The SOCL Project: Social networking for Online Community-based Learning
From SOCLProject
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
The goal of the '''SOCL Project''' is to take advantage of US federal funding to create an open source, online social networking platform customized to the needs of faculty and students. Firmly grounded in psychological and educational theory, this platform will increase student learning while establishing a sense of support and community for student participants, ultimately improving student persistence, which should lead to improve student retention. | The goal of the '''SOCL Project''' is to take advantage of US federal funding to create an open source, online social networking platform customized to the needs of faculty and students. Firmly grounded in psychological and educational theory, this platform will increase student learning while establishing a sense of support and community for student participants, ultimately improving student persistence, which should lead to improve student retention. | ||
| - | |||
| - | |||
'''SOCL''' incorporates community-building elements, including an integrated mentoring program, with social gaming to increase student motivation and success. A pilot study on 600 students was conducted during the Summer 2010 semester and was a great success. See the [[Project History]] for the rationale for this project and the [[Pilot Data from socialPsych|Pilot Data]] to learn more. | '''SOCL''' incorporates community-building elements, including an integrated mentoring program, with social gaming to increase student motivation and success. A pilot study on 600 students was conducted during the Summer 2010 semester and was a great success. See the [[Project History]] for the rationale for this project and the [[Pilot Data from socialPsych|Pilot Data]] to learn more. | ||
Latest revision as of 18:38, 4 July 2011
The goal of the SOCL Project is to take advantage of US federal funding to create an open source, online social networking platform customized to the needs of faculty and students. Firmly grounded in psychological and educational theory, this platform will increase student learning while establishing a sense of support and community for student participants, ultimately improving student persistence, which should lead to improve student retention.
SOCL incorporates community-building elements, including an integrated mentoring program, with social gaming to increase student motivation and success. A pilot study on 600 students was conducted during the Summer 2010 semester and was a great success. See the Project History for the rationale for this project and the Pilot Data to learn more.
The Principle Investigator of the SOCL Project is Richard N. Landers (PI of TNTLab, part of Old Dominion University[1]).
Previous Coverage
| An ODU press release: | http://www.odu.edu/ao/news/index.php?todo=details&id=25214 |
| A ProfHacker article by Jason Jones in the Chronicle of Higher Education: | http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/gamifying-homewor/28407 |
| The PI's original blog announcement: | http://neoacademic.com/2010/10/14/call-for-participants-in-nsf-proposal-to-integrate-social-media-in-undergrad-education/ |
| The PI's twitter account: | http://twitter.com/rnlanders |
Project Details
You can learn more about this project by examining each of the following pages:
| Project History | Pilot Data from socialPsych |
| Proposed Features of SOCL | Certification System |
| Mentoring System | Complete Timeline |
| Technical Details | Partnering Institutions |
| How to Join the SOCL Project |
Project Staff
 | Primary Investigator Richard N. Landers, Ph.D. Psychology Old Dominion University |  | Senior Personnel (HCI Study Coordinator) Jim Bliss, Ph.D. Psychology Old Dominion University |
 | Co-PI Debbie Major, Ph.D. Psychology Old Dominion University |  | Consultant (Independent Program Evaluator) Tom Brothen, Ph.D. Psychology University of Minnesota-Twin Cities |
 | Co-PI Gianluca De Leo, Ph.D. Medical Laboratory and Radiation Sciences Old Dominion University | ||
 | Co-PI Amy Adcock, Ph.D. STEM Education and Professional Studies Old Dominion University |