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What is web science?, Page 2

Why not set up study groups on Meet Up?

We are looking forward to the MOOC-up at the University tomorrow, but we realise that only people based within a reasonable travelling distance will be able to attend in person. It is quite likely that a number of MOOC participants will be be based in major centres such as London or Manchester, and indeed there could well be small groups of people anywhere in the world who live or work within a reasonable distance of each other. Continue reading →

Meet the MOOC-sters, for real!

There’s an opportunity for a face-to-face meet up at Southampton on Nov 18th starting from 4pm GMT - if you are based locally and you’d like to come and talk to us "in the flesh" then please register here If you really want to make a trip of it, the next day sees the Creative Digifest #SXSC3 taking place in Southampton - a free event to find out more about setting up a digital business. A number of the Southampton staff and students will be attending and taking part in this event. Continue reading →

Google Hangout for #FLwebsci on Monday

Very shortly you will have the chance to compare your use of the Web with other MOOC participants across the world, to discover the diversity of experiences that we label “World Wide Web”. This panel discussion will happen on Google Hangout on Monday, 18th November at 12 noon GMT. You will be sent an email with details of how to access this. For those of you unable to make this ‘live’, a recording will be made available to view after the event. Continue reading →

What do the Student Digital Champions do?

MOOC participants may well come across the #digichamps hashtag in social media conversations about the web Science MOOC. But who are the Digichamps and what do they do? Here, one of our new digichamps, Merel van Dijke, sheds some light on the subject: "The Student Digital Literacies Champions (or in short Digichamps) are a group of students from the University of Southampton with a passion for technology and education. Continue reading →

Let’s Be Open at #DE2013MCUK

MOOC participants may be interested in (and even inspired by) the themes of "Openness" in Wendy's keynote speech at the Digital Economy Conference at Media City Manchester yesterday. The growing openness in data, education and research is what is making this MOOC happen... Web Science staff and students were well represented at the conference, and I'll be updating this introductory post shortly. Check out #DE2013MCUK for a full record of the event. Continue reading →

I understand what you think you are predicting, I just can’t work out why you think you predicted it…

Going to any of the web related conferences it is impossible to not notice how much of these end up being about predictive modelling. Anyone familiar with this modelling will know the literature is dominated by various forms of linear statistics. Here, you take two or more variables and map them onto each other using some probability distribution and a function representative of a straight line. Continue reading →

What is Web Science and its Study

Web Science - beyond the Web as an everyday tool Web Science is an emerging interdisciplinary field or subject. Quite a few of us use the web on a daily basis and take many of its features for granted. Thinking critically about it as a piece of technology that shapes and is shaped by social forces allows us to understand what differentiates the web from other communication technologies. Doing this however is not easy. Continue reading →