Blogs and Social Networks Workshop 2007: Talks
Blogs and Social Networks Workshop 2007: TalksThe following plenary talks were given at the Exploiting The Potential Of Blogs And Social Networks workshop.
Brian Kelly gave a talk on "Workshop Introduction".
Slides: [About] - [MS PowerPoint format] - [HTML]
Steven Clarke gave a talk on "Blogging In A Managed Environment".
Slides: [About] - [MS PowerPoint format] - [HTML]
Blogging is often seen as being symbolic of the freedom of the Web, and recent evidence from some of the world's hotspots does show that it can be a valuable medium for free speech.
However blogs, or reflective journals to be prosaic, are a valuable educational tool for structured and managed recording of thoughts, reflections and learning experiences.
At the University of Birmingham blogs are in widespread use. But the blogs at the University are embedded, and generally not optional, parts of learning and teaching programmes. As such it is essential for students to use blogs, this puts a moral and pragmatic duty on the University to ensure that the blogging environment is safe, secure, reliable and managed.
This presentation will explore the positive benefits that a managed blogging environment has brought to learners.
Melissa Highton gave a talk on "Leedsfeeds: a Blogging Service based on the Open Source Elgg Application".
Slides: [About] - [MS PowerPoint format] - [HTML]
At University of Leeds the use of Web 2.0 tools has been driven by enthusiasm from staff involved in learning and teaching who have asked for blogging tools to promote reflective writing, wiki tools for shared space to support collaborative writing and hosting for podcasting and video streaming. Our evaluation surveys on campus have shown that making a tool available centrally for staff and students to use in creative ways has facilitated new and exciting approaches to teaching and provided a fertile ground for investigation/ research in these areas of e-learning. We have also found that, where a tool is made widely available, it may be used for a variety of activities outside learning and teaching. Leeds Community Blogs now support research groups internally and across partner institutions as well as library news, project teams, staff networks and community groups.
Alison Wildish gave a talk on "Put Yourself Out There".
Slides: [About] - [MS PowerPoint format] - [HTML]
It seems wherever you turn people are talking about Social Networking. The debates about the pros and cons of universities being in these spaces or encouraging students to use them are endless.
In this presentation Alison will talk about the approach taken at Edge Hill University where social networking sites and user owned technologies are encouraged. She will showcase the approach taken at Edge Hill using new technologies and sites such as Facebook to push information out and extend the University Web presence across a range of tools and platforms.
Tom Milburn gave a talk on "The Student Perspective".
Slides: [About] - [MS PowerPoint format] - [HTML]
How should students respond to the opportunities and challenges faced by social networking services such as Facebook?
In this presentation Tom Milburn, the Vice President for Education at the Student Union, University of Bath, describes the approaches which are currently being taken at the University of Bath to advise students, new and returning, of ways of making use of Facebook.
Stuart Lee gave a talk on "The Hidden Dangers of Social Networks: You can log-on but you cannot hide".
Slides: [About] - [MS PowerPoint format] - [HTML]
Although the advantages of social network tools are very obvious for many to see, when using them or attempting to use them, there are also issues - real and imagined. This brief presentation will outline the problems one can face from an IT services perspective when you attempt to assess and pilot these tools in a traditional University.
David Harrison gave a talk on "Disruptive Technology and its Implications for University Information Services".
Slides: [About] - [MS PowerPoint format] - [HTML]
This presentation explores the phenomenon of 'disruptive technology' and the implications it has for University Information Services. The nature of technology initiated disruption is explored, identifying some of its causes and effects and implications for service provision. It is suggested that a modified approach to service provision and management must be adopted in order to alleviate disruptive consequences of technology and capitalise upon its benefits. Fundamental to achieving this will be adopting a philosophy of enablement through partnership at all levels of the organisation to harness better ways of staying abreast of and responsive to the potential value of emerging technologies. Central to achieving this will be adopting news ways of communicating and working with staff, students and the wider organisation, with the aim being the University is confident about the degree of control, ownership and responsibility that is in place.
Two 30 second video clips summarising the talks are available on the Animoto Web site:
Due to the embedded video clips, this page does not comply with HTML standards.
