-depth coverage of specific technologies and their implementations, including wireless networks and mobile devices; enterprise resource planning; eLearning and course management systems; 'smart classroom' technologies; telecom, Web, and security solutions - all the important issues and trends for campus IT decision makers.

Launched in October, 2004, Campus Technology replaced the highly respected Syllabus magazine, a recognized leader in the coverage of technology on campus since 1988. Campus Technology continues to uphold Syllabus' mission of serving as a complete resource for academic and administrative IT leaders in higher education, and provides in-depth coverage of specific technologies, their uses, and implementations on campus.

The Campus Technology franchise consists of the monthly Campus Technology magazine, its web site, www.campustechnology.com, electronic newsletters (News Update, IT Trends, SmartClassroom, C-Level View), conferences, and targeted list rental opportunities.

Slashdot and OLPC

On Christmas Eve, Slashdot reposted an article from the Chicago Tribute on the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) program. The newspaper article is, in itself, interesting, but in addition the large volume of reactions to the story is striking: some 145 within a few days of the posting.

For students in the seminar that don't know Slashdot, I recommend sifting through its archives and monitoring the blog-style site regularly because it is, as the logo slogan says, "News for nerds. Stuff that matters." For a basic description of Slashdot, see the Wikipedia article.

 

OLPC a Hit in Remote Peruvian Village

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday December 24, @04:43PM
from the whatever-turns-your-crank dept.

mrcgran writes "The Chicago Tribune is running a feel-good story about the effects of OLPC on a remote village in Peru. 'Doubts about whether poor, rural children really can benefit from quirky little computers evaporate as quickly as the morning dew in this hilltop Andean village, where 50 primary school children got machines from the One Laptop Per Child project six months ago. At breakfast, they're already powering up the combination library/videocam/audio recorder/music maker/drawing kits. At night, they're dozing off in front of them — if they've managed to keep older siblings from waylaying the coveted machines. Peru made the single biggest order to date — more than 272,000 machines — in its quest to turn around a primary education system that the World Economic Forum recently ranked last among 131 countries surveyed.'"

David Silver in Amsterdam, Part 1: Digital Media & Learning

David Silver passed through Amsterdam after a keynote in Maastricht, before returning to San Francisco. During the course of our long lunch, he passed on several 'delights' which I'll post in the coming days. The first important to mention is publication by MIT Press of a six-volume series that is part of the project Digital Media and Learning. Scanning the contributors suggests an impressive collection scholarship. And, to refute the cliché 'you get what you pay for', the series can be downloaded free of charge – thanks to what is probably a substantial contribution to the publisher from the MacArthur Foundation, the funding agency for the research project. In addition to the series the volume editors have been promoting the material and a series of videos by these persons are on the MacAuthur site.

For those that don't know David, check out his blog; especially consult the Resource Center for Cyberculture Studies (RCCS) that he initiated and maintains.

Googlization of Everything

Although this initiative is not the first to use blogging as form for writing a book, it is one of the most recent that I have come across and it is about a topic relevant to all of us: Google. The working title, "The Googlization of Everything; How One Company is Disrupting Commerce, Culture and Community…and Why We Should Worry" says it all, but the first paragraphs of the first post on 27 September 2007 elaborate further:

"Hi. Welcome to my new book. Well, it's not a book yet. In fact, it will not be a real book for a long time.

As you can tell from the title of this blog, the book will be about Google and all they ways that Google is shaking up the world. Google is a transformative and revolutionary company. I hesitate to use terms like that. We live in an era of hyperbole. So I try my best to discount claims of historical transformation or communicative revolutions.

But in the case of Google, I am confident it is both.

Now, I am approaching this book as both a fan and a critic. I am in awe of all that Google has done and all it hopes to do. I am also wary of its ambition and power."

The development of this project is well worth watching, given the scholarly accomplishments of its initiator, Siva Vaidhyanathan.

Keen in the belly of the beast

This 60-minute YouTube video is of Andrew Keen addressing and reading from his book on Web 2.0 "The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet Is Killing Our Culture" on the day published, 5 June 2007, at Google Headquarters in Mountain View, California.

Highly recommended…

Podcasts, audio files, RSS

Below are links to basic information on podcasts, audio files and RSS feed. All students in the Ljubljana seminar should know about these 'digital tools' and experiment in using them. Information taken from the Resources page of The Methods Network.

 

Podcasts

For general information about podcasts see the What is podcasting? page.

The Methods Network Podcast address is http://www.methodsnetwork.ac.uk/podcast/methnet-podcast.xml.

Audio Files

Audio files exist for a number of Methods Network Expert Seminars.

See the Audio Files Index.

RSS Feed

For general information about RSS Feeds see the What is the RSS feed? page.

The Methods Network RSS Feed address is: http://www.methodsnetwork.ac.uk/news/methnet-rss.xml.

Rheingold’s course at Berkeley: Virtual Communities / Social Media

Howard Rheingold will be teaching a course on social media in the spring 2008. I highly recommend students in the Ljubljana seminar examine the syllabus to Rheingold's course: the readings, assignments, and especially his comments on the use of blogs during the seminar. I would like to incorporate some of the features of his course in our seminar. Check his Instructor's Journal at the bottom of the syllabus for an indication of student culture during seminars at Berkeley….