Hamilton May 2011

Bruno Poellhuber

Terry Anderson

Nicole Racette

Agenda

• 1. Problem and theoretical base (Terry) - 5 min

• 2. Objectives and methodology (Bruno) - 5 min

• 3. Athabasca (with ELGG tour) - 10 min

• 4. TÉLUQ - 10 min

• 5. University of Montreal - 10 min

• 6. General discussion - 20 min

Social Networking in Self Paced Models of Distance Education

• Self Paced, continuous enrolment programming maximizes learner freedom, accessibility and control

• Very little DE programming and research done on this model

• Canada’s largest and single mode universities use self –paced model

Associated with higher drop out rates

• Can Social/Networking Software Make a Difference??

Social Networking Software

– T”social software refers to a set of network

tools designed specifically to support

sharing, collaboration, socializing and

resulting in the development of multiple

forms of social capital (Jones &

Thomas, 2007).

– profiles, wikis, blogs, posting walls, artefact

tagging, web conferencing, calendaring

and other network-based tools

Educational Social Software

• “ allows individuals to meet, work

together, and share insights, ideas and

artefacts, thus affording learners the

opportunity to meet each other and forge

learning relationships.” (Anderson, 2004)

Personal Learning Environments• The short term involves the success of the

course, the long term term involves the success to life long learners and formal education!

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