Glossary


 * =Glossary for the E-learning and Digital Cultures course - University of Edinburgh - Jan - Feb 2013.=

An alphabetical list of terms or words found in or relating to a specific subject, text, or dialect, with explanations; a brief dictionary.

Each entry to include the ** source ** of your explanation and an ** example ** of how the term is used.

A B C D E


 * Add your terms via the wiki panel... **

> > This is a characteristic feature of academic writing (see also ' nominalisation '). It helps us summarise complexities and conceptualise relationships, but it can be problematic, for example, when readers imagine the 'things' so discussed are real, material objects rather than points of discussion or hypotheses. For example, we talk in this course of "education", "technology" and "e-learning", in order to have some sense of clear topics for discussion... which is handy and useful. But, such words are sometimes imagined to refer to single or simple things, when in fact they summarise complex and variable, socially situated activities. So, while we need to talk about 'things' in order to create discourse, we also need to be aware that 'airbrushing out' the details of who is doing what to whom brings certain risks with it... readers may not know or remember or be actively thinking about the myriad of quite different activities that people engage in at various with the help of various educational technologies. [ definition by [| e-purser,] based on her experience in linguistics and academic writing]
 * A**
 * **  Andragogy [  ** Wikipedia **  ]  ** Andragogy consists of learning strategies focused on adults. It is often interpreted as the process of engaging adult learners with the structure of learning experience. The term ‘ andragogy ’ has been used in different times and countries with various connotations. Knowles' theory of andragogy is an attempt to develop a theory specifically for adult learning. Knowles emphasizes that adults are self-directed and expect to take responsibility for decisions. Adult learning programs must accommodate this fundamental aspect. Andragogy makes the following assumptions about the design of learning: (1) Adults need to know why they need to learn something (2) Adults need to learn experientially, (3) Adults approach learning as problem-solving, and (4) Adults learn best when the topic is of immediate value.
 * B **
 * C **
 * ** Collaboration ** [dictionary definition] the action of working with someone to produce or create something
 * ** Connectivism  **sees learning as "a process that occurs within nebulous environments of shifting core elements" (Siemens 2005, "Connectivism,"). Learning is the process of building connections that enable us to acquire knowledge and learn more. This focus recognizes the fact that learning is based on "rapidly altering foundations . . . currency (accurate, up-to-date knowledge) is the intent of all connectivist learning activities" (Siemens 2005, "Connectivism,").
 * ** Constructivism [ **Wikipedia** ] ** is a [|theory of learning] and an approach to [|education] that lays emphasis on the ways that people create meaning of the world through a series of [|individual constructs] . Constructs are the different types of filters we choose to place over our realities to change our reality from chaos to order. Von Glasersfeld describes constructivism as “a theory of knowledge with roots in philosophy, psychology, and cybernetics ”. Simply stated, it is a learning process which allows a student to experience an environment first-hand, thereby giving the student reliable, trust-worthy knowledge. The student is required to act upon the environment to both acquire and test new knowledge.
 * **Content Curation** - "Content curation is the gathering, organizing and online presentation of content related to a particular theme or topic. As a rule, a content curation site reproduces some of the original content and links to the full entry. Some content curation sites also provide original content, interpretation and commentary" (source). An example: Paperli is an example of content curation done passively. Content shared by individuals followed on social media such as Twitter and Facebook is aggregated into a page or paper that is refreshed daily or as needed. The owner of the "paper" can determine what topics and content is presented by who is followed. Others can activity curate content by featuring links to related resources in blogs. Some blogs allow you to tag posts and resources with subjects that can be searched with later.
 * D **
 * ** Digital Migrant: ** **[ **Wikipedia **] ** an individual who was born before the existence of digital technology and adopted it to some extent later in life.
 * **Digital** ** Native: ** [ ** Wikipedia ** ]  ** ** A ** digital native ** is a person who was born during or after the general introduction of digital technologies and through interacting with digital technology from an early age, has a greater understanding of its concepts.
 * **Digital Viking [**Term coined by Amy Burvall**]** A fearless explorer. Not afraid to go miles and miles … to reach unfamiliar territory that will (hopefully) yield rewards. Risky. Going with the Intuition. Resourceful. And if perchance something doesn't work out - the Labradors of the cyber-territory – not ashamed to pack it up and move on.
 * ** Dystopia ** [Ancient Greek: δυσ- = bad]: fictional description of a futuristic society with undesirable, negative aspects. cf // utopia //
 * E **
 * **E-learning** learning enhanced with electronic devices (computers and telecommunication technology).
 * F **
 * G **
 * H **
 * I **
 * J **
 * K **
 * L **
 * M **
 * N **
 * O **
 * P **
 * ** Pedagogy ** [ http://oxforddictionaries.com/ ] The method and practice of teaching, especially as an academic subject or theoretical concept.
 * ** Personal Learning Network **** [ **Wikipedia** ] ** is an [|informal learning] network that consists of the people a learner interacts with and derives knowledge from in a [|personal learning environment].
 * ** Personal Learning Environment  **  are systems that help learners take control of and manage their own learning. This includes providing support for learners to set their own learning goals, manage their learning; managing both content and process, communicate with others in the process of learning and thereby achieve learning goals.
 * Q **
 * R **
 * ** Reification ** [from Latin res = thing]: representing social activities/ processes as 'things'.
 * ** Reification ** [from Latin res = thing]: representing social activities/ processes as 'things'.
 * S **
 * T **
 * ** Technological Determinism [ ** Wikipedia ** ] ** a reductionist  theory that presumes that a society's [|technology] drives the development of its social structure and cultural values.
 * U **
 * **Utopia** [from the book Utopia (1516) by Thomas More] relating to a fictional society with positive, desirable aspects. Opposite of dystopia. [From Greek U- denial prefix and topos, place . Literal transtation : place, which does not exist.]
 * V. **
 * W **
 * X **
 * Y **
 * Z **