The Development of a Virtual University Campus Using Second Life

2018 ◽  
pp. 148-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Vargas-Vera
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Web 2.0 ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Open University ◽  
University Campus ◽  
Web 2.0 Technologies ◽  
Virtual University ◽  
Virtual Campus ◽  
University Degree

This paper presents the development of a virtual campus named DeepThink designed to support a postgraduate program named MPhil (Master in Philosophy) at The Open University. The MPhil is a formal Open University degree delivered to a distance. The virtual campus integrates second life, moodle and several Web 2.0 technologies like elluminate (online conferencing tool), MyStuff (e-Portfolio), Skype and Ning (Social network). This integration between second life and web 2.0 technologies has caused enthusiasm in tutors at the Open University who saw the benefit of using DeepThink in their courses. This campus is an innovative project which brings new ways of supervision. Our campus DeepThink in general promotes higher Education using technologies like second life, which has shown to be useful in supervision and teaching undergraduate courses. Finally, we discuss our experiences on second life and its limitations.

Reflections on the Second Life Platform used in the Development of a Virtual University Campus

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 12-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Vargas-Vera
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Web 2.0 ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Open University ◽  
University Campus ◽  
Web 2.0 Technologies ◽  
Virtual University ◽  
Virtual Campus ◽  
University Degree

This paper presents the author's experiences building a virtual campus named Deep Think designed to support a postgraduate program named MPhil. The MPhil is a formal and recognized Open University degree delivered to a distance. The virtual campus integrates Second Life, Moodle and several Web 2.0 technologies like Elluminate (online conferencing tool), MyStuff (e-Portfolio) Skype and Ning (Social network). This integration between second life and web 2.0 technologies has provoked the enthusiasm of tutors at the Open University which saw the benefit of using DeepThink in their courses. Finally, the author discusses experiences on second life and its limitations.

The Impact of Web 2.0 Technologies on the Learning Experience of Students in Higher Education

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Afaf Mubarak Bugawa ◽  
Andri Mirzal
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Networks ◽  
Web 2.0 ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Traditional Classrooms ◽  
Web 2.0 Technologies ◽  
The Impact

This article describes how the use of Web 2.0 technologies in the field of learning is on the rise. By their nature, Web 2.0 technologies increase the interactivity between users where interactivity is considered to be a key to success in traditional classrooms. This article reviews recent studies in the field of Web 2.0 technologies for learning and their impacts on the learning experiences and investigates relationship between Web 2.0 technologies and pedagogy in higher education on student learning. Key findings about the impacts of using social networks like Facebook, Twitter, blogs and wikis on learning experiences are also discussed. Web 2.0 technologies' characteristics and the rationale of Web 2.0 technologies in learning will also be explored.

“You Can Lead the Horse to Water, but … ”

2012 ◽  
pp. 182-199
Author(s):  
Henk Huijser ◽  
Michael Sankey
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Distance Education ◽  
Web 2.0 ◽  
Learning Management Systems ◽  
Web 2.0 Technologies ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
The University

This chapter outlines the potential benefits of incorporating Web 2.0 technologies in a contemporary higher education context, and identifies possible ways of doing this, as well as expected challenges. It uses the University of Southern Queensland (USQ), primarily a distance education provider, as the context for many of its case study examples. In particular, it addresses the important role of the allowances of particular learning management systems (LMSs) in pedagogical applications of Web 2.0 technologies. Overall, this chapter argues that the goals and ideals of Web 2.0/Pedagogy 2.0 can be achieved, or at least stimulated, within an institutional LMS environment, as long as the LMS environment is in alignment with such goals and ideals. It uses the implementation of Moodle at USQ as a case study to reinforce this argument and explore which factors potentially influence a shift in thinking about learning and teaching in a Web 2.0 context.

Student and Faculty Use and Perceptions of Web 2.0 Technologies in Higher Education

2010 ◽  
pp. 1162-1181
Author(s):  
Haya Ajjan ◽  
Richard Hartshorne ◽  
Richard E. Ferdig
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Educational Technology ◽  
Web 2.0 ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Planned Behavior ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Policy Changes ◽  
Web 2.0 Technologies ◽  
Classroom Use

In this chapter, the authors provide evidence for the potential of Web 2.0 applications in higher educationthrough a review of relevant literature on educational technology and social networking. Additionally, the authors report the results and implications of a study exploringstudent and faculty awareness of the potential of Web 2.0technologies to support and supplement classroom instruction in higher education. Also, using the decomposed theory of planned behavior as the theoretical foundation, the authors discuss factors that influence student andfaculty decisions to adopt Web 2.0 technologies. The chapter concludes with a list of recommendations for classroom use of Web 2.0 applications, as well as implications for policy changes and future research.

