This paper presents extensions that have been programmed by the Department Social Learning (DSL) at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) for a blogosphere used at TU Graz called TU Graz LearnLand (TUGLL) on base of the open source software ELGG. These extensions are useful upgrades to the system following the demands of the pedagogical strategy of the TU Graz. A description of the extensions and didactical considerations are discussed.
Wikipedia [Wikipedia06] is a well known and very successful online-encyclopaedia. It is free, available in different languages and everybody is permitted to contribute. This result in a worldwide collaboration aiming at one target: Anybody can provide information for everybody. However, one interesting question would be whether this successful principle can be transferred to learning communities in higher education and how it could be achieved. This paper presents some experiences gained during the use of a Wiki-System during lectures on structural concrete at both the University of Applied Sciences FH Joanneum and Graz University of Technology. Our approach included a technical and didactical concept as well as accepted investigation methods. Presenting a full analysis of the implementation, this paper shows its general potential, the weakness of the principle and further future approaches.
Higher education is supposed to prepare its graduates to enter the workplace and apply and adapt their knowledge to the specific requirements of the setting. However, by adhering to traditional instructional models and to a view of learning that is very different from that required within the workplace, higher education fails to adequately prepare students to deal with rapid changes and emergent demands that require individuals to learn and adapt in situ and on the job. The advent of hybrid learning has allowed one mechanism for changing existing practices. Although hybrid environments can offer additional support for traditional instructional and learning methods, we think its potential lies in supporting new forms of learning and facilitation—specifically those related to self-organized learning and critical reflection—by using new types of technologies and tools. We would like to address the use of a specific kind of technology—personal Webpublishing systems (PWS)—to support this type of learning. In this paper, we present the reasoning behind the use of such technologies and describe the organization of a learning environment and identify the roles and structure of the face-to-face component and the online toolkits for supporting self-organized learning. We will also describe the new roles that facilitators and learners must adopt within these hybrid environments.