Use of Social Networking Media as a pedagogical Tool for Undergraduate Research

1. Use of Social Networking Media as a pedagogical Tool for Undergraduate Research Adele Creer Isle of Man College of Further and Higher education

2. Assessment for Learning In Research Methods • To be addressed: • New ways of assessing: New media opportunities • Maintaining systematic and critical ground rules necessary for academic rigour • To be presented: • A range of examples from classroom practice, use of technology for collaboration and assessment, practices of students using computers in a multimodal environment

3. Pilot research • Setting: Teachingresearch methods module to Level 4 Undergraduates. [Degree and Higher National students] • Rationale: Experimentation with different delivery, collaboration and assessment methods • Questions: • How can Web 2.0 and emerging technologies used in everyday literacy practices be acknowledged and built on in the Higher Education Curriculum? • Does the employment of new and emerging technologies impact in a positive way?

4. As a pilot study, I have experimented with different delivery, collaborative and assessment methods when delivering research skills to Level 4 students. Through observations, I noticed that academic research has been thought to be almost dry and archaic to the young and uninitiated. So I employed different methods of delivery and assessment using social media to motivate and engage students. The results of this pilot were such that it has presented an opportunity for future research.

5. Web 2.0 practices and Emerging Technologies • Twitter • Blogs • Wikis • Videocast • Web 2.0 practices permit a number of people to read, write and alter the content both at the same time and separately over time. • Web space enables an environment for collaboration with an audience

6. How and what to assess • Traditional Assessment methods do not account for the many different modes • Not recognising the full nature of multimodal communication used in social media may impact on assessment techniques • Communication can be assessed through different modes (Jewitt, 2009) • What is a mode? • A mode can be defined as a socially shaped semiotic resource used for making meaning for example image, writing, speech, layout, colour and space (Kress, 2010).

7. Example of Practice: Delivery

8. examples of practice: Student research

9. example of practice: assessment • Video cast

10. Multimodal Framework • Creation of Multimodal Transcripts ( Baldry and Thibault (2006): Multimodal Analysis: • Provides tools for analysing and describing the resources used by students. Multimodal frameworks can add justification to using new media opportunities for assessment

11. The delivery and output of the undergraduate research module have been analysed using a multimodal framework (Baldry and Thibault, 2006; Jewitt, 2009) and illustrates how communication can be made and assessed through different modes (Jewitt, 2009). Whilst language is a prominent mode in communication it is not the only mode. Failure to recognise the full nature of multimodal communication used in social media may impact on assessment techniques

12. Multimodal Transcript

13. References • Baldry, A. & Thibault, P. J., 2006. Multimodal Transcription and Text Analysis. London: Equinox Publishing Ltd. • Bezemer, J. & Jewitt, C., 2010. Multimodal Analysis: Key issues.. In: L. Litosseliti, ed. Research Methods in Linguistics. London: Continuum • Buechler, S. (2010) Using Web 2.0 to collaborate, Business Communication Quarterly available from [http://ehis.ebscohost.com.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=79feb13d-034a-4917-b18c-cc08447d07fc%40sessionmgr110&vid=3&hid=116] • Flewitt, R., Hampel, R., Hauck, M. & Lancaster, L., 2009. What are multimodal data and transcription?. In: C. Jewitt, ed. The Routledge Handbook of Multimodality. Oxon: Routledge • Gillen, J. & Merchant, G., 2012. ‘Contact Calls: Twitter as a dialogic social and linguistic practice’, Language Sciences 2012. [Online] Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j,langsci.2012.04.015[Accessed 20 10 2012 • Goodfellow, R. & Lea, M. R., 2007. Challenging e-learning in the university: A literacies perspective. Maidenhead: Open University Press. • Jewitt, C., 2009. The Routledge Handbook of Multimodal Analysis,. Routledge: Oxon • JISC (2010) Effective assessment in a digital age: A guide to technology enhanced assessment and feedback [Online] available from www.jisc.ac.uk [Accessed 17 04 2012] • Kress, G., 2010. Multimodality: a social semiotic approach to contemporary communication. London: Routledge. • Mills, K. A., 2010. Shrek Meets Vygotsky: Rethinking Adolescents’ Multimodal Literacy Practices in Schools, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy Vol.54 No.1. [Online] Available at: http://eprints.qut.edu.au/32981/1/c32981.pdf[Accessed 17 04 2012] • Minocha, S. & Petre, M., 2012. Handbook of social media for researchers and supervisors: Digital technologies for research dialogues, Milton Keynes: The Open University. • Takayoshi, P and Selfe, C. (2007) Thinking about Multimodality [Online] available from http://dmp.osu.edu/dmac/supmaterials/Takayoshi&Selfe.pdf[Accessed 17 04 2012]