HICSS-38 Socialware for Learning Environments Tuesday morning, January 4, 2005

Social software (socialware) enables users to collaboratively create and use information while also providing a community context.  Socialware has been applied to learning environments for many years, predominantly through shared discussion forums/BBSs. Recently new socialware technologies have become available, notably weblogs and wikis. Their use is yet in the early stages, and has remained for the most part un-researched.

 The goals of this workshop include: (1) introduce various social software tools, (2) provide examples of their use in the edu space, (3) discuss other possible applications, (4) outline a research agenda concerning how social software is used in academia, and (5) create connections for collaborative projects and studies.

In the first session of this two-session workshop we will provide brief demonstrations (including technical information, methods of use, best of breed analyses) and case studies of using each of the three technologies: BBS, weblog, and wiki. We will also discuss the role of feeds (“RSS”) in facilitating communication and information sharing among socialware users.

In the second part of the workshop we will develop a research agenda to address technology, behaviorial/cultural/contextual, and performance/effectiveness issues that can guide future research in this promising domain.

We seek to provide a forum for those interested in the use of socialware in learning environments to learn and share ideas about technologies (uses, best practices, etc.) and research questions and approaches (e.g., development of enhanced genres, integration/convergence of genres, and evaluation of effectiveness -- in general and with respect to contexts such as cultural differences). 

Conducted by: Lorne Olfman  Lorne.Olfman@cgu.edu and Terry Ryan Terry.Ryan@cgu.edu

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Send questions or comments to: hicss@hawaii.edu