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Do Institutional Social Networks Work? Fostering a Sense of Community and Enhancing Learning

Do Institutional Social Networks Work? Fostering a Sense of Community and Enhancing Learning In this paper we report on the evaluation of an institutional social network (KINSHIP) whose aims were to foster an improved sense of community, enhance communication and serve as a space to model digital professionalism for students at King’s College London, UK. Our evaluation focused on a pilot where students’ needs with regard to the provision of a cross-institution platform and perceptions were examined. Empirical findings in this study project an advantage of KINSHIP compared to commercial social networks, as it is exclusively accessible by students and staff from the institution and mainly being used for academic purposes. Ongoing development and evolution of functionality in step with commercial platforms, improved accessibility via redeveloping the platform as a mobile application and addressing privacy concerns raised by the students about potential monitoring by staff or the institution would also be essential if such an institutional platform were to be a success. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png "Technology, Knowledge and Learning" Springer Journals

Do Institutional Social Networks Work? Fostering a Sense of Community and Enhancing Learning

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References (23)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © 2017 by The Author(s)
Subject
Education; Learning and Instruction; Mathematics Education; Educational Technology; Science Education; Creativity and Arts Education
ISSN
2211-1662
eISSN
2211-1670
DOI
10.1007/s10758-017-9300-9
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

In this paper we report on the evaluation of an institutional social network (KINSHIP) whose aims were to foster an improved sense of community, enhance communication and serve as a space to model digital professionalism for students at King’s College London, UK. Our evaluation focused on a pilot where students’ needs with regard to the provision of a cross-institution platform and perceptions were examined. Empirical findings in this study project an advantage of KINSHIP compared to commercial social networks, as it is exclusively accessible by students and staff from the institution and mainly being used for academic purposes. Ongoing development and evolution of functionality in step with commercial platforms, improved accessibility via redeveloping the platform as a mobile application and addressing privacy concerns raised by the students about potential monitoring by staff or the institution would also be essential if such an institutional platform were to be a success.

Journal

"Technology, Knowledge and Learning"Springer Journals

Published: Feb 9, 2017

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