Using online social networking for teaching and learning: Facebook use at the University of Cape Town

Abstract

Web-based learning has made learning content much more freely and instantaneously available to students who can download course notes and readings with a single mouse click. Facebook is one of many Web 2.0 tools – wikis, delicious, YouTube, podcasts – that are listed as having potential applications for teaching and learning. Moreover, it has been argued that the current generation of youth, often described as Net Geners or Digital Natives, may be resistant to traditional methods of teaching and learning. This article explores student use of Facebook at the University of Cape Town, as well as lecturer engagement with students via the new social media. Drawing on a virtual ethnography and qualitative interviews, this article shows that while there are potential positive benefits to using Facebook in teaching and learning, particularly for the development of educational micro-communities, certain challenges, including ICT literacy and uneven access, remain pertinent.     

The semiotics of religious space in Second Life®

Scholarly research on the religious dimension of Second Life® can be conducted with reference to several elements: ties between the religious dimension of Second Life and that of the “First Life” (an approach privileged by the sociology and the psychology of religion); the transcendent value inherent in the creation of an alternative reality (an approach favored by the philosophy of religion); the enunciation of a “virtual” religious dimension through the digital artifacts of Second Life (an approach promoted by aesthetics, phenomenology, and semiotics); and so forth. Adopting the point of view of cultural semiotics, the paper summarizes the results of a “virtual” ethno-semiotic participant observation conducted over six months in portions of the digital “metaverse” of Second Life where a religious dimension is predominant. The consequent analysis of digital places of worship singles out five main characteristics of their aesthetics, phenomenology, and semiotics: isolation, prototypicality, didacticism, anarchy, and parasitism.     

“虚拟现实”对社会影响的二重效应

“虚拟现实”的应用给社会带来了正负二重效应,负面效应的潜滋暗长主要在于人自身的主体选择。要增加“虚拟现实”的正效应,减少其负效应,就必须加强世界观教育和素质教育,推进网络伦理道德建设以及网络立法。     

网络虚拟财产的性质、归属及保护

随着网络日益融入人们的日常生活，网络虚拟财产纠纷日渐增多。网络虚拟财产是指存在于与现实具有隔离性的网络空间中、能够用现有的度量标志度量其价值的数字化的新型财产。由于我国现今对于网络虚拟财产的保护立法仍处于空白，因此，建立完善的网络虚拟财产保护体系的现实意义也日益凸现。     

论抢劫虚拟财产刑事责任认定的相关问题

随着网络科技的日新月异,互联网为人类社会生活开辟了一个崭新的生存世界——网络虚拟空间,同时催生了一种新型资产——网络虚拟财产。它在改变人类社会生活方式的同时,也给既有的法律规制带来了极大的冲击。现阶段,我国尚没有任何一部法律对＂虚拟财产＂的法律性质予以界定,＂虚拟财产＂法律规制属于真空地段。本文拟通过对侵犯虚拟财产个案论证分析,探析我国抢劫虚拟财产刑事责任认定的相关问题。     

基于网络游戏的虚拟金融研究

虚拟经济体作为一种类人经济形态,越来越多的吸引了学者的关注。虚拟经济体的主要价值除了其本身娱乐价值外就是表现在二级市场上的虚拟物品总值,而虚拟货币是虚拟世界的通货,因此研究虚拟货币对于研究虚拟经济体具有重要意义。虚拟货币因为供需在二级市场上产生价值,本文从前瞻性的角度对虚拟货币和虚拟金融进行研究,并由此衍生出虚拟金融业务。     

论网络虚拟财产民事法律保护制度的完善

总结目前我国网络虚拟财产民事法律体系存在的不足，并针对这些不足，建议在网络民事法律中以意思自治原则、平等原则等为基本原则，修改、补充现有民事法律规范，明确过错原则和过错推定原则（为例外）为虚拟财产民事法律侵权归责原则；对于一些复杂的虚拟财产问题，考虑单独立法，规定虚拟财产的性质、权利等。     

网络与实在性

网络世界通过信息化、数字化为我们展现了许多虚拟的现象,它和实在世界形成了一定的对照,由此提出了网络中物、人、关系和事件的实在性问题。网络存在一定意义上使实在性和虚幻之间的界限趋于模糊,两者之间不再非此即彼,从而改变了我们对实在性的看法,或者使实在性获得了新的形式,实现了实在性在新技术时代的语义扩张,也使人获得了一种发展自己的新途径。     

MISSING THE MARK: REFLECTIONS ON GREENBERG'S COMMENT*

Greenberg's (2003) Comment fails to address the substance or spirit of “The Privatization of Violence.”     

Spherical Photography and Virtual Tours for Presenting Crime Scenes and Forensic Evidence in New Zealand Courtrooms

The delivery of forensic science evidence in a clear and understandable manner is an important aspect of a forensic scientist's role during expert witness delivery in a courtroom trial. This article describes an Integrated Evidence Platform (IEP) system based on spherical photography which allows the audience to view the crime scene via a virtual tour and view the forensic scientist's evidence and results in context. Equipment and software programmes used in the creation of the IEP include a Nikon DSLR camera, a Seitz Roundshot VR Drive, PTGui Pro, and Tourweaver Professional Edition. The IEP enables a clear visualization of the crime scene, with embedded information such as photographs of items of interest, complex forensic evidence, the results of laboratory analyses, and scientific opinion evidence presented in context. The IEP has resulted in significant improvements to the pretrial disclosure of forensic results, enhanced the delivery of evidence in court, and improved the jury's understanding of the spatial relationship between results.