http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/meetings/bath-2007-10/
Introduction To Web 2.0
For Student Support Services
Brian Kelly,
UKOLN,
University of Bath
Bath
Acceptable Use Policy
Recording/broadcasting of this talk,
taking photographs, discussing the
content using email, instant messaging,
blogs, SMS, etc. is permitted providing
distractions to others is minimised.
Email
B.Kelly@ukoln.ac.uk
Resources bookmarked using ‘bath-2007-10' tag
UKOLN is supported by:
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Introduction
About Me
Brian Kelly:
• UK Web Focus: a national Web advisory
post
• Based at UKOLN, a national centre of
expertise in digital information management
• Located at the University of Bath
• Funded by JISC and the MLA
• Involved in Web since Jan 1993
• Currently advising on best practices for
Web 2.0
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Introduction
About You (1)
What is your interest in Web 2.0?
Why are you here?
Aims of this talk
This talk aims to provide:
• A better understanding of ‘Web 2.0’
• An awareness of how students may use Web 2.0
tools in an informal context
• An understanding of possible dangers, both for
students and the institution
• An opportunity to discuss how we should address
the opportunities and challenges (and inevitabilities!)
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Introduction
About You (2)
4
How many of you:
• Have heard of Web 2.0?
• Have read content in a blog or wiki?
• Use Facebook?
• Have used MSN Messenger, Skype, …?
• Use photo sharing sites (e.g. Flickr)?
• Have viewed video clips on YouTube?
Do you:
• Use the tools for work?
• Use the tools for social purposes (e.g.
with your children)?
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Introduction
Contents
Web 2.0 – What Is It? (Talking …)
• Blogs
 Wikis
• Mashups
 Comms tools
• Social networks
• …
Deployment Strategies (… doing)
• User focus
• Information literacy; staff development
• Risk assessment
• Safe experimentation
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Let’s Do It Now!
http://www.gabbly.com/www.bath.ac.uk/
Introduction
Let’s not just talk about Web
2.0 – let’s use it now (assuming
WiFi network available!):
Let’s Talk
• Go to
http://www.gabbly.com/ and
in box enter
www.bath.ac.uk/
Let’s Share Resources
• Go to <http://del.icio.us/
lisbk/bath-2007-10>
to access resources
2 Mar 2007
Discussion
Lecture theatres with WiFi/pervasive networking  students with
laptops will expect to use them  we need experience to
expertise in &
digital
information
management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
establishA centre
best ofpractices
manage
problems
6
Web 2.0
Web 2.0
Web 2.0
What Is Web 2.0?
Marketing term (derived from observing 'patterns') rather
than technical standards - “an attitude not a technology”
Characteristics Of Web 2.0
• Network as platform
• Easy-to-use (Ajax)
• Always beta
• Remix and mash-ups
 Syndication (RSS)
• Architecture of participation
 Blogs & Wikis
 Social networking
 Social tagging
(folksonomies)
Web2MemeMap, Tim O’Reilly,
• Trust and openness
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7
2005
(or see Wikipedia
)
Web 2.0
Key Characteristics
Blogs
http://people.bath.ac.uk/tn205/blog.html
The term ‘blog’ is well-known,
but perhaps there’s a lack of
awareness of the potential of
blogs. There’s a need to:
• Explore how blogs can
support business functions
(support users, staff &
organisation)
There’s also a need for
information professionals to:
• Understand blogging &
related technologies (e.g.
RSS, Technorati)
• Be able to find resources in
the 'Blogosphere'
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Openness
Syndication
Collaboration
www.ukoln.ac.uk
Web 2.0
Blogs – Reading (RSS)
http://www.bloglines.com/myblogs
BlogBridge
Bloglines
––
aa
Web-based
desktop blog
blogreader.
reader.You
Youare
are
informed of changes since you last viewed the
page.
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Openness
Syndication
Collaboration
How do you keep
informed of new
developments?
• You can use a blog
reader
• This alerts you to
changes to key blogs
• Provides a focus on
the content, and
avoid distractions of
ads, etc.
• Part of information
literacy, to ensure
users can process
information more
effectively
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Blogs – Engaging With Users
http://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/
2007/01/25/experiments-with-meebo/
The ukwebfocus.wordpress.
com blog provides:
• Comments option for all
postings
• A realtime chat facility
Benefits:
• Feedback on my thoughts
and ideas
• Evaluation
•…
Blended blogging
See (and discuss) UK Web
Focus blog post 25 Jan 2007
Blogs aren’t just one-way publishing, but an implementation of
Tim Berners-Lee’s
of a collaborative
Web www.ukoln.ac.uk
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Institutional Student Blogging
http://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/
University of Warwick
were first UK university to
provide (and actively
promote) blogging service
for its students
Liberal policy toward
content (quick response to
user concerns)
Post by Taiwanese PhD student in response to email on
high unemployment
rate for PhDs in Taiwan
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Web 2.0
Social Networking Software (1)
But what if:
• Students aren’t interested in
university-provided blogging
services?
