Social E-SPACES: socio-collaborative spaces within Virtual Worlds

1. Social E-SPACES: socio-collaborative spaces within Virtual Worlds Vanessa Camilleri, Matthew Montebello University of Malta

2. Overview Concept Problem Definition Proposed Solutions Conclusion

3. Origin What binds Social Networking tools with Education ? How true is it that the use of social and collaborative tool makes learning more effective?

4. a few thoughts on the Concept

5. The learning paradigm shift

6. Problem Definition Collaborative learning spaces; tie with e-learning; what is in VWs? how does collaboration build towards the social capital? a measure of Assessment

7. Proposed Solutions Design of Virtual spaces; persistent communication within the virtual sphere; use of active learning in a social perspective; provision of agents to enhance collaborative processes.

8. Proposed Solutions: the validation framework Measuring the effectiveness of social spaces in learning; targets human behaviour and interaction processes; studies attitudes of users; investigates connecting relationships.

9. Case Study pilot at University of Malta, Faculty of Education; targets Pre-service teachers taking courses in the use of technology in the classroom; course facilitates use of a number of resources; very case specific.

10. Conclusion Increased social dimension of e-Learning; starting ground are VWs; How can effectiveness of this social collaboration be evaluated and validated? A number of challenges and limitations.

11. Thank you