Dr Euan Dempster, lecturer, school of computing and creative technologies, Abertay University
My research is on using computer games to assess students so that WebCT [an online proprietary virtual learning environment system used for e-learning] will not only be able to replace lectures but also examinations. As well as applications like Direct X and 3D programming, I use blogs and wikis to talk to other researchers.
I am programme tutor for an MSc course in computer games technology and we have a cohort of students in Canada who we teach via videoconferencing, email, WebCT, Skype and webcams. All our students can download lectures via WebCT and I also use MSN for group projects. There is a different kind of relationship now between students and lecturers - it's more personal, more like a mentor system. We meet students weekly to check up on them but, if, for instance, a student hasn't been around for a while, we also email their mentor. We know the students a lot better than we did. This helps with retention.
For administration, we have a feedback website where we note marks and progress, including comments on essays, to which only the mentor and the student have access. This helps to build up a good picture of how they are doing.
Sharon Norris, senior lecturer in creative non-fiction, University of Roehampton
I use a content management system, Firefox and other web technology to teach a course online. We also have our university intranet, Study Zone, where students can access material from the course.
We use a system called Actuate to log all the students' details, such as what credits they have completed. Omats [online module and timetable selection] allows students to register online for modules and generates a timetable for them. It gives them the times and locations for lectures and helps them to choose their seminar group.
For research, we have a system called Bob [boxes of broadcast]. It's Roehampton's own version of the iPlayer. We are also experimenting with Second Life. Three of my colleagues have their own avatars and give virtual seminars. We have just put in a joint bid for funding to develop a creative writing home space on Second Life. If it goes ahead we'll have a bench next to the Roehampton lake where staff and students can sit and ponder the world to the accompaniment of singing ducks.
Kathleen Richardson, social anthropologist, University of Cambridge
I use Facebook for contacting students. I have recently started using its closed group facility for a science and society course I teach. I can upload videos and lectures by various people we will be examining on the course. Students can add to the site themselves by finding interesting clips and articles and I can let them know about relevant events.
I think all academics and graduate students should have a web page so people can engage with their work. For research purposes the web is always my first port of call. Most of it is rubbish, but among the irrelevance will be one or two things that open doors for me. In the US, all graduate students in computer science publish papers and theses online. My research area tends to be fairly inter-disciplinary, crossing over, for instance, between social anthropology and computer science, so access to new research is vital. Peer review journals can be a bit caught up in disciplinary boundaries.
Tara Brabazon, professor of media studies, University of Brighton
There are three reasons we use web 2.0 such as iTunes U and YouTube in our curriculum. First, to teach these platforms as part of media education and media history so that students can understand the debates around user-generated content, blogging or web 2.0. Second, to stretch and extend the discussions and platforms that students experience through their education. Third, to teach students how to move between platforms and to interpret information in a different way. Scholarly monographs are not enough for contemporary students.
For my research, digitisation opens up an array of source material that we would never normally see or have the capacity to access and at a greater rate and range than was possible in the past. The key challenge though - and an important one - is to be conscious of the material that has not been digitised.
From my perspective, administration needs to change much more in light of web 2.0 than it has. Real time, real space meetings are frequently not needed at all. It is interesting that managers have forced through changes to teaching and research, but only tinkered with the changes to administration. Emailing agendas and minutes as attachments is not the best use of digitised platforms!
