Learning environments increasingly become more diverse by the use of information technology. Thereby, the share of face-to-face situations between students as well as between students and mentors becomes smaller, while the share of encounters in virtual space is growing larger. Thus, computer mediated communication (CMC) is growing in importance in all learning environments. Since standard learning environments involve both formal and informal communication, it seems reasonable to claim that without informal communication students and faculty would have difficulties in sustaining the learning processes. Beyond the ever-growing exchange of formal content, the opportunity of informal communication appears increasingly essential for the successful pursuit of online studies.
Der vorliegende Beitrag widmet sich dem Thema «Edublogging», also der Nutzung von Weblogs im Bildungsbereich, und fokussiert dabei auf den Hochschulsektor. Weblogs werden vielerorts als Instrument für die Lehre, aber auch als Diskussionsplattform im E-Learning-Forschungsdiskurs sowie als Mittel zur Öffentlichkeitsarbeit in E-Learning-Zentren und anderen Zentraleinrichtungen eingesetzt. Hinzu kommen Blogfarmen bzw. Multiblogs, die jedem und jeder Hochschulangehörigen mit wenigen Klicks die Einrichtung einer Weblog-Präsenz eröffnen. Entsprechend facettenreich präsentiert sich die Landschaft der Edublogs. Der Artikel beleuchtet das Phänomen «Edublogosphäre» durch eine umfangreiche Literatursichtung, Web-Recherchen, Inhaltsanalysen und Befragungen. Angestrebt wird eine Kartografie der vielfältigen Landschaft an Edublogs. Im Ergebnis werden Besonderheiten der Weblog-Strategien von E-Learning-Einrichtungen, bloggenden E-Learning-Wissenschaftlern/-innen, Blogfarmen und weiteren Einsatzformen in Hochschulbereich beschrieben.
Social tagging ranges among the ``killer applications'' of Web 2.0. An ever-growing international community uses Web sites such as the photo database Flickr and the bookmarking service Delicious. In addition, a number of other portals use tagging to compile user-specific metadata on information on any subject—whether it be travel destinations, personal contacts, films, or museum exhibits. Retrieving and storing information via tagging seems to meet users' needs for a number of purposes and in many contexts. Starting with a synopsis of the current literature on social tagging and then focusing on the results of two surveys—qualitative interviews and an online questionnaire—this article explores the potential and limitations of tagging as a tool for organizing shared and personal knowledge.
All learning requires a mix of formal and informal communication. As learning shifts from face-to-face to computer-supported environments, explicit support of informal communication is crucial. An assessment of the formal and informal aspects of communication in Web-based learning environments is provided. The current focus on supporting the formal aspects of communication is questioned. The authors hope that this information will further the recognition of organizational and technical support of informal communication in Web-based education as an issue of prime importance.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.