Computer Mediated Communication
Computer mediated communication (CMC) encompasses all computer technologies which facilitate or enable communication between two or more people using social software. CMC mostly occurs through e-mail, chat (instant messaging), video, audio, bulletin board systems, list-servers and, of course the web.
The 21st century campus requires an integrated approach to what have previously been viewed as separate technologies. CMC provides the umbrella under which we can develop a comprehensive plan which enables improved communication and coordination, while at the same time improving efficiencies and reducing costs.
Effective CMC is of specific urgency in the higher-education space for several important reasons: 1) computer assisted learning via courseware like Blackboard has become ubiquitous across campuses; 2) successive generations of incoming students are increasingly technology savvy; 3) professors, researchers and athletics staff require the ability to effectively communicate and publish in the digital sphere; and 4) the complex campus enterprise requires effective communication and coordination across many departments.
Areas of Focus
- Computer Assisted Learning
- Web Development
- Weblogging and Podcasting
- Multimedia
- Listservers and Bulletin Board Systems
- E-Mail and Groupware
- Instant Messaging and Internet conferencing
Social Software in Education
Social software enables people to rendezvous, connect or collaborate through computer-mediated communication and to form online communities. The group of technologies referred to as "social software" provide the first generation of tools that truly enable social usage of computing technology on a mass level. Because of this, computing technology is no longer an end in itself, but the means toward unleashing the creative and collaborative potential of those who use it.
In the case of the liberal arts college these technologies offer a wide range of opportunities for expanded learning, increased community building, improved campus communications, improved efficiencies, technology costs savings, improved access to information and retention/recovery of lost knowledge (digital asset management or DAM).
ยป Social Software Definitions
A blog is a Web site for which an individual or a group frequently contributes text, photographs, video or audio files, and/or links, typically (but not always) on a daily basis. The term is a shortened form of weblog. Authoring a blog, maintaining a blog or adding an article to an existing blog is called "blogging." Individual articles on a blog are called "blog posts," "posts," or "entries". The person who posts these entries can be referred to alternately as "a blogger" or "one who blogs" or neither.
A wiki (<wick-ey>) is a type of Web site that allows users to add and edit content and is especially suited for collaborative projects. The major components of a wiki include: simplified process for creating HTML pages; a semantic model for managing the context of any content both on and between pages; a versioning system which records each individual change that occurs over time, so that at any time, a page can be reverted to any of its previous states; tools that allow the user community to easily monitor the constantly changing state of the wiki; and tools which allow for collaboration and discussion around issues that emerge in trying to achieve a consensus about the wiki content.
A clear definition of microcontent is yet to be agreed upon by the social software community, however, in general microcontent is a relatively small, atomic piece of content. This can be a single blog or wiki entry, or perhaps a sub-section of a specific entry. Other items which may be termed as microcontent include a hyperlink (URL) or an image, audio, or video file. Microcontent is distinct from a more generalized notion of "content" by its atomic nature; multiple microcontent elements are assembled to produce content per se.
Social software is being introduced into teaching and learning practices as a means to expand, through technology, the connectedness of students to each other and their classwork. As the nature of social software is interactive, current and collaborative, it lends itself to uses in the classroom as a repository for reference material/resources, as a forum for discussion, as a collaborative space for group project work, a place to share project work with other class members, and as an online journal.