Early e-learning traded technology for human interaction. Now, the personal element is being added back in. New social software tools borrowed from business and the younger generations combine tech and touch for the best of all possible worlds (including virtual ones).

"We Learning: Social Software and E-Learning, Part I," offered a definition for social software from futurist Stowe Boyd. This type of software, he writes in Darwin magazine, includes one or more of the following elements:

• support for conversational interaction between people or groups (for example, instant messaging and conversations in collaborative virtual spaces)
• support for social feedback (reputation and trust)
• support for social networks (many social applications create a digital layout of a person’s social network and facilitate adding new connections). 

In addition, the previous article examined such social software tools as instant messaging, collaborative workspaces, blogs, and expert management software, which are currently being used by businesses and slowly spreading to the education sphere. We also identified and projected some current and future uses for these just-around-the-corner tools in e-learning.

This article takes a look at software tools that are still in the future for e-learning adoption, such as stage two collaboration technology (known as open source), social networking software, proximity tools, and virtual worlds. But can these tools really spread to the education sphere? We point to some examples of this happening already and postulate some others. Indeed, although many of these tools are being developed and adopted by members of younger generations, a few good visionaries—of any age—are needed to find more innovative and effective uses for e-learning.

Open source tools

The first article looked at collaboration software such as Groove, noting that the use of these applications experienced significant growth in the travel-reluctant days following 9/11. Groove and similar tools enable people to conduct meetings and work together from disparate locations. Stage two collaboration tools, open source tools, take this idea further.

The genesis of the term open source is software whose code is made available to be appropriated and modified by anyone, promoting collaboration among programmers as they share ideas on how to improve the software. The idea of open source has spread to many other types of content and has come to signify a whole movement against restrictive copyrights and for free or low-cost sharing of information or resources, which often generates collaboration.

Ways in which open source is touching the education world include

• LogiCampus: An open-source course management application available free to colleges, universities, and schools. The company, Tap Internet, makes its money from selling services to support the application.
• MIT’s Open Knowledge Initiative (not to be confused with its OpenCourseWare project): An attempt to design a learning management system infrastructure that allows modules to be swapped within and among institutions and easily upgraded. Specifications are available for review on the Website and the IMS Global Learning Consortium is supporting the project.
• The Open Textbook Project: An initiative in-the-works to develop free online textbooks for people to download, modify, print, and distribute.
• Open-education.org: A portal that promotes open content in education and offers various resources.

A Wired magazine article points to the excesses of intellectual property law as the impetus for the growth in popularity of open source software and content. People fed up with the restraints of copyright law have turned to other methods, creating such tools as the copyleft for software and the Creative Commons  license for other types of content to promote sharing of intellectual property and collaboration.

Yale law professor Yochai Benkler, quoted in Wired, says that open source can “provide a potential source of knowledge materials from which we can build the culture and economy of the 21st century.” If those materials are free and widely distributed, the effect on e-learning worldwide could be huge, especially in poorer countries that can’t afford computer software, operating systems, textbooks, and so forth.

Wikis

This open-source tool deserves its own mention for its broad applicability. A wiki, a Webpage that is created and can be revised collaboratively, enables people to add, delete, or change information without knowing a programming language or going through a Webmaster. WikiWikiWeb, the first wiki site that created the concept, defines a wiki as a “composition system, a discussion medium, a repository, a mail system, a chat room, and a tool for collaboration.” Ross Mayfield of Socialtext, a company that adapts wikis for enterprise use, calls wikis “transparent collaboration.”

(There is an escape clause in the wiki design: One page always lists recent changes to the page and enables users to revert to previous versions. That, says WikiWikiWeb, allows people to correct mistakes, erase spam, and generally keep the content “meaningful.”)

Wikis make two assumptions. The first is that knowledge is transitory, not static. There's always some new piece of information to add, some old piece to delete or revise. The second assumption is that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Through each individual’s contribution, the resulting product is made better and better.

