» NERCOMP: notes from MIT speaker
Notes from the panel from MIT speaker. Some of the projects they are considering as a campus-only version of Twitter in addition to increasing education. Example: girl putting her away message to “I’m in the shower.”
- MIT pre-frosh—how to communicate electronically
- Freshmen seminar (1 faculty to 18-20 incoming students)
- Experiment with a group of advisees asked to blog their transition to college. Personal reflection wasn’t the focus. First attempt containd mainly social engagement. Advisor developed blogging assignments—“What as it in the class this week that you didn’t understand?” Student could be referred to the right person, or students could chime in and offer advice. Semester-long project. Also used BaseCamp and LifePacker to project manage goals for the semester. Private version of blog utilized for things students didn’t want parents and outside world to see.
- Some classes require blog use.
- Wikis have been much more popular than blogs. 1200 groups on campus using wikis. Used for students, administration, and faculty
- faculty developing a new course seeking feedback
- needs faculty guidance (too much ‘what I had for dinner’ posts if left unguided)
- Begining experiments with Twitter
- Wikis beyond pilot stage (really took off) and now working with the ITS department to provide support
- Debate now on build it or use other sites – Flickr for images, etc. In-house systems preferred (story of a co-worker’s photo ending up on someone else’s site claiming “This is my sister.”