The effects of social messaging on students' learning and intrinsic motivation in peer assessment

This study aims to gain a better understanding of how the newly arisen social messaging may impact the practice of peer assessment. Seventy-nine ESL (English as second language) students reviewed each other's English essays in three peer assessment groups: a three-member group using wiki (wiki group), a three-member group using social messaging (small messaging group), and a six-member group using social messaging (big messaging group). Data analysis suggested that peer assessment facilitated by social messaging can be at least of the same effectiveness as wiki-facilitated peer assessment on ESL students' writing skills and intrinsic motivation. In addition, the findings indicated that students in the small messaging group outperformed students in the big messaging group on essay writing and reported a significantly higher rating on perceived competence, a positive indicator of the behavioural measures of intrinsic motivation, than students in the big messaging group.     

Perceived academic effects of instant messaging use

College students use information and communication technologies at much higher levels and in different ways than prior generations. They are also more likely to multitask while using information and communication technologies. However, few studies have examined the impacts of multitasking on educational outcomes among students. This study fills a gap in this area by utilizing a large-sample web-based survey of college student technology usage to examine how instant messaging and multitasking affect perceived educational outcomes. Since multitasking can impede the learning process through a form of information overload, we explore possible predictors of academic impairment due to multitasking. Results of this study suggest that college students use instant messaging at high levels, they multitask while using instant messaging, and over half report that instant messaging has had a detrimental effect on their schoolwork. Higher levels of instant messaging and specific types of multitasking activities are associated with students reporting not getting schoolwork done due to instant messaging. We discuss implications of these findings for researchers studying the social impacts of technology and those in higher education administration.     

Beyond Expertise Seeking: A Field Study of the Informal Knowledge Practices of Healthcare IT Teams

CSCW has long been concerned with formal and informal knowledge practices in organizations, examining both the social and technical aspects of how knowledge is sought, shared, and used. In this study, we are interested in examining the set of activities that occur when co-located knowledge workers manage and resolve issues by seeking, sharing, and applying their informal knowledge. Informal knowledge seeking involves more than identifying the expert who has the knowledge or accessing the knowledge through physical artifacts. It also involves working with that expert to identify and apply the appropriate knowledge to the particular situation. However, our understandings of how people collaboratively work together to find, share and apply this knowledge are less well understood. To investigate this phenomenon, we conducted a field study of how professionals in three IT teams of a regional hospital managed and resolved IT issues. These knowledge workers used various collaborative practices such as creation of ad-hoc teams and the use of email to identify, share, and use informal knowledge to resolve IT issues. In addition, particular team practices such as how issues are assigned affected these knowledge activities. Our findings highlight how informal knowledge activities are affected by a variety of implicit and sometimes subtle features of the organization and that organizational knowledge management systems should support informal knowledge seeking activities and collaboration amongst the knowledge sharers.     

Assessing process in CSCL: An ontological approach

Educational technology innovations enable students to collaborate in online educational tasks, across individual, institutional, and national boundaries. However, online interactions across these boundaries are seldom transparent to each other. As a result, students are not motivated to share their best learning practices. Also, there is no singular basis on which one can compare learning practices of multiple students. In addressing these problems, we offer a solution that encourages students to record and share their learning interactions using our ontology-oriented theory-centric software tool. In doing so, students not only observe the products of their learning but also the process of how they learnt. These unique and computationally formal recordings of learning interactions not only allow educators to observe how learners learn, but also provide opportunities for learners to reflect on their understanding of meta-cognitive processes that they employed or neglected in their learning. Further, these recordings feed our software system to autonomously analyze students’ learning behaviour and to actively promote self- and co-regulation among learners. This article presents the need for such a system, the architecture of the system, and concludes with key experimental observations from software prototypes.     

