SCSU remains deeply interested in the possibilities of social computing to continue to transform the higher education experience for students. “Social computing” refers generally to the increasing use of the internet and software applications for communication and social interaction. In OIT we are dedicated to exploring the ways in which SCSU can fulfill its mission by leveraging the ubiquity of technology and the ever increasing reach of the internet.

Media coverage in recent months has focused particularly on Facebook and its impact; the website appeals to higher ed administrators and faculty because of its large and active base of student users. Academic and university communications, for instance, could tap into this population, and creative thinking could conceivably allow Facebook to supplant applications such as MySCSU or Vista (at significant cost savings). Another social computing tool, Skype, offers free internet telephone service and allows for real-time videoconferencing; innovative faculty at the College of Wooster used this application to enable foreign language students to converse with native speakers at a university in China .

With the vast potential of social computing technologies in mind we remain committed to creating an experimental social computing lab (October 2007). We envision a lab which explores the pedagogical and community-building possibilities enabled by new technologies: digital cameras, broadband internet, PDAs, iPods, social networking websites, online collaboration models (wikis), and others. The lab will both track technologies as they emerge and reflect on possible uses of those technologies which are already here. Above all, it will provide a place for faculty and students to gain hands-on experience with these technologies.