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Webbannoteringssystem som hjälpmedel inom högre utbildning

Sammanfattning

Webbannotering är en ny teknik med många outforskade användningsområden. Tekniken tillåter en användare att kommentera hemsidor på webben, vilket gör användaren mer delaktig i den information som sprids genom att kommentera och diskutera informationen tillsammans med andra användare. Detta examensarbete har undersökt hur ett webbannoteringssystem kan användas inom området för utbildning och vilka följder denna användning kan få.

I studien utvärderades några utvalda webbannoteringssystem för att undersöka hur dessa kan se ut och fungera idag. En fokusgrupp med studenter och enskilda intervjuer med lärare på KTH genomfördes i denna studie, för att komma underfund med målgruppens inställning till denna typ av system. Även två fältstudier utfördes, där två olika system testades av studenter och lärare i deras respektive kursmiljöer. Detta gjordes för att undersöka hur systemen togs emot av målgruppen i ett riktigt sammanhang och hur tekniken implementerades i både distansundervisning och vanlig undervisning.

Undersökningens resultat visar på att det finns intresse för att använda webbannoteringstekniken som ett hjälpmedel inom undervisningen på KTH för att möjliggöra nya typer utav kommunika- tionsmöjligheter och examinationsmoment. Detta så länge kurserna där systemet används har större delen av kursinformationen tillgänglig på webben. Av de system som idag finns tillgängliga och som undersöktes i studien är det dock inga som är anpassade till detta ändamål. Resultaten visar att inga av dessa system skulle fungera att använda inom utbildningen på KTH, men flera viktiga funktioner och användningsområden har blivit identifierade och kan användas som bakgrund för att i framtiden ta fram ett fungerande system som är väl anpassat för att användas i ett utbildningssyfte.

Using Web Annotation Systems As a Technical Aid in Higher Education

Abstract

Web annotation is a new technology with many unexplored areas of use. The technology lets a user comment on web pages on the Internet, which makes the user more involved in how the information spreads by commenting and debating the information with other users. This bachelor’s thesis has examined how a Web Annotation System can be used in the educational area and what consequences might come from using a system of this kind.

In the study, a few web annotation systems of choice where evaluated in order to investigate how these systems look and work today. A focus group containing university students and individual interviews with teachers at KTH where held to look into the attitude of the target group concerning the use of a system like this in their education. Furthermore, two field studies were conducted, using two different web annotation systems, which were tested by both students and teachers in their individual learning environment. These studies were held to examine how the target group reacted to using the systems in an actual course and how the systems were implemented in both distance tutoring and regular education.

The results show that the target group have a positive attitude towards using a web annotation system as an aid in their education. The application can be used to make new ways of communication possible, as long as the course where it is used has most of its information and literature available online. However, the systems existing today and were evaluated and tested in the study, are not fitted to be used in this context. Results show that none of these systems can be used in the education conducted at KTH, but several important functions and areas of use have been identified, which can be implemented in a prototype of a new system to be used exclusively for an educational purpose in the future.