The Wikipedia, a free, multilingual online encyclopedia collaboratively created boasts more than 197655 articles in the English-language version alone. The site received more daily hits in summer 2003 than Britannica.com, according to one Web traffic monitor. Can wikis have such a strong impact in the e-learning sphere? Very likely. Technologies Internet et Education (TECFA), a research and teaching unit at the University of Geneva, lists the following uses for wikis in education:

• information sources
• student assignment hand-in (with peer ratings added)
• collaborative Web-writing (to create collective knowledge)
• problem solving
• project spaces
• discussion forums
• case libraries
• practice sites for collaboration skills.

The only e-learning supplier we’ve seen incorporating wikis so far is Learning Objects. Its product, Teams LX, integrates with the Blackboard Learning System and uses a WYSIWYG wiki interface to enable learners to collaborate on Webpages as problem-based learning exercises. The software includes management and data mining features for instructors so that the wiki also works as an assessment tool. (The instructor can identify which pages were worked on by which learners, view statistics on the number of lines each person modified, and even see the specific changes learners made.)

Wikis create democracy in education, says TECFA, because they can put instructors and learners at the same level. When the instructor steps away from supervising content, learners can contribute and self-monitor. That may create a sense of responsibility, not just for the wiki but for the learning process as a whole.

Social network analysis tools

As social software becomes the Next Big Thing, tools that enable people to visualize and manage their social networks gain popularity. So much so that Business 2.0 selected social networking applications, which it defines as software programs that analyze networks, contacts, and sometimes ideas, as its Technology of the Year for 2003.

Social network analysis isn’t new. Business 2.0 puts its genesis into popular consciousness at 1967, when the “six degrees of separation” concept came into being after an experiment by a Harvard psychologist. But in recent years, SNA has grown rapidly because of two factors: 1) increases in computing power and the wide availability of SNA tools on the Internet, (according to Business 2.0), and 2) the realization after 9/11 that “human networks could undermine anything,” (according to SNA expert Karen Stephenson).

The first factor is arguably the most important for the rise of social networking tools among the younger generations. We can’t say that these applications were first adopted by children, teenagers, and young adults, but it’s fair to judge that the tools have caught on among these groups much more rapidly and have reached further than within corporations, in the education sphere, or anywhere else. For example, one of the first and most popular SNA tools is Friendster, which has 2 million users and is growing at a rate of 20 percent a week, according to recent estimates by Inc.

Friendster enables users to write a profile and then link to the profiles of their friends, their friends’ friends, and so on, creating a network of people to send messages to or interact with in “real life.” Personal social networking applications building on the original Friendster model include the open source friend-of-a-friend (FOAF) project; Tribe, which mixes the social network concept with old-school classified ads; and Eurekster, a new search engine that ranks results according to their popularity among your friends or colleagues.

SNA tools targeted at business are starting to gain recognition also. Simple applications falling under the Friendster model include Ryze, LinkedIn, and Ecademy. These tools automate and shorten the in-person networking process and can help users find jobs, hire employees, and gather resources. But the truly sophisticated programs go further. For instance, such tools as Spoke and Visible Path automatically search emails, contact lists, and other sources on your computer to find out who you know. (That takes the burden of work off of you, but also raises privacy concerns.) Spoke boasts a 20 percent increase in the number of sales leads for its users, and Visible Path says it shortens sales cycles by 27 percent, according to Business 2.0.

Learning applications that incorporate Friendster-like features could look very similar to expert management software. But the most exciting use for social network mapping in learning comes in the third level of applications. Tools like Social Network Fragments, created at the MIT Media Lab, and InFlow, designed by software designer Valdis Krebs, create visual maps of how people in an organization interact and pass information and knowledge to each other. This is done either via surveys, in the case of InFlow, or electronic data mining, with Social Network Fragments. These programs also can show where information is getting bottlenecked.

