COLLABORATIVE ONLINE LEARNING

ONLINE FORUM

Ä  Equivalent to traditional bulletin board and a technological evolution of the dial-up bulletin board system.

Ä People participating in an Internet forum may cultivate social bonds and interest groups for a topic made from the discussions.

Ä  Most Online forums require registration to post. 

Troll

Ä  Is a user that repeatedly and intentionally breaches netiquette, often posting derogatory or otherwise inflammatory messages about sensitive topics in an established online community to bait users into responding, often starting flame wars

Spamming

Ä  Is a breach of netiquette where users repeat the same word or phrase over and over, but differs from multiple posting in that spamming is usually a willful act which sometimes has malicious intent.

User groups

Ä  Privileges and rights are given based on user groups. The privileged is set by the administrator.

Ä  An unregistered user of the site is commonly known as a guest or visitor.

Ä  Guests are typically granted access to all functions that do not require database alterations or breach privacy.

Moderator

Ä  The moderators are users of the forum who are granted access to the posts and threads of all members for the purpose of moderating discussion and also keeping the forum clean.

Ä  Have access to all posts and threads

Ä  Moderators also answer users' concerns about the forum, general questions, as well as respond to specific complaints. They also can do anything to lend a helping hand to a user in need.

Administrator

Ä  The administrators manage the technical details required for running the site.

Ä  Promote members to moderators, manage the rules, create sections and sub-sections, as well as perform any database operations.

Ä  Administrators often also act as moderators.

Post

Ä  A post is a user submitted message enclosed into a block containing the user's details and the date and time it was submitted.

Ä  Members are usually allowed to edit or delete their own posts.

Thread

Ä  A thread (sometimes called a topic) is a collection of posts, usually displayed – by default – from oldest to latest, although this is typically configurable:

Ä  A thread is defined by a title, an additional description that may summarize the intended discussion, and an opening or original post (common abbreviation 'OP', which can also mean original poster) which opens whatever dialogue or makes whatever announcement the poster wished. A thread can contain any number of posts, including multiple posts from the same members, even if they are one after the other.

Private message

Ä  A private message, or PM for short, is a message sent in private from a member to one or more other members.

Ä  Private messages are generally used for personal conversations.

Emoticon

Ä  Emoticon or smiley is a symbol or combination of symbols used to convey emotional content in written or message form. Forums implement a system through which some of the text representations of an emoticons (e.g. XD, :p) are rendered as a small image. Depending on part the world the forum's topic originates (since most forums are international) smiles can be replaced by other forms of similar graphics, (e.g. *(^O^)*, (^-^)b).

WIKIS

Ä  Wiki is a piece of server software that allows users to freely create and edit Web page content using any Web browser.

Ä Wiki is a combination of a CGI script and a collection of plain text files that allows users to create Web pages “on the fly.”

Ä Wiki supports hyperlinks and has simple text syntax for creating new pages and crosslink between internal pages on the fly.

Ä Wiki is unusual among group communication mechanisms in that it allows the organization of contributions to be edited in addition to the content itself.

PODCASTING

Ä     A podcast is a series of digital media files (either audio or video) that are released episodically and downloaded through web syndication.

Ä  Podcasting is a method of publishing audio files (usually MP3s) to the Web, which are then made available through subscription and automatically downloaded to a personal computer or portable MP3 player.

Podcasting in Education

       Ä  One obvious use of podcasting in an educational context is to create an archive of class lectures that students can listen to at their convenience.
  Ä As podcasting is relatively new, educators everywhere are still exploring the possibilities. 

Ä  Podcasting could be used for:

Ø  News/updates;

Ø  Guest lecturers;

Ø  Student presentations;

Ø  Student-produced podcasts;

Ø  Interviews with guest experts;

Ø  Tours/fieldwork;

Ø  Internships/residencies;

Ø  Feedback/evaluation of student work;

Ø Supplementary material such as speeches, music, or other audio recordings; and

Ø Short language lessons or other lessons that help students develop listening and speaking skills.

Issues

Ä  Podcasting involves a shift from e-learning to m-learning.

Ä E-learning, or electronic learning, refers to any computer-based learning that enables students to access and make use of course materials at a distance and at their convenience.

Ä  M-learning, or mobile learning, capitalizes on the increasing ubiquity of wireless networks and devices such as laptops, PDAs, wireless phones, MP3 players, and of course, iPods.

SECOND LIFE

Ä  In Second Life participants use avatars, virtual selves that reflect the creators’ personalities, to interact with one another within the online environment.

Ä  A free client program called the Second Life Viewer enables its users, called Residents, to interact with each other through avatars.

Ä Residents can explore, meet other residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities, and create and trade virtual property and services with one another, or travel throughout the world

Ä Through this feature Second Life can bring people, ideas, and subject matter together in a fuller representation of real human relationships

Ä For example, Second Life allows for online interactions that mimic the face-to-face conversations of the campus classroom while minimizing the formality that usually prevails in academic discussion forums.