Social Networks in the Higher Education Framework- Understanding the University as an Organization

2012 ◽  
pp. 805-824 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Antonio Álvarez Bermejo ◽  
César Bernal Bravo ◽  
Manuel Jesús Rubia Mateos ◽  
Javier Roca Piera
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Social Aspects ◽  
Restricted Group ◽  
University Degree ◽  
The University

Recent studies are focusing on how social networks impact the learning process and how students organize themselves to face collaborative tasks via these networks, as well as their impact on the learning outcomes of the students. In a number of these studies, learning social aspects are analyzed, showing, among other issues of interest, that participating in social networks positively affects students’ self-esteem. In this article it is shown how this applies to the university model being adopted in Europe. Nowadays, the student is limited by the class and by the restricted group of people enrolled in that same university degree. In which way can the university facilitate that students get to each other so that they can find aspects in common and therefore the set of relationships grows? This chapter shows how our university—Universidad de Almería, UAL—globalizes its campus providing access to every student, as well as how this social network is succeeding.

Extending Social Network Diagrams for Large Scale Collaboration

2012 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
I.T. Hawryszkiewycz
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Web 2.0 ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Policy Planning ◽  
Web 2.0 Technologies ◽  
Enterprise Social Networks ◽  
Cloud Technologies ◽  
Common Vision ◽  
Network Diagrams

The chapter provides a way for modeling large scale collaboration using an extension to social network diagrams called enterprise social networks (ESNs). The chapter uses the ESN diagrams to describe activities in policy planning and uses these to define the services to be provided by cloud technologies to support large scale collaboration. This chapter describes collaboration by an architecture made up of communities each with a role to ensure that collaboration is sustainable. The architecture is based on the idea of an ensemble of communities all working to a common vision supported by services provided by the collaboration cloud using Web 2.0 technologies.

Faculty Use and Perceptions of Web 2.0 in Higher Education

2010 ◽  
pp. 241-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Hartshorne ◽  
Haya Ajjan ◽  
Richard E. Ferdig
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Web 2.0 ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Instant Messaging ◽  
Video Conferencing ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Web 2.0 Technologies ◽  
Internet Telephony ◽  
Audio Video

In this chapter, the authors provide evidence for the potential of various Web 2.0 applications in higher education through a review of relevant literature on both emerging educational technologies and social networking. Additionally, the authors report the results and implications of a study exploring faculty awareness of the potential of Web 2.0 technologies (blogs, wikis, social bookmarks, social networks, instant messaging, internet telephony, and audio/video conferencing) to support and supplement classroom instruction in higher education. Also, using the Decomposed Theory of Planned Behavior as the theoretical foundation, the authors discuss factors that influence faculty decisions to adopt specific Web 2.0 technologies. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the implications of the study and recommendations for future research.

The Open University of Catalonia as a Virtual University

2010 ◽  
pp. 1145-1150
Author(s):  
Morales
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Information Systems ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Open University ◽  
Virtual University ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Education Practice ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
E Learning

Electronic Web-based campus information systems and e-learning educational delivery became increasingly important for higher education practice in the late 20th and early 21st century (Bates, 2000; Cobarsí, 2005). These emergent information technologies brought about changes in the traditional face-to-face campus and paper-based communication and teaching (Brown & Duguid, 2000). There are several trends in the introduction of information technology in universities that can be summarised into three main types (Duderstadt, 2000; Folkers, 2005). Firstly, most universities gradually adopted electronic campus information systems and e-learning to reinforce functionalities offered by their physical campus, with no intention of substituting the traditional campus but simply to strengthen their capabilities. Secondly, other institutions, the so-called first generation distance universities, had no physical campus from the very beginning, such as the institutions founded in the 1970s: the British Open University http://www3.open.ac.uk or Spain’s Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia http://www.uned. es/portal/index.htm. Thus, they incorporated electronic media to complement their usual means of communication by post or periodical face-to-face tuition. Thirdly, the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia, hereinafter the OUC) is a quite different case: it was created from the very beginning (the academic year 1995-1996) as a wholly e-learning and Internet-based higher education institution, where a virtual campus with wide-ranging functionalities supports most of the day-to-day activities. As a result of these original premises, this university has some important organizational and information system features, which are summarised and discussed in the sections below, from the chronological perspective offered by its having been in operation for 10 years.

Web 2.0 Technologies

2011 ◽  
pp. 208-218
Author(s):  
Teresa Torres-Coronas ◽  
Ricard Monclús-Guitart ◽  
Araceli Rodríguez-Merayo ◽  
M. Arántzazu Vidal-Blasco ◽  
M. José Simón-Olmos
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Capital ◽  
Adult Learning ◽  
Web 2.0 ◽  
Social Software ◽  
Web 2.0 Technologies ◽  
New Learning ◽  
Human Capacity

Web 2.0 technologies are playing an important role in building social capital through increasing flows of information, and building on knowledge and human capacity of learning. The purpose of this chapter is to show the role that social software, a component of Web 2.0 technologies, can play in higher education and adult learning. This chapter focuses on the role of Web 2.0 technologies in promoting learning. New learning paradigms and pedagogical applications are also discussed.

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