Some thoughts on Teaching/ Learning with Web 2.0

This paper 169005 is in some ways always in draft mode. This I feel is how it should be as this paper needs to be always shifting because technology does not rest. Nor does the discussion of digital literacies. I feel it is important to keep in mind definitions of Web 2.0 which stress the importance of collaboration of learners and teachers and the multiplicity of links that are made available through the web. Web 2 is about students being creators of knowledge in contrast to being receivers of knowledge.

For me this is a problem because being a pragmatist I try to tie 169005 down and the Blackboard Learning Management System (for us AUTOnline) suits me as I like the buttons (folders) where I can put learning activities, assessments etc. However I have made a conscious decision to use wikis as the main learning space and for that to be the entry point for the paper. Your other papers will open at announcements, but announcements are one way communication and I am trying to widen the parameters of this online space for more interaction in the design of the paper and in more student input and student centred learning.

Downs (2005) argues for the emergence of Web 2.0 to be seen as a social revolution that both encourages and enables participation through the nature of the web ‘s open applications. This ‘openness’ is its strength. But also it’s a challenge for both teachers and learners. I am constantly having to rethink my philosophical position and my teaching practice.

Another conscious decision was for you to create your own blog outside the Blackboard LMS. This was because I want you to experience using an authentic Web 2.0 tool. This has understandably caused concern for some of you. Herrington and Oliver (2003) discuss in detail the benefits to learning in using authentic online learning environments. Two of the ten characteristics of authentic activities that are particularly relevant to my argument for getting you to create a blog was that authentic activities are made up of complex tasks that take time and intellectual resources to complete (days/weeks rather than hours) and that authentic activities provide the opportunity for students to examine the tasks from different perspectives. In order for your blog to be accessed and commented on you have had to explore ways of enabling this to happen. And this has taken time and perseverance.

Still on the open aspect of this paper I am aiming for you to engage and collaborate in creating the paper content and one way for this is for you to write two questions that require some research. These two questions will be posted into the wiki space. Your first question can be researched and answered by yourself and posted as a blog entry. Your second question will be answered by another student on the paper. They will research (APA 6^th referencing) and post the answer in their blog where you can comment.

References:

Downs, S. (2005). E-Learning 2.0. eLearn Magazine, Retrieved from http://www.elearnmag.org/subpage.cfm?artoc;e=29-1&section=articles

Herrington, J., & Oliver, R. (2003). Patterns of engagement in authentic online learning environments. Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 19 (1), 59-71.

You might like to comment on this blog. Please do. For a discussion and results from a research study on Web 2.0 use you could go to

An.Y & Williams, K. (2010) Teaching with Web 2.0 Technologies: Benefits, Barriers and Lessons Learned. Retrieved from http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Mar_10/article04.htm

Technology developments

Some developments in digital technology...

I received an interesting email a while back from a friend who is living in Shanghai. He is a real foodie and eats out a lot. He emailed me about a menu that was displayed on an i pad. You selected your food items and then could use the i pad to play games while you waited for your food to arrive. He thought this was really great. I then googled to find more about this and found the following utube clip

It brings me back to our discussions on using digital technologies and literacy . I can see advantages for customers and staff on using the ipad in cafes etc but there are also disadvantages. One disadvantage is that the ipad reduces the need for one on one communication with a person- rather like online learning!!  You can see this reflected in the photo below. 

 

 Which leads on to this quote.....

 

However the advantages are also numerous. One advantage comes from  listening to National radio last week where there was an interesting discussion around the e-reader and how  they are helping adult readers increase their literacy because of the inbuilt dictionaries, more adult type material (compared to hard cover books at beginner level) and the ability to increase the font size.  The new dyslexia free font is also a breakthrough for helping literacy for this group of people. 

Someone in the paper might find it interesting to study either ipads or e-readers in their Assessment 3 indepth study of a form of social media.