The aim of the iCamp validation trials (Trial-3) was to validate how self-directed learning (SDL) and social networking (SNW) can effectively be supported with the use of social software in entirely online cross-cultural collaborative learning settingsOne of the main objectives of Trial-3 was to improve the students’ competencies in collaboration, social networking and self-directed learning, including their skills in mastering social software to support their individual and collaborative learning activities, their interaction skills with international facilitators and peer students in English, their abilities to read, analyse and extract useful and necessary information from learning resources, and their ability to work individually and to collaborate with others working on the same project. Trial-3 followed a very strict course schedule. It was based on the E-Learning module (EMIM03) of the European Master Interactive Media (EMIM) course series, which is a curricular collaboration of six European universities.

Compared to the first 2 trials, Trial-3 was the largest trial involving 10 facilitators from seven European countries (i.e. Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, Poland and Spain), and 76 students from 11 countries (i.e. Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Holland, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Spain) registered for the course. They were divided into 10 different groups; each was supervised by a facilitator. The course lasted 14 weeks. Each group was required to develop an online course on the topic of their choice. For each week, there was a specific e-learning topic, and the students were required to read a list of related learning materials and to write their reflections on their Weblogs. They were also required to prepare a personal learning contract (PLC). According to the pedagogical scenarios, Weblog was the main tool for the students to reflect their individual and group learning activities. Other proposed tools included Objectspot, Videowiki, Scuttle, Feed-on-feeds, Doodle, MyDentity, and iLogue. Some groups worked on their selected group collaboration space such as Ning (http://www.ning.com), wikispaces or Google group. Besides, some students used other communication tools, such as Skype, MSN, or some localized chat tools. Similar to the first 2 trials, in Trial-3 the pedagogical scenarios were designed by WP1 (see D1.3), and the students were provided with a set of recommended social software tools selected and adapted by WP2 and WP3. The processes of Trial-3 were monitored and evaluated by WP4. The evaluation carried out at the end of Trial-3 and the results obtained are presented in the deliverable D4.4, which could be downloaded from here. The deliverable also discusses the lessons learned from Trial-3 as well as the experiences we have got when implementing and evaluating the three trials.