• Students use commercial
social networking services
such as Facebook?
Should we:
• Make use of these
environments (save money by
not reinventing wheels)
• Inform students on integration
of our information?
18 Feb 2007
• Ignore?
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Social Networking Software (2)
http://kera.name/articles/2007/01/
http://kera.name/articles/2006/12/uni404-university-of-nottingham-not-found/
tech-team-storms-student-underground/
What are they saying about
your institution in social
networking services, on blogs,
…?
Do you (and your departments)
provide business intelligence
services to find out what your
users are saying about you?
Do you have policies on
rebuttal?
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www.ukoln.ac.uk
Web 2.0
Openness
Syndication
Collaboration
Wikis
http://www.thestudentwiki.org/
Wiki – a collaborative
Web-based authoring
tool
Leeds Metropolitan
University launched a
student wiki in Feb 2007
- and had a high profile
launch
Note a couple of Universities have had similar
high-profile
launches of Web 2.0 services
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www.ukoln.ac.uk
Web 2.0
Sharing - Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/
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Openness
Network effect
Syndication
Collaboration
Web 2.0 includes
community-building
You can help support
your communitybuilding by making it
easy to share photos at
events
Flickr is popular in
professional circles –
but students probably
use another service
(Facebook?)
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Sharing – Slides
http://www.slideshare.net/lisbk/
Slideshare.net:
• Repository for
PowerPoint slides
• Find (and reuse)
slideshows of interest (I
like your Web 2.0
slideshow – so maybe
I’ll like yours, or others
that you like)
• Add comments,
questions, etc.
• Use as planning,
feedback, etc.
• Can assign Creative
Lecturers could use – but note
sustainability
issue in digital information management Commons rights
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Web 2.0
Google Maps Mashups
http://northumbria.ac.uk/browse/radius5/
http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/
workshops/webmaster-2006/maps/
Shouldn’t we have one of pubs in Bath?
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Openness
Mashup
APIs
Google Map
‘mashup’ used for
IWMW 2006 event
More sophisticated
mapping applications
are being developed,
such as Radius 5 at
Northumbria
Univ.
www.ukoln.ac.uk
Using Web 2.0
Web 2.0
Communications
We said:
• Content is king!
But maybe:
• Communications is king!
Communications tool include:
• Chat tools (MSN
Messenger)
• Audio & video (including
MSN Messenger, Skype, …)
• MS text messaging
Also note Web-based video chat services such as
TokBox
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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Integration of Services
Web 2.0 applications
can be used in isolation
They can also be
integration into other
services (e.g. widgets
in blogs and Web sites)
Facebook is (currently)
the leading platform for
integrating many Web
2.0 tools
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www.ukoln.ac.uk
The Facebook Platform
The Facebook platform provides
access to (a) Skype (b) Twitter
micro-blogging service (c) miniA centre of expertise in digital information management
questions
20
www.ukoln.ac.uk
Facebook
What is Facebook?
Let’s now look at one very popular
Web 2.0 application – the
Facebook social networking
service
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Facebook:
• A social networking
Web site
• Had the largest
number of registered
users among
college-focused sites
with over 30 million
members worldwide
• Ranked between top
10–20 Web sites
• Seventh most visited
site in the US
From
Wikipedia
www.ukoln.ac.uk
Your Profile Page
Here’s an example of a
profile page:
• Your details
• Access to default
applications
• Access to applications
your added
Facebook could be used
as a personalised portal
to various applications
And here’s how others
may see your profile
Boring isn’t it!
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www.ukoln.ac.uk
It’s a Social Network (1)
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The strength of Facebook
is when it is used as a
social network. Here
people can see:
• My updates to my
Facebook account
• Applications I’ve
installed
• Groups I’ve joined
• Photos & videos I’ve
uploaded
• Blogs posts I’ve written
• Messages I’ve sent &
received
www.ukoln.ac.uk
•…
It’s a Social Network (2)
Here’s the page of a
former colleague (now
at Eduserv). This is
valuable to me:
• Spot friends in
common
• Keep informed of
Andy’s professional
interests (of interest
to me)
• Keep informed of
Andy’s discussions
with others
•…
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www.ukoln.ac.uk
Student Use (1)
Example of groups
subscribed by a
student:
• Student society
Facebook seems to be very popular for use with
Student union societies (nb is this a threat to similar
services
provided
on
Student Union Web site?)
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25
Student Use (1)
Example of groups
subscribed by a
student:
• Student society
Notice how the issue of local versus global Facebook
groups is being discussed. Would a local-only group act
as a barrier
to student
alumni?
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26
Student Use (2)
Example of groups
subscribed by a
student:
• Student society
• Social
Facebook is popular for various social activities –
especially
keeping
in touch over summerwww.ukoln.ac.uk
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information
management
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Student Use (2)
Example of groups
subscribed by a
student:
• Student society
• Social
Note that Facebook provides access to videos and photos
– a way
of providing
seamless access or a bandwidth
hog?
