Document Type

Dissertation

Rights

This item is available under a Creative Commons License for non-commercial use only

Publication Details

Dissertation submitted for the award of MSc in Computing (Knowledge Management), 2008

Abstract

The latest web innovations and technologies which has made the Web into a ‘Platform’, are become increasingly applied in the higher education arena. Tools such as Google docs, Google groups, Wikis, Blogs, RSS and Podcasting are gradually becoming more popular within higher education in teaching and learning. Yet their huge potentials have not been fully explored. Collaboration and knowledge sharing are common terms in higher education, and in the corporate world of the today’s knowledge economy. However better infrastructure and facilities that enable these important issues are yet to be set and fully utilised in higher education. In the higher education complex ideas of Computer Science subjects are still crucial in today’s technology-driven world. Hence teaching expertise of various Computer Science subjects need to be visible, accessible, and shared within. The purpose of this research is to investigate the usefulness of the latest web technologies and tools conventionally known as Web 2.0 in supporting the sharing of computer science teaching expertise within higher education. A survey was conducted to analyse and examine the type and usage of Web 2.0 tools within computer science education and examine how useful they could be in supporting the sharing of computing teaching expertise. The survey findings revealed that some Web 2.0 tools have potential in enhancing the sharing of teaching knowledge. A framework for knowledge sharing incorporating Web 2.0 tools was then developed. A working prototype that demonstrated some Web 2.0 features of this framework which enables sharing of piloted computer science teaching knowledge was designed and evaluated by computer science teaching experts. The results showed that the proposed framework and prototype are workable in the current higher education environment.


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