The document discusses designing learning environments using social software. It defines social software as web applications that support content, identity, and relationship management through user participation and interaction. The document then presents two perspectives on learning with social software: 1) how social software influences learners based on survey data showing near-ubiquitous usage among youth, and 2) how social software offers potential for designing new learning environments. It analyzes traditional research paradigms and proposes a new approach that generates both practical solutions and new theory by simultaneously developing a learning environment and conducting research.