This document discusses the TalkTech project from 2008-2013 between Politehnica University of Timisoara in Romania and Bentley University in Boston. The project involved virtual collaboration between students from both universities to complete annual technology-focused projects using various social media and online tools. Over its duration, the project involved 587 students and helped prepare them for real-world, technology-focused teamwork in a global, digital environment by having them freely choose tools and work independently of time and location. Evaluation found that the project successfully introduced students to relevant technology topics and trends while empowering them through self-organized work.

1. Social
media
in
virtual
mobili1es
Dr. Diana Andone
Politehnica University of Timisoara, Romania
Interna1onal
Conference
SMART
–
Social
Media
in
Academic
Research
and
Training
#SMART2014TM
SMART
2014
Timisoara
18-­‐20
September
2014

2. Digital students & Technology
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2014

3. Digital
students
need to control - online activity,
communication, eLearning environmentSMART
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4. Virtual mobility or virtual placement
virtual components facilitated through an ICT
supported learning environment, where the
three key stakeholders (students, universities
and enterprises) interact with one another
independent of time and space
4
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5. Projects
5
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6. Computa1onal
thinking
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7. Crea0ve
creators
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8. Global
workforce
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9. TalkTech
project
2008-­‐2013
UPTimisoara
Romania
BU,
Boston,
USA
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2014

10. TalkTech
2008
–
2013
Where
We
Are
ELSE
2014

11. TalkTech
2008
–
2013
Students
Bentley
University
• IT
101,
Informa1on
Technology
• 50
students
• Spoke
English
• Web
literate
• PC
Literate
• Age
18-­‐21
UP
Timisoara
• TMM,
Technologies
of
Mul1media
• 40
students
• Spoke
English
• Web
literate
• PC
Literate
• Age
21-­‐24
ELSE
2014
587
students
involved,
no
dropout

12. TalkTech
2008
–
2013
Students
ELSE
2014

13. ViCaDiS
campus
ELSE
2014

14. TalkTech
2008
–
2013
2008
• Create
a
web
page
with
images,
a
video,
a
PowerPoint
or
Google
presenta1on,
a
recorded
audio
conversa1on,
or
a
combina1on
of
any
of
these
that
presents
your
group’s
understanding
of
a
current
issue
in
technology
and
culture
• Post
content
and
group
progress
to
a
collabora1ve
Google
Site
TalkTech2008
2009
• Research
a
web-­‐based
collabora1on
tool
• Create
a
wiki
page
with
images,
blog
entry,
video
or
video
tutorial
of
a
tool;
post
link
on
ViCaDiS
2010
• Create
a
short
video
evalua1ng
two
similar
online
collabora1on
tools
(screen
sharing,
forms,
presenta1ons,
video
conferencing,
scheduling,
project
management,
mind
mapping)
from
the
perspec1ves
of
usability
and
entrepreneurship
• Summarize
findings
in
a
Google
Doc
or
video.
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15. SMART
2014

16. TalkTech2010
project
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17. TalkTech
2008
–
2013
2011
• Create
a
presenta1on
in
which
your
group
analyzes
and
discusses
the
poten1al
of
various
start-­‐up
Internet
companies
• Use
VoiceThread
to
add
comments
or
narra1on
to
the
presenta1on’s
slides;
integrate
in
ViCaDiS
blog
2012
• Create
a
presenta1on
in
which
your
group
researches
innova1ve
methods
used
in
business
by
promising
start-­‐up
companies
• Use
VoiceThread
to
add
comments
or
narra1on
to
the
presenta1on’s
slides;
integrate
in
ViCaDiS
blog
2013
• Research
popular
web
or
mobile
apps
• Create
an
interac1ve
image
using
ThingLink
Annota1ons
must
include
audio
and
video
clips
in
which
interna1onal
partners
appear
simultaneously
discussing
their
topic
• Post
ThingLink
to
ViCaDiS
blog
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2014

18. TalkTech
2008
–
2013
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2014

19. SMART
2014

20. SMART
2014

21. TalkTech
2008
–
2013
• Mul1cultural
• Online
–
different
1mezones
• Simulate
real
world
work
in
an
IT
company
• Students
freely
choose
the
tools,
communica1on,
working
1me
and
hours
• Students
connect
using
several
social
media
tools
• All
students
finished
and
delivered
the
ar1fact
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22. TalkTech
2008
–
2013
main
Tools
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23. TalkTech
2013
Student
Use
of
Technologies
• 1.
Mobile
phone
• 2.
SMS
–
text
messaging
• 3.
iPod
/mp3
player
• 4.
Search
engines
(Google/Bing)
• 5.
Online
Messaging
(Yahoo,
G-­‐Chat,
etc)
• 6.
VoIP
(Skype,
Google
Talk,
etc)
• 7.
Mobile
chat
(WhatsApp/Viber)
• 8.
Online
video
(YouTube)
• 9.
Photo
Sharing
(Flickr,
Picasa)
• 10.
Online
games
• 11.
Blogs
• 12.
Wikipedia
• 13.
Facebook
• 14.
Twider
• 15.
Collabora1ve
Wri1ng
Apps
(Google
Docs/Office
Web
Apps)
ZEF
analy1cs
tool
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2014

24. Task Tools
align time zones timeanddate.com
chat Facebook, Yahoo! IM,Google Hangouts
create and host audio SoundCloud
create and host video YouTube, Screencast-o-Matic
create interactive images ThingLink
edit audio Sound Forge
edit images PhotoShop, Paint.net
edit video Windows Live Movie Maker
email Gmail, Outlook
hold video conferences Google Hangouts, Skype
record video mobile phone camera apps
schedule meetings Doodle
search the web Google, Bing
share photos Flickr, Tumblr
share screens join.me, Google Hangouts SMART
2014

25. Use
of
tools
• Each
year
over
80%
of
students
connected
via
social
media
tools
• Each
year
45-­‐62%
from
students
stayed
connected
with
each
other
via
Facebook,
Google+
or
Instagram,
at
one
year
aier
the
end
of
project
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26. TalkTech2013
Desirability
Test
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2014

27. Conclusions
• introduced
students
to
real-­‐world
technology
topics,
trends
and
working
methods
• Empowered
students
• create
the
learning
and
working
environment
for
producing
the
final
ar1fact,
in
a
self-­‐
organized,
networked-­‐based
and
quite
oien
complex
and
chao1c
manner
SMART
2014

28. CONTACT
Dr.eng. Diana Andone
Director
e-Learning Center
Tel: +40.256403300,
Email: diana.andone@upt.ro
@diando70
hdp://www.slideshare.net/diando70/
UPT
–
CeL
Campus
Virtual
www.cv.upt.ro
SMART
2014