Sophisticated social network analysis tools like this add technology to what SNA experts were doing long ago without software. And according to an article in Knowledge Management, they can

• improve the flow of knowledge and information
• acknowledge the thought leaders and key information brokers
• target opportunities where increased knowledge flow will have the most impact on your bottom line.

This isn’t e-learning per se, but it’s important knowledge work in a bigger-picture focus.

Proximity tools

While open source and social networking tools bring collaboration and social interaction that formerly occurred in a physical space to technology, proximity tools blend physical space with technology, creating a hybrid that hasn’t existed before. Here are some examples.  

Location-based messaging. Active Campus connects students and instructors in educational institutions via IM on their cell phones or PDAs, showing which users are closest. Wired News describes the software by saying that users can list information about their current activities and even leave “digital graffiti” that points out the pastries at a favorite coffee shop. Trepia is another proximity-based instant-messaging software that boasts its ability to provide “an instant community wherever you are.”

Smart mobs. (These have received a lot of press recently.) Defined by Howard Rheingold in his book Smart Mobs: the Next Social Revolution, these groups “emerge when communication and computing technologies amplify human talents for cooperation.” Using such instant-communication devices as cell phones and PDAs to stay in touch with each other, groups of people swarm to a location. The gathering can be for a specific end, like a World Trade Organization protest, or for no reason, such as a flash mob that gathers for fun.

Meetup. This Website enables people to find others with similar interests online, like many electronic discussion boards or newsgroups. But instead of offering features to help people interact electronically, the tool facilitates organizing meetings to connect in person the people who live nearby and have an interest in common.

tunA. Media Lab Europe is testing this wireless music application that enables users to find other music fans in their vicinity and tap into what they’re listening to. The software will run on cell phones, PDAs, and a proprietary media device. Users also can instant message with people and even bookmark them so that the software sounds an alert when the person is in range.

These examples may not seem relevant for e-learning because they’re not online. But they may spark some ideas for innovative blended learning that combines face-to-face with electronic support. For example,

• How about instant—flash—training made possible through communication technology? If you have a business problem and need answers or additional training, your mobile device could tell you who’s in the building and has knowledge on the subject (if integrated with expert management software), and you could convene briefly to discuss. For many, this might seem a bit farfetched for busy professionals. However, if your question or training need was on a top-priority deal, then the flash training idea starts to make more sense. Why not just meet in an online collaboration space or instant message? For all the same reasons in-person training is still used over e-learning. Sometimes there are just subjects or situations for which you need to talk face-to-face. 

• Software can bring together people who are working with similar topics or on similar types of deals. If a business doesn’t have expert management software, in a modified instant messaging or other application, a person could list certain keywords that represent their work focus. Because the software could list experts by topic and physical proximity, when there is a question that's better answered through face-to-face interaction (see above), the user can go directly to that person.  

• What if you could tune into what someone around you was learning on their PDA or desktop? This would have a practical application if the people near you aren't performing work similar to yours. Or the tool could be another replacement for—or additional feature in—expert management software. By finding out what people around were learning, you could divine who might be able to answer your question or help you learn a tricky concept or skill. Or, what if you could be notified when someone working on similar project was nearby? You could arrange for a lunch meeting or a golf date.

These are just a few scenarios to get you thinking. With these tools, as with all that we’ve discussed, consider these ideas a starting point and run with them!

Virtual worlds

There’s been a lot of talk in the e-learning sphere about simulations but little about true virtual worlds like those created by such gaming software companies as There and Second Life. These “metaverses” let users take on avatars, visual representations of themselves; use virtual currency; and participate in a wide range of activities, including simply schmoozing with their fellow users. Goals are individual—there’s no way to “win.”

Lest this seem like something only a 16-year old boy participates in, consider these facts: The software that lets users of the software There express emotions was designed by Jeffrey Ventrella, a pioneering artificial intelligence researcher. In addition to paying monthly fees for There, people are spending real money to buy the virtual currency. Hewlett-Packard will be including There software with many of its new computers.

