5 September 2006

University researchers to explore new technologies to connect students

University students are spending a lot of their time managing their competing study, work and social demands.   This may mean that they engage less with the university environment.   Now, a team of academics from the University of Canberra will work with their colleagues at Queensland University of Technology and Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology to work on a new project which is designed to investigate the application of social software to support how students learn from and communicate with each other in higher education.

The project received $100 000 from the Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education under their Competitive Grants Program. This program is designed to support research, development and innovation related to the enhancement of learning and teaching in higher education, particularly in relation to the role of new technologies.

Social software refers to emerging set of internet-based technologies that allow users to form interest-based communities for the purposes of communication and collaboration. Also referred to as Web2.0 technologies, these systems allow users to actively share, categorise, annotate, and collaborate, drawing on local and global networks and communities.

This project is designed to promote student-centred approaches to learning and teaching in universities by using social software to foster the development of digital learning communities. These communities will help students exchange ideas & resources while also providing a space in which they can create new ways of connecting with each other.

This project is founded on the assumption that social interaction is fundamental to the pursuit of high quality thinking and learning outcomes. It addresses this problem by examining how simple and robust information and communications technologies (ICT) can afford new opportunities to promote social interaction, build social networks and enhance student's university "presence".

The Project team comprises from the University of Canberra Robert Fitzgerald (Education), John Campbell (Information Systems), Stephen Barass (Creative Communication), Mitchell Whitelaw (Creative Communication), Sam Hinton (Creative Communication),  Yoni Ryan (CELTS) with collaborators Axel Bruns from QUT and Adrian Miles from RMIT.

The University of Canberra is involved in two other Carrick grants.   One is for the development and implementation of a pilot program, 'External Peer Review of Teaching' and the other is a project entitled 'Assessing group work in media and communication'.

Dr Robert Fitzgerald is available for more information on 02 62012658 or 0418 40

UC Communications

Gaye Morrison
T: 02 6201 5855
M: 0409 470 755

Kaddie Pass
T: 02 6201 2681

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Last Updated on August 1, 2005