Socio-informatic Research

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Socio-informatic Research

• Don Peterson, Institute of Education

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Institute of Education I

• The Institute of Education was founded in 1902,
  and has earned a distinguished international
  reputation as a leader in the field for its
  programmes of study and research. Website
  ltwww.ioe.ac.ukgt
• Research covers all aspects of education (school,
  higher, lifelong, e-learning)

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Institute of Education II

• Staff cover all of the main social sciences and
  humanities.
• The Institute has a distinguished history of
  funded research, including a strong commitment to
  EU projects.
• Some projects relevant to SeLeNe are CANDLE,
  Playground, WebLabs.

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London Knowledge Lab

• The London Knowledge Lab brings together computer
  scientists from Birkbeck and social scientists
  from the Institute of Education to develop
  technologies centred around the needs of
  individuals and communities, and explore the ways
  in which digital technologies reshape the
  landscape of learning.

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Socio-Informatic Paradigm I

• The challenges and opportunities of the eSociety
  are socio-informatic
• They have aspects which belong to the social
  sciences, and aspects which belong to computer
  science
• We therefore need a research paradigm which
  integrates these contributions.
• Without this, we will get a partial and
  ineffective treatment.

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Socio-Informatic Paradigm II

• At the London Knowledge Lab we adopt this
  paradigm as a basic research strategy
• Our website www.londonknowledgelab.ac.uk
  describes current projects
• Also K-NET a proposal for a Network of
  Excellence under the EU Sixth Framework Programme
• An MBA in Knowledge Ecology under the same
  paradigm is planned.

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Metadata in E-learning

• The issue of metadata in e-learning needs a
  socio-informatic approach
• Its technical aspects and possibilities concern
  computer science
• Its social effects concern pedagogy, psychology
  and sociology
• We therefore need a conceptualisation which
  bridges between these.
• This is addressed in my next presentation.