A Social and Professional Network for Early Career Researchers in Education

Lead Research Organisation: University of Cambridge
Department Name: Centre for Applied Research in Ed Tech

Abstract

Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.

Publications

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Carmichael P (2010) Social software and academic practice: Postgraduate students as co-designers of Web 2.0 tools in The Internet and Higher Education

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Carmichael Professor Patrick (2011) Networking Research: New Directions in Educational Enquiry

 
Description A Social and Professional Network for Early Career Researchers in Education (SPNECRE) was a one year project to explore how online tools, notably those characterised as being "Web 2.0?, might support early career researchers in education and related social sciences.

It set out to offer early career researchers the opportunity to 'co-construct' their own sustainable network and online tools to enable and enhance it, based on existing collaboration environments and high quality research resources. The findings and strategies on this website are derived from the work of SPNECRE and subsequent activities within the TEL programme and other networks.

A series of participatory design activities and other data collection and synthesis informed the design and development of an extension to the existing Virtual Research Environment (VRE) established by the ESRC Teaching and Learning Research Programme. This used the emerging 'OpenSocial' standard for 'social software' applications to add person-to-person networking features, user-created groups, an academic profile tool and a series of 'gadgets' which can be deployed in the VRE or any other 'OpenSocial' environment.
Exploitation Route The findings of the project illuminated the kinds of academic interactions and collaborations that might be supported by web technologies, particularly in emerging and interdisciplinary fields.
Sectors Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education
URL http://tel.ioe.ac.uk/research-community/overview/spnecre/
 
Description Informing the design of the Sakai digital collaboration platform. Supporting PhD students and other early career researchers involved in TEL projects. Empirical basis for research monograph theorising academic networking (Carmichael, 2011)
First Year Of Impact 2008
Sector Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education
Impact Types Societal,Economic