Instant messaging with WebWho

We present a study of how awareness of presence affects content of instant messaging sent between students using WebWh o, an easily accessible web-based awareness tool. WebWho visualizes where people are located in a large university computer lab and allows students to virtually locate one another and communicate via an instant messaging system. As WebWho is there to be accessed through any web browser, it requires no programming skills or special software. It may also be used from outside the computer lab by students located elsewhere. The sender's user name is normally automatically added to the instant messages, but the messages can also be sent anonymously. We were interested in finding out if the sender's conscious hiding of his or her identity seemed to be reflected in the content of anonymous messages, and how these differed from those with identified senders. Awareness of presence seems to be one of several factors influencing message composition, both content and structural aspects. At this stage, we have primarily focused on examining how different factors affects the content of the messages. We cross-analysed the messages for content in relation to parameters such as sender location (collocated, distributed and distant) and sender status (anonymous vs. identified), in order to find out whether awareness of presence seems to be an influencing factor. Computer-mediated communication (CMC) is often claimed to be a sort of hybrid between spoken and written interaction [c.f. Ferrara, Brunner & Whittemore (1991) and and several others]. We compared the messages that were sent using the instant messaging tool in WebWho with data from other types of CMC (email, chat) and also with corpora of spoken language and traditionally written language. The aim of the study was primarily to investigate awareness of presence affects on instant messaging, and only secondarily to investigate spoken vs. written features of the texts. Results show that awareness of both physical and virtual presence affects the content of the messages, and that these factors affects the text differently. Sender status, the nature of the computer-mediated medium, and the written mode shape the messages as well. Results show that the students use the messaging system to support collaborative work and coordinate social activities, and extensively for playful behaviour.     

5G消息服务是否会对现有社交即时通讯软件带来冲击

随着第五代移动通信网络(5G)技术应用的逐渐铺开,其所具有的一系列新的技术标准、通信协议、支持设备等也逐渐出现在人们的面前。该文将重点关注其中的5G消息服务是否会对现有社交即时通讯软件带来冲击。该文通过从其网络承载技术、内容协议的灵活性和可扩展性、隐私保护、内容安全等六个方面进行分析和阐述,从而得出5G消息服务的出现不会对现有社交限时通讯软件带来冲击这一结论。     

From social anxiety to interpersonal connectedness: Relationship building within face-to-face,phone and instant messaging mediums

The present research examined whether social anxiety moderates the potential relationship between conversation medium and interpersonal connectedness. Hypotheses predicted that individuals with high social anxiety would demonstrate greater interpersonal connectedness following instant messaging conversations; whereas, individuals with low social anxiety would report greater interpersonal connectedness following face-to-face and phone conversations. Undergraduate participants (N = 165) were randomly assigned to one of three conversation mediums (face-to-face, phone or instant messaging) during which they engaged in an interaction with an unfamiliar partner. Participants completed a measure of social anxiety before the interaction and measures of interpersonal connectedness prior to and following the interaction. Results revealed that level of social anxiety is a significant contingent condition for the association between type of conversation medium and attitude homophily (i.e., a measure of interpersonal connectedness). For individuals with low social anxiety, scores on the attitude homophily measure were significantly lower in the instant messaging condition, compared to the face-to-face and phone conditions.     

“What do they snapchat about?” Patterns of use in time-limited instant messaging service

The use of Snapchat – a time-limited instant messaging service – has been rapidly rising amongst adolescents. However, the exact nature of Snapchat use remains difficult to examine due to the self-destructive nature of content sent and received via this service. We report an online survey conducted with the use of a memory sampling method to enquire about the specific details of the very last image or video each participant sent and received via Snapchat. We found that users mainly share ‘selfies’, typically embed text and ‘doodles’ with photos they share, use it mostly at home, and primarily for communication with close friends and family as an ‘easier and funnier’ alternative to other instant messaging services. We also found that high intensity of Snapchat use was more associated with bonding rather than bridging social capital. We discuss those findings in the context of existing studies on the use of instant messaging services and social networking sites.     

