Abstract
For the past year, the Open University has been exploring the potential of an open ‘social learning platform’ that will integrate the power of a social network and third party tools and applications within a pedagogically sound architectural framework. The project – code named “socialearn” – has been developing along several parallel strands: the user experience within a potential ‘social learning’ Web site; the development of a set of core platoform services with open API that is congruent with other standard and de facto standard web service APIs; and a business model that allows individuals and instituions alike to use the platform to futher their own business goals, whilst securing a sustainable financial basis for the platform itself.
In this workshop, we will review the progress of the socialearn project, and demonstrate the features of the platform that have been built to date. As the socialearn platform is intended to be an open platform, we will also run through a series of exercises exploring ways in which the socialearn aproach may be used to support institutional services in both the formal and informal educational sectors.