Barrass, S. & Fitzgerald, R. (2008). Social Software: Piloting MyToons As A Digital Learning Community For Teaching New Media. In J. Luca & E. Weippl (Eds.), Proceedings of World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications 2008 (pp. 4010-4019). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.
Retrieved from http://www.editlib.org/p/28943.
World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications (EDMEDIA) 2008
Vienna, Austria
June 30, 2008
ISBN 1-880094-65-7
Joseph Luca & Edgar R. Weippl
AACE
More Information on EDMEDIA
This paper describes a pilot project using the MyToons.com social animation site to teach New Media at the University of Canberra in 2007. MyToons, like MySpace and other popular social software sites, has features that focus on the construction of social identity and peer networking. The location of MyToons in the public space beyond the classroom embeds the students in an authentic community of practice, with exemplars, technical support, and opportunities to network and showcase their creativity and productions. In this study we reflect on the process of integrating MyToons into the teaching syllabus, and the results from an evaluative survey of the students. This analysis confirms the importance of usability and sociability for the creation of an online community of practice for peer learning.