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The Opportunities
Facebook provides great opportunities for colleges and
universities:
• It’s popular
• It’s easy-to-use
• No need for in-house development or to
purchase software
• Useful for staff and post-graduate students too
• We can easily integrate our resources into
Facebook (e.g. RSS feeds, blogs, etc.)
• It can provide alternative access to our services
cf. MyNewport portal which took a day to port to
Facebook
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www.ukoln.ac.uk
What Others Are Doing
MyNewport:
• VLE/portal used by staff &
students (course material,
news, blogs, forums, etc.)
• Facebook app allows
students to access to
MyLearning resources
• Allows students to create
their own personal
learning environment in a
platform other than the
University’s
Facebook targeted as it’s the
fastest growing community
If the users like idea but
want to work in another
environment then that is fine
See info on UK Web Focus blog
& Michael Webb’s (IT Services
directorA centre
at Newport
blog
of expertise inCollege)
digital information
management
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www.ukoln.ac.uk
What’s The Downside?
Various concerns have been expressed about:
• Privacy (is Facebook a private or public space?)
• Is Facebook a space for students or for all?
• Is Facebook a closed environment?
• …
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The Challenges – The User
Should people be concerned about the
privacy implications of Facebook?
Note that
a Web
Here’s
an Newbridge
example ofPrimacy
a group has
set up
on
site University
which hasof
noBath
photos
of children – but
the
network
they upload their own photos to Facebook
himinformation
strangly sexy....is
that wrong!?”
A“Definatly
centre of Bullard....found
expertise in digital
management
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www.ukoln.ac.uk
Challenges: The Institution (1)
Facebook can provide
challenges for the
institution
IT Service departments,
for example, are always
liable to face criticism
These days as well as
User Group meetings
and online forums,
users can create their
own discussion groups
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Challenges: The Institution (2)
How should the
departments respond?
• Read the posts to
gain feedback on
areas in which
improvements may
be needed?
• Join in the
discussions
• Ban such
discussions / people
who make
inappropriate
comments?
• Ignore the groups
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Challenges: The Institution (3)
Note though:
• Departments may
find support
being provided
on the discussion
groups
• There will always
be criticism
Do our (fee-paying) students have a right to watch “crap on YouTube”
What if this slows network down? How does the university engage in
discussions
this topic
withinformation
the students?
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Other Issues
There are also challenges for individuals
A friend has
joined a group
which advocates
violence!
What if this
group I’ve joined
isn’t about nos.
of UK Facebook
users, but a BNP
support group?
Note that Facebook isn’t a local University service, so it can’t easily be
banned.A centre
Is this
were we
need
education
(for staff as well as students)?
of expertise
in digital
information
management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
36
You Can Manage Your Privacy
You have control
over the
information others
can see about you
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www.ukoln.ac.uk
You Can Manage Your Privacy
You have control
over the
information others
can see about you
But how many
users change the
default settings?
38
And what about what Facebook can do with your
information? Note that Wikipedia provides useful
A information
centre of expertise inon
digital
information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
Facebook’s
terms and conditions
Looking Back
What if Facebook had been around in
the 1970s and 1980s?
Photos of Gordon Brown, Tony Blair &
David Cameron from their student (and
schoolboy) days are easily found
But what if they had been blogging
about their exploits & views?
What will the Daily Mail
be publishing in
30 years time?
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Responding To The Challenges
BBC Video clip
University moves to hush
Facebook criticism
The administration was provoked
by a Facebook group called
"James Knowles is a Twat".
Register,
22 information
Mar 2007management
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How to respond to the
challenges?
• Ban Facebook to
protect the
institution / the users
• Disciplinary
measures
• Take students to
court
• Guidelines (how to
configure settings)
• Education
• Information literacy
• ..
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What Do My Friends Think?
A question I asked on Facebook: Facebook: (a)
institutions need to engage with it as our students like it
or (b) its their social space; let's leave it alone?
Responses from my Facebook
friends, 1 Aug 2007
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www.ukoln.ac.uk
Some Thoughts
Facebook:
• We can’t ignore it!
So should we:
• Leave it for students to use as they see fit?
• Allow departments to use as they see fit?
• Make formal use of it?
In all scenarios how should we:
• Address privacy concerns for students (and staff)?
• Address the issue of whether the university should
respond to criticisms?
• Protect the integrity of the institution?
• Provide advice, training, etc. on best practices?
• …
Many of these issues will be addressed at a one-day workshop on
“Exploiting The Potential Of Blogs and Social Networks” to be held in
A centre of expertise in digital information management
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42 Birmingham on 26 November 2007.
Conclusions
To conclude:
• Web 2.0 is here and many people are using it
• We can’t stop students using many of these
services
• Should we stop them?
• How do we address the balance between being
user-focussed & educating digital citizens for the
real world and providing managed IT
environments?
• We have a need for an information literacy
strategy
Many of these issues will be addressed at a one-day workshop on
“Exploiting The Potential Of Blogs and Social Networks” to be held in
Birmingham
26 November
2007. management
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in digital information
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Questions
Any questions?
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