230156 SE Cyberscience 2.0 - The actual and potential impacts of Web 2.0 in academia and research (2011S)

Both academic work and the university as a whole are heavily affected by information and communication technologies, in particular the Internet. This development started in the 1990s and is being discussed worldwide as "cyberscience" or "e-science" and "virtual university". Typical issues are Internet-induced changes in the work patterns of research, digital academic publishing, changing organisational structures, and possible impacts on the content of research. More recently, the Web 2.0 puts its mark on academia: cyberscientists also twitter, communicate via social network sites, write their blogs and contribute to Wikipedia. The seminar will focus on what this development means for academia. Students will get an overview on the various facets of Web 2.0 in academia; discuss the potential as well as already observable impacts; and they will acquire more detailed knowledge about one specific aspect of the overall topic as they write a short analytical seminar paper. The seminar will combine overview lectures with guided Internet research sessions and small group discussions.