Which social elements are visible in virtual groups? Addressing the categorization of social expressions

Learning is a social process. That is why it is extremely important to understand how students interact socially in online courses and how it affects the learning process. However, social aspects, understood as those expressions or comments that go beyond strictly academic interaction, i.e. the need to carry out group work, are not clearly defined. Researchers have proposed different models of categories to observe or measure social aspects. This paper contributes to this field through addressing the categorization of social expression in online groups through a qualitative research procedure. Specifically, 19 indicators have been identified and organized into 4 categories: formal, attitudinal, emotional and informal. The findings suggest that those indicators related to formal and attitudinal aspects appear more often than emotional and informal ones. Different profiles (Psychology or Computer Engineering) as well as different levels of experience in online learning (beginners or experts) have also been analyzed, concluding that Psychology students turn to social expressions more often than Computer Engineering ones. As students progress in their undergraduate studies, social expressions are perceived and used to the extent that they ease the learning process.     

基于代理服务实现IPv6和IPv4即时通讯的研究

目前IPv6协议上还没有实现即时通讯工具的应用,这将成为IPv6发展的瓶颈。针对这一问题,提出了一种使用二级代理方式,考虑用一个具有IPv4地址的形式127．0．0．1既local host来代表IPv6地址,然后通过设计一个可以将IPv4地址转化为IPv6地址的代理服务器来充当中介,再借助于现有IPv6代理服务器将IPv6地址转化成IPv4,通过两次代理实现QQ客户端与腾讯服务器的连接。主要以QQ为例．研究如何通过代理服务器来实现IPv6下QQ的通信,对其他支持代理模式的即时通信应用有参考意义。     

Peer modeling and innovation adoption among teachers in online professional development

This paper draws on three years of data from an online course on educational technology for practicing teachers, in which a goal was for teachers to develop a web-based application they could use in their own teaching. Based on analyses of discussion forums and teachers' course projects, we found that iterations of the course evolved over the years from being a loose association of peers involved in vastly different development projects with different tools, to a community of designers involved in a common endeavor, as more and more students chose the same open-source learning management system for their course projects. We tracked what factors seemed to affect how many and which teachers chose which development technologies, and how the process of making these choices evolved with the increased role of designed and emergent forms of peer modeling. We situate these findings in the literature on teacher professional development and technology use, arguing that existing conversations need to attend to the important role that peers play in teachers' learning and innovation adoption, particularly in online learning environments.     

Instructional design or school politics? A discussion of ‘orchestration' in TEL research

This paper argues that the emphasis on orchestration as a metaphor for teaching in technology‐enhanced learning (TEL) environments, featured in recent academic discussions, is an opportunity to broaden the scope of the inquiry into educational technology. Drawing on sociological literature and research that investigated the systemic factors that influence the uptake of information and communication technologies in formal and informal learning contexts, the paper contends that a focus on instructional design does insufficient justice to the complexities of actual technology use in classrooms and after‐school programs. It is suggested, instead, that orchestration might better be used as a heuristic device to deepen our understandings of the relationships between power, bestowed on teachers or claimed by them through a number of strategies, educational technology, and teaching practices. The paper concludes that to fully understand this relationship and to support teachers, concern should be given equally to the existing political and cultural dynamics of TEL environments. Examples of orchestration as a political, cultural process are provided, illustrating how teachers appropriate technology and ‘innovative’ pedagogies to negotiate power.     

Working with tweets vs. working with chats: An experiment on collaborative problem solving

This papers aims to explore how “working with tweets” differs from “working with chats”. With eight experimental sessions involving 120 Italian students, we investigate how the well known 140-characters limit and other subtle differences between Twitter and a typical instant messenger affect group problem solving performances. In our laboratory experiment, teams of the same size carry out a problem solving task communicating via Twitter or Skype instant messaging. Comparative group performance is measured in terms of successful task completion time. Our results show that the lower number and volume of text messages exchanged via Twitter does not negatively affect group performance: Twitter teams are just as effective as Skype instant messaging teams. These results can be interpreted in accordance with the latest developments in multiple media choice and virtual team effectiveness theories, disclosing interesting windows of opportunities for “working with tweets” in the forthcoming organizational settings.     

