Informal learning in blended and online settings plays an increasingly important role in the continuous professional development of individuals. Yet, how do individuals engage into these types of activities? We argue that social capital theory can provide valuable insights into how people behave and decide to take part in (in)formal learning.…

The advent of internet has brought in changes to many existing stable business models. With the technological shift, the concept of community writing has undergone several changes. Using a sample of 181 participants, it was found that online community, of late, has been greatly impacted by technology. Community writing involves amalgamation of…

Over the years, online educators have learned a great deal about what works and does not work when designing and facilitating online courses. During the past few years, we have used crowdsourcing to invite experienced online educators to share their recommendations for teaching online. In this article, we describe our use of crowdsourcing to…

In this study, I explore "blogging", the use of a regularly updated website or web page, authored and curated by an individual or small group, written in a conversational style, as a form of public pedagogy. I analyse blogs as pre-figurative spaces where people go to learn with/in a public sphere, through collaboration with interested…

The openness of open-knowledge communities (OKCs) leads to concerns about the knowledge quality and reliability of such communities. This confidence crisis has become a major factor limiting the healthy development of OKCs. Earlier studies on trust evaluation for Wikipedia considered disadvantages such as inadequate influencing factors and…

The adoption of social media in e-learning signals the end of distance education as we know it in higher education. However, it appears to have very little impact on the way in which open and distance learning (ODL) institutions are functioning. Earlier research suggests that a significant part of the explanation for the slow uptake of social…

The success of Wikipedia demonstrates that open collaboration can be an effective model for organizing geographically-distributed volunteers to perform complex, sustained work at a massive scale. However, Wikipedia's history also demonstrates some of the challenges that large, long-term open collaborations face: the core community of Wikipedia…

The Guide to Blended Learning is an introduction using technology and distance education teaching strategies with traditional, face-to-face classroom activities. This Guide has been designed to assist teachers adopt blended learning strategies through a step-by-step approach taking constructivist and design-based approach and reflecting on…

This study explores the writing of Wikipedia articles as a form of authentic writing for learners of English in Hong Kong. Adopting "Second Language Socialization and Language Learning & Identity" approaches to language learning inquiry, it responds to an identified shortage of research on computer-mediated language socialization.…

When major news breaks in our hyper-connected society, we increasingly turn to an encyclopedia for the latest information. Wikipedia's coverage of breaking news events attracts unique levels of attention; the articles with the most page views, edits, and contributors in any given month since 2003 are related to current events. Extant…

Creativity can be applied to every domain of knowledge and must be seen as an important competence. Supporting social creativity across different domains and disciplines in learning communities is an important part of collaborative process in both university education and in the context of large-scale international projects. In this paper, we…

This paper presents language learners as social networkers and describes and discusses the types of users that can be identified by analysing the content created by them using a situated mobile language learning app, LingoBee, based on the idea of crowd sourcing. Borrowing ideas from other studies conducted on social network users, we can identify…

This paper reports on a design study conducted within the Egyptian context of pre-service EFL teacher education, which implemented a Community of Practice (CoP) design facilitated by Facebook, to integrate some new forms of online writing. Based on some preliminary empirical results triangulated with literature review, a preliminary design…

Web 2.0 technologies are becoming popular in teaching and learning environments. Among them several online collaborative writing tools, like wikis and blogs, have been integrated into educational settings. Research has been carried out on a wide range of subjects related to wikis, while other, comparable tools like Google Docs and EtherPad remain…

Wiki has been lauded as a tool that enhances collaborative writing in educational settings and moves learners toward a state of communal constructivism (Holmes, Tangney, FitzGibbon, Savage, & Mehan., 2001). Many pedagogical claims exist regarding the benefits of using wiki. However, these claims have rarely been challenged. This study used a…