Wikis, blogs and podcasts - using Web2 technologies in teacher education

This paper presents a reflection on the infusion of Web2 technologies into a teacher education program. It explores issues surrounding the use of a range of Web2 technologies including wikis, blogs and podcasts. Web2 technologies are currently being taken up at amazing speed. This paper draws on the experience of using these new technologies in two units of a pre-service education course. As part of their assignment requirements pre-service education students were immersed in these new technologies as they grappled with issues to do with learning how to use these technologies as well as reflecting on how and why, or why not, they might they might use them in primary schools including the potential for democratic collaborative communities of learners. The opportunities the Web2 technologies afford educators as well as the consequences of such educational use of social technologies will be considered.

Exploring the types of SMEs which could use blogs as a marketing tool : a proposed future research agenda

Blogs appear to be gaining momentum as a marketing tool which can be used by organisations for such strategies and processes as branding, managing reputation, developing customer trust and loyalty, niche marketing, gathering marketing intelligence and promoting their online presence. There has been limited academic research in this area, and most significantly concerning the types of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) for which blogs might have potential as a marketing tool. In an attempt to address the knowledge gap, this paper presents a future research agenda (in the form of research questions) which can guide the eBusiness research community in conducting much needed studies in this area. This paper is particularly novel in that it aims to demonstrate how the heterogeneity of SMEs and their specific business uses of eBusiness technology such as blogs can form the central plank of a future research agenda. This is important because the existing eBusiness literature tends to treat eBusiness collectively rather than focusing on the specific business uses of different eBusiness technologies, and to treat SMEs as a homogeneous group. The paper concludes with a discussion of how this research agenda can form the basis of studies which use a range of different research methods, and how this "big picture" agenda approach might help the eBusiness research community build theory which better explains SME adoption and use of eBusiness.

A blog says I am here! : Encouraging reflection on performance-making and drama practice through blogs

This chapter considers the use of social software, in particular the blog, emerging from youth web-culture as a space for groups and individuals to reflect upon performance-making processes. lt focuses on the Drama Australia VINE project, launched at the beginning of 2006 through to its conclusion at the end of2007. The VINE project brought together groups of drama students within schools, universities and the broader community to make group performances based on a common theme. Using a multi-user blogging environment, vineblogs net, groups or individuals maintained blogs of their performance-making processes. This allowed the work to l¡e shared within the VINE project community and potentially with a worldwide audience. A case study was set up involving one class of students and their teachers who were involved in the VINE project and participants were asked to reflect and comment upon the performance-making and blogging experience. The chapter considers the challenge that we face as educators to find appropriate avenues to engage young people in reflection. It considers the ways in which students engage with technology that are ofter different from their teachers. The chapter goes on to discuss how blogs can contribute to the creation of a sense of individual or group identity and recognition. It asks, 'how do blogs encourage reflection upon performance-making processes and facilitate the creating of connections and the building of community between drama students and teachers across a range of settings?' Finally the chapter describes what we've learned about blogs in drama and considers where we go from here'

Fruits of the vine : reflection on performance-making through blogs

In 2006 Drama Australian launched the VINE Project, bringing together groups of drama students within schools, universities and the broader community to make group performances based on a common theme. Using the VINE Project's multi-user blogging environment, group or individuals maintained blogs of their performance-making processes. This allowed the work to be shared within the VINE Project community and potentially a world-wide audience.

This paper contributes to the discussion on the applications of information and communication technologies (ICT) in drama and theatre education. It considers the blog, emerging from web-culture, as a space for groups and individuals to reflect upon performance-making processes. A range of VINE Project participants was asked to reflect and comment upon the performance-making and blogging experience. This paper presents emerging understandings of the role of blogs in encouraging reflection, in creating a sense of group identity and significance, in validating performance-making processes and in building a sense of connection and community among student performance-makers.