Developing an educational software framework for distance-less learning

Abstract This paper considers educational technology as both a tool and process. The focus is on a strategy to develop a software framework with reusable components to support a specific teaching/learning (the Question-and-Answer) model. It demonstrates how such a software framework can be used for building educational software systems which can be adapted easily to different levels and subjects of education on top of Internet/Intranet and web technologies. As a result, the developed educational environment is called distance-less, allowing students to have instant support from teachers by way of an existing virtual permanent connection. An example is provided of a teaching/learning model which was built based on the development principles and guidelines proposed in the paper and which shows one possible application for use with an existing learning and teaching system.     

Grounding Privacy in Mediated Communication

This paper addresses the need of interpersonal privacy coordination mechanisms in the context of mediated communication, emphasizing the dialectic and dynamic nature of privacy. We contribute the Privacy Grounding Model—built upon the Common Ground theory—that describes how connected individuals create and adapt privacy borders dynamically and in a collaborative process. We present the theoretical foundations of the model. We also show the applicability of the model, where we give evidence from a field study that illustrates how it can describe privacy coordination mechanisms amongst users of an instant messaging application and a desktop awareness system. The model describes efficient and effective factors that communicators consider in their decisions to use mechanisms for coordination. The Privacy Grounding Model aims to help designers reflect on how their system supports, or fails to support, people’s need for lightweight and distinctive privacy coordination mechanisms, and in particular how communicators within the system create and use privacy border representations for grounding their needs to interact with each other.     

Facilitating the learning process in parallel computing by using instant messaging

Parallel Programming skills may require a long time to acquire. “Think in parallel” is a skill that requires time, effort, and experience. In this work, we propose to facilitate the students’ learning process in parallel programming by using instant messaging. Our aim was to find out whether students’ interaction through instant messaging tools is beneficial for the learning process. In order to do so, we asked several students of an HPC course of the Master’s degree in Computer Science of the University of León to develop a specific parallel application, each of them using a different application program interface: OpenMP, MPI, CUDA, or OpenCL. Even though the used APIs are different, there are common points in the design process. We encouraged students to interact with each other by using Gitter, an instant messaging tool for GitHub users. Our analysis of the communications and results demonstrate that the direct interaction of students through the Gitter tool has a positive impact on the learning process.

     

Usage of a mobile social learning platform with virtual badges in a primary school

This study presents and examines SamEx, a mobile learning system used by 305 students in formal and informal learning in a primary school in Singapore. Students use SamEx in situ to capture media such as pictures, video clips and audio recordings, comment on them, and share them with their peers. In this paper we report on the experiences of students in using the application throughout a one-year period with a focus on self-directedness, quality of contributions, and answers to contextual question prompts. We examine how the usage of tools such as SamEx predicts students' science examination results, discuss the role of badges as an extrinsic motivational tool, and explore how individual and collaborative learning emerge. Our research shows that the quantity and quality of contributions provided by the students in SamEx predict the end-year assessment score. With respect to specific system features, contextual answers given by the students and the overall likes received by students are also correlated with the end-year assessment score.     

The role of presence awareness in organizational communication: An exploratory field experiment

Millions of adults currently use instant messaging (IM) in the workplace, and yet there is very little research examining how use and perceptions of this new medium affect intra-organizational communication. While one of the characteristics of instant messaging is the ability to exchange real-time communication, what truly distinguishes instant messaging from other widely adopted forms of mediated communication is the integration of presence technology, which allows parties to detect if others are online and available to communicate. In this paper, we propose a theory of productivity benefits of presence-aware communication technology, building upon past research. Based on this model, we use a quasi-experimental longitudinal research design to test how providing instant messaging to selected workgroups at a Fortune 500 company impacts employees' attitudes and work behavior.

Results suggest that IM use had a positive effect on improving productivity with participants citing reductions in voice mail and phone tag, improvements to how easy it was to see if colleagues were online and available to communicate as well as increased productivity served by back-channel communications conducted via IM. Results and future research directions are discussed.