Engagement 2.

0: Using Social
Networking Web Apps to Increase
Interaction and Learning

Manuel A. Pérez-Quiñones Carlos Evia

Dept. of Computer Science Dept. of English
perez@cs.vt.edu carlos.evia@vt.edu
http://perez.cs.vt.edu http://faculty.english.vt.edu/evia/
 What is Web 2.0?
• Upgraded devices?
• New software?
• All about socialization/collaboration?
• A little bit of everything?

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 RIAs
• Rich Internet Applications are poster
children of Web 2.0
• Rich not because of money... well, not in all
cases
• Small ideas become big projects.

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Enabling RIAs

•Asynchronous
•JavaScript
•XML

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Can I request an http?
• Http request is a busy monkey
• Web 1.0: requesting web content =
refreshing the whole page
• Web 2.0: requesting web content =
refreshing specific sections.

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Ajaxy Examples

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 Socialization
• Blogs
• Microblogs
• Wikis
• User-generated content
• Mobile web
• Look ma! I am on the Internet(s)!
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 Working with Web 2.0 in
academic environments
• Agenda for meetings (Google Docs)
• Common calendar deadlines, conferences,
trips (shared calendar)
• Shared documents folder (Dropbox)
• Combining data sources (embedding, mash
ups).

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 Google docs
• Online documents, edited and
stored within a browser with
Word-like interface

• Share document with each

student/collaborator

• Use for agenda or common

notes, document writing, etc.

• Publication plans

• Forms (with data gathering)

• etc...
 Agenda for meetings
• Document between student
and advisor

• Shared agenda, updated

ahead of time (often by
student)

• I check agenda before meeting

and address issues

• Keeps record of previous

meetings

• Marissa Mayer's how to run a

meeting

• http://www.businessweek.com/
smallbiz/content/sep2006/
sb20060927_259688.htm
 D
em
Documents shared

o
• Publications plans
• Notes from NSF Proposal
• Forms/Spreadsheets for data gathering

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 Shared calendar
• Keep track of upcoming
deadlines for conferences,
fellowships, grant
opportunities, events, etc.

• Group responsibility to post/

manage

• Google Docs, iCal or even

Exchange

• Student benefit of seeing when

I am in the office
 D
Calendar

em
o
• Quick demo

• Google Calendar -
conference deadlines, CDC

• Personal Calendar

• Family, Work, Others

 Dropbox
• Store and share documents online
• Software syncs your computer files with
their online repository
• Can have multiple computers per account
• Share folders transparently
• Free software, limit of 2GB; paid option for
more storage

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 Share with many

D
em
o
• Thesis folder, shared with
student

• Book, shared with co-authors

• Folder shared with family

• Software folder, shared with

middle school teachers

• Grant folder, shared with coPIs

• Others for me, available on my

iPod touch, on web
 iPhone support
• Access whatever files you put
in dropbox from your iPhone/
iPod Touch

• Basic support for viewing

content (but not editing)

• Let’s see what’s inside Carlos’s

Dropbox app in the iPod Touch!
www.scribd.com

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 D
em
Embeddable...

o
• Because all content is on the web, it can be
embedded in other pages
• See http://happy.cs.vt.edu/fdi10/

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 D
em
Mash ups

o
• Combine content/data from different
sources
• “Traditional” music mash up
• World anthems
• TuneGlue
• Yahoo Vs. Google
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 Questions?

Manuel A. Pérez-Quiñones Carlos Evia

Dept. of Computer Science Dept. of English
perez@cs.vt.edu carlos.evia@vt.edu
http://perez.cs.vt.edu/ http://faculty.english.vt.edu/evia/
Twitter: mapq Twitter: carlosevia

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