Blogs bother me : social media, journalism and the curriculum

This paper grew out of the authors’ interest in updating the journalism curriculum at AUT (Aukland University of Technology) to better reflect the impact of online media, including social media, on the work of journalists. The challenge for journalism educators is to remain relevant in rapidly changing news and education environments. Our study suggests that while the vast majority of students have some engagement with social media, particularly social networking, and are aware that it can be a powerful tool for journalists, they are still not entirely comfortable with its techniques and they are not experimenting with social media as a production platform as much as we first thought. In short, it appears that they do not have command of professional fluency with social media tools. In response to these findings we have begun to introduce some social media tools and processes directly into the units we teach, in particular: digital story-telling techniques; the use of Twitter and location-based applications; encouraging the ethical use of Facebook etc. for sourcing stories and talent for interviews; podcasting, soundslides and video for the Web, Dreamweaver, InDesign and PHP-based content management systems. We do not see the work to date as the end-point of the changes that we know are necessary, but we are acutely aware of the limitations (structural, institutional and financial) that suggest we should continue with this small-steps approach for the foreseeable future.

Autism blogs: expressed emotion, language styles and concerns in personal and community settings

The Internet has provided an ever increasingly popular platform for individuals to voice their thoughts, and like-minded people to share stories. This unintentionally leaves characteristics of individuals and communities, which are often difficult to be collected in traditional studies. Individuals with autism are such a case, in which the Internet could facilitate even more communication given its social-spatial distance being a characteristic preference for individuals with autism. Previous studies examined the traces left in the posts of online autism communities (Autism) in comparison with other online communities (Control). This work further investigates these online populations through the contents of not only their posts but also their comments. We first compare the Autism and Control blogs based on three features: topics, language styles and affective information. The autism groups are then further examined, based on the same three features, by looking at their personal (Personal) and community (Community) blogs separately. Machine learning and statistical methods are used to discriminate blog contents in both cases. All three features are found to be significantly different between Autism and Control, and between autism Personal and Community. These features also show good indicative power in prediction of autism blogs in both personal and community settings.

Exploratory study of corporate social responsibility: blogs as a communication tool to enhance company-stakeholders relationships

O conceito de responsabilidade social corporativa (RSE) evoluiu gradualmente do objetivo de satisfazer as expectativas dos acionistas para o cumprimento das expectativas das partes interessadas. Tornou-se um conceito amplamente aceitado e promovido como as empresas enfrentam maiores pressões de atores internos e externos para cumprir objetivos sociais maiores. Assim, elas cada vez mais comunicam sobre os esforços de responsabilidade social delas, a fim de fomentar a confiança e o envolvimento dos stakeholders. Mas o aumento da cidadania global e as novas tecnologias de informação e de comunicação – como as mídias sociaias – está criando uma paisagem desafiador para a comunicação RSE, se traduzindo em escrutínio e ceticismo do público. No entanto, também está criando novas oportunidades para as empresas compartilhar e interagir com as partes interessadas. O estudo analisa especificamente como os blogs corporativos dedicados à comunicação RSE conseguem melhorar as relações entre as empresas e as partes interessadas. Esta pesquisa exploratória da estrutura e das mensagens de 9 blogs corporativos, é baseada em um quadro de análise sobre comunicação RSE em plataformas de mídias sociais desenvolvido por Gomez e Chalmeta (2013). O quadro está melhorado e adaptado para blogs graças à literatura sobre comunicação RSE, mídias sociais e blogs corporativos. Os resultados demonstram que o uso de características de blogs como apresentação, conteúdo e interatividade, é diversificado e reflete estratégias diferentes de comunicação RSE. Blogs permitem às empresas aumentar a visibilidade da comunicação RSE, melhorar a credibilidade e a legitimidade dos esforços de responsabilidade social, e também trazer discussões com os stakeholders. No entanto, demonstramos que as características e recursos dos blogs raramente são totalmente desenvolvidos, sugerindo avenidas para a melhoria no campo da comunicação nas mídias sociais. Especificamente, o uso da interatividade para criar relações baseadas em diálogo entre empresas e stakeholders está até atrasado em relação à extensão das oportunidades oferecidas pelos blogs. Além disso, o grau de utilização das ferramentas de blogs determina a eficácia da comunicação de RSE 2.0 das empresas na criação de relações empresa-stakeholder.

O regime da memória através dos diários virtuais: o caso dos blogs

CARVALHO, Luciana Moreira.;CARVALHO, Monica Marques. O registro da memória através dos diários virtuais:o caso dos blogs.Em Questão, Porto Alegre, v. 11, n. 1, p. 53-66, jan./jun. 2005.ISSN 1808-5245. Disponivel em:. Acesso em: 04 out. 2010. ão