Beyond Usability Beyond Usability Improving Sociability for Teaching and Learning in Sakai Paul Turner Social Computing Research Group University of Missouri-Columbia

Outline Usability versus Sociability? Is Sakai really Social? A CLE? –What can we learn from other Social Software? Improving & Increasing Sociability in Sakai –For learners –For teachers & researchers Social and Contextual Awareness is Important! –CANS and CANSAware Project Where do we go next?

3 Usability –An important issue for Sakai development –Other sessions here focus on this important element of Sakai development The ‘User Experience’ (UX) The ‘Information Experience’ (IE) What about the Social Experience? –to promote collaboration –to encourage learning –to assist teaching & research 3

4 Let’s Get Social! Social –The term "social" is derived from the Latin word "socius", which as a noun means "an associate, ally, business partner or comrade" –concerns “interactions between people” Sociable –“A party of people assembled to promote sociability and communal activity” Sociability –The relative tendency or disposition to be sociable or associate with one's fellows (Princeton: Wordnet) 4

5 Social Computing Social computing is based on creating or recreating social conventions and social contexts online through the use of software and technology (Wikipedia) –Microsoft, IBM do Social Computing R&D “research and develop software that contributes to compelling and effective social interactions” (MS) “it is possible to design digital systems that provide a social context for our activities.” (IBM)

6 Social Teaching & Learning Social Learning –occurs as a function of observing, retaining and replicating behavior observed in others (SL Theory, Bandura et. al) Social Teaching –Usually labeled “Collaborative Learning” “the act of shared creation and/or discovery” cooperative learning, collaborative learning, collective learning, learning communities, peer teaching, peer learning, reciprocal learning, team learning, study circles, study groups, and learning groups. 6

7 Social Software IM Blogs Wikis Social Bookmarking & Info Exchange –del.icio.us digg.com slashdot Social images, video, audio,..... –Flickr YouTube Social Networking –Facebook MySpace Linked In Social Learning?

8 Social Information The Social Life of Information –(Brown & Duguid, 2000) “human sociability plays an important role in the world of bits” Information acquires meaning only through social context Examines how information technology interacts and meshes with the social fabric. 8

9 Sociability in CLE Pitfalls: –An assumption that social interaction can be taken for granted and that it will automatically happen in the CSCL environment. –forgetting the social-psychological/social dimension of social interaction -- social interaction does not always happen naturally in primarily task-based contexts The Sociability of Collaborative Learning Environments Educational Technology & Society 5(1) 2002 Karek Kreijns, Paul Kirschner, Wim Jochems Open University of the Netherlands Heerlen, The Netherlands

10 The Problem Existing CLE (i.e. Sakai) lack ‘sociability’ Instructors and learners tend to view online courses through the narrow pedagogical lens, or technology tools, afforded by contemporary learning management systems (i.e. ***********) Lack of social interaction is a factor that depresses student satisfaction in online learning (Arbaugh, 2000)

11 How do we cope? Expert online instructors try to make up for this social deficit, or lack of sociability: –with engaging tasks and emphasizing the social and collaborative nature of learning But in general CMS/CLE are deficient in many of the cues that are important to human motivation and for having observable activity available to help shape learning.

12 Could there be more to it? We need a framework and mechanism for infusing these cues into online learning –Laffey, J., & Amelung, C. (June, 2007). Cues and Mechanisms for Improving the Social Nature of Online Learning. ED-MEDIA Vancouver, BC, Canada. 3 cues of sociality: –presence –co-presence –social navigation

13 Presence A person’s sense of self and how they are represented and understood in the online environment. It may be important how the system represents back to members what they are like and how they are doing as how well the system projects members identities out to others. (think Users Present box in Sakai) The ways a system allows individuals to represent themselves and the ways that actions and actors are associated influence the sociality of the environment (or a course) and the social nature of online activity.

14 Co-presence Co-Presence = Social Presence How well does the system: –Help students have a sense of “being there” with others –Afford the immediacy of teacher presence to the learners (or the illusion of teacher presence) –Provide tools or mechanisms which help foster a sense of community with other students –Help the teacher build group cohesion, trust, communication, collaboration, etc.

15 Social Navigation What others are doing as a primary guide for one’s own actions Research on social navigation has shown that people move in an information space based on where other people are, what they have done, or what they have looked at! – (Benford, et al., 1995; Bodker, 1991; Dourish & Bellotti, 1992; Gutwin & Greenberg, 1998). So make actions observable and reportable! Integrate the functionality to produce, gather and redistribute information from everyday activities with facilities to make the information publicly available 15

16 What If? Infuse the presence, co-presence, and social navigation cues into online learning environment (Sakai) Could provide users contextually relevant information about their own actions Alert users to the actions of others –the instructor (what did he or she do yesterday?) –fellow group members –me versus everyone else? Provide information visually and historically to influence future actions!

17 Context-aware Activity Notification System CANS is based on the importance of social context and user preferences An events data collection tool A notification “engine” A research tool -- it allows for exploration, analysis, and visualization of user actions in Sakai 17

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19 CANS * External Notifications

20 The “social” digest -- let’s you see YOUR participation versus high performers versus class average. CANS * Visualizations

21 Student Activity Over Time

22 Compare Student Activity By Context

23 Micro-analysis of Discusions Thread Sub-Thread

24 Why CANS? CANS is a system that can be used both by educational leaders and researchers to advance our practices and knowledge base for improving the social nature of online learning It is the missing link in Sakai between: –System Activity Usage –‘designing in’ sociability into the CLE

25 Current Work

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27 Future Work Join us in our efforts! – Source Code Prototypes Publications Discussions Testing in your Institutional Sakai

28 Thanks! Paul Turner