A recent article, “The Social Context for the Employment of 3D Inhabited Virtual Worlds,” in the Journal of Digital Contents lists some examples, including Active World, Worlds Away, Blaxxun, and The Palace. The article surmises that millions of people could interact as avatars in a massive “labyrinth of interconnected virtual worlds.” This would form “a powerful new medium for collaboration, play, and learning.”

There already has been some attempt to use virtual worlds in education. TheU  virtual university was a project launched in 1998 that never got off the ground, according to the article, which postulates that this was due to a lack of educational content. Other projects have had some small successes but the movement has never really gained momentum. The article concludes that companies aren't as supportive of virtual communities as they were before the IT bubble burst. Well-known advice, the authors say, is “call what you do education and ask for a subsidy.” But they recommend that secondary schools are the best places to start.

Can corporations prove them wrong? A “starter kit” report, “Building Blocks for Virtual Worlds,” discusses design principles for educational virtual worlds. Advantages of the medium cited in the report include the ability for students to build modules themselves; capability for in-world mentoring; support for long-distance collaboration; use of voice chat, whiteboards, Webcams, and other media; and support for creative expression. Challenges include a learning curve (many instructors are still learning how to incorporate the Internet), lack of interoperability between proprietary platforms, need for regular tech support, and more.

Blaxxun’s Website indicates that they see e-learning as a growth market for their product, saying they consider e-learning “an important field of the future” for a time when “knowledge is…becoming obsolete fast and continual staff training is highly important.”  Will e-learning go in the direction of virtual worlds? It could be you who decides.

Issues to consider

When something is hyped as the Next Big Thing, concerns about it often are  glossed over. At the risk of doing that, we’d like to at least mention a few issues to consider about social software. Much more could be said on each of these topics—and has. (See “More Info.”)

Privacy. Business 2.0 calls privacy the “Achilles’ heel of social networking technology.” Anytime you put information about yourself on a public network for other people to view and possibly alter, you must balance privacy concerns with the value of sharing. No doubt there will be missteps. Perhaps privacy in social software will be a case of two steps forward and one step back until we end up with strategies that allow us to reap the benefits of these new social technologies while retaining our comfort level.

Trust. Because of the privacy concerns, trust is an important issue with social software. Lee Bryant, in his article “Smarter, Simpler Social,” calls trust “the currency of online social networks.” People won’t share information about themselves or knowledge they have without trusting the person they’ll be giving it to. Features in social software have evolved to address what Darwin magazine calls digital reputation, from the ranking of sellers on eBay to the “by invite only” nature of LinkedIn to the feature in Friendster that allows you to contact only people already connected to your network. This also will be a process of trial-and-error until winning solutions evolve.

“Walled castles.” As more social software applications are developed, users must decide which ones they want to use and how to integrate them. Most are, Lee Bryant says, “proprietary, inflexible, [and] idiosyncratic.” In Internet journal First Monday, the article “The Augmented Social Network” advocates interconnections between social software so that knowledge can be shared between applications. The goal, the authors say, isn't one gigantic social network but rather “a multitude of interlocking independent communities” that could share information.

We Learning, unsurprisingly, is ultimately about us

Social software tools are truly a revolution because of the way they combine technology with personal interaction. They’re not just new applications; they usher in a new paradigm.

As businesses and younger generations test out this technology, the education sector will follow—watching closely for successes and lessons learned. We learned with the first wave of e-learning that it’s important to carefully evaluate the benefits of new technologies for our own individual needs, to watch carefully for obstacles, but not to be too cautious. Sometimes you just have to get in and muck around to learn how new tools can work for you.

The key factor to success is not the tool, says new media technologies expert Stuart Henshell, “Ultimately it’s…about the culture and the people.” The biggest stumbling block, he says, “is our own perspectives.”