Web 2.0 is essentially an increasing range of software that supports a variety of technologies for open and collaborative communication, learning, and creativity. Discuss.
Web 2.0 is an increasing range of software that is continually being updated, that can be used for a variety of things. It fosters creativity, learning and collaborative communication within friendship groups, but most importantly within education. Web 2.0 refers ‘to a perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosted services, such as facebook, which aim to facilitate collaboration and sharing between users.’ (Wikipedia, 2007)
The emergence of Web 2.0 provides new and exciting opportunities for teachers to create dynamic, collaborative, and sociable learning environments for their students. The social software attracts activities which have democracy and freedom from institutional influence at their heart. The web has a vast number of authors; many embody a lot of expertise. These authors create virtual communities of niche interests, which spread around the world as they interweave with local, face to face groups. A new powerful fabric for learning starts to emerge drawing strength from the local and global groups. To start these niche groups, people must have a joint construction of understanding around a particular topic of interest, then one beings to sense how these groups work, both real and a virtual groups, form a rich ecology for learning. A cross-pollination of ideas occurs as local students participating in different virtual communities carry ideas back and forth between those ones and their local communities (Bruns, Cobcroft, Towers, Smith, 2006).
Encouraging students to immerse themselves in a richly collaborative learning environment in which they are able to create, mix, modify, and extend their own knowledge using social software as personal cognitive tools. The networks that constitute social capital also serve as medium for the flow of helpful information that facilitates achieving our goals. If social software is used correctly it provides a networked environment providing students with communication tools and virtual contact that emulates co-presence. Achieving the effect of co-presence is therefore important in education, for without it, students can feel isolated. The social web has the potential to make students feel they are part of a group, something bigger than themselves. (Boulos, Wheeler, 2006)
When looking at Bloom’s taxonomy in conjunction with Web 2.0 we are focusing on the higher order thinking such as evaluate, analyze, and create. This fosters more retention within the students and they are able to operate at higher levels in the cognitive domain. Rather than treating pedagogy as the transfer of knowledge, there should be more hands on and informal types of learning, like that of an apprenticeship. This is what Web 2.0 is; hands on approach to learning for students, this incorporate can incorporate all learning styles within one program, such as a wiki. A wiki can evolve into shared knowledge resource as their contributions over time and the wisdom of the masses can be applied to the creation of knowledge stores. On programs such as pbwiki you can add videos, pictures, you can talk over the internet, and you can add text. Wiki pages can be edited to change the information displayed on the page, or update the information, when you are a contributor. Some students have expressed unease about the ease at which their previous ‘hard work’ is deleted or modified beyond recognition. Most people believe that the idea is theirs that is until they hit the ‘send’ button. Overall wiki users must realise that this editing space is open and free for all to use and contribute toward and that the creative/destructive process is ongoing. This is all part of effective communication within the group; if they set boundaries and rules they shouldn’t disagree and have their work changed beyond recognition without consent. Then the creative process can continue and the groups work can improve with the collaboration of all group members. (Brown, 2000)
Blogging is great way to engage someone’s creative side. Many bloggers report that regular ‘blog writing’ enables them to discover a more creative side to themselves. Students enjoy receiving comments back from readers, thereby indicating that the postings are being read and valued. This then encourages students to keep posting on their blog. Blog’s are much like wiki pages; they can be for individuals or groups. They can make the page their own through various applications, layouts, backgrounds, colours, music etc. Encouraging students to create a group blog, where each member of the group has responsibility to contribute to regular postings, is a valuable means to engage quieter students and a fair equalizer in the quest to engage all students in active learning. Writing learning diaries, such as blogs can foster deeper cognitive engagement with course content and encourages critical reflection. Furthermore if the learning dialogue is between bloggers of the same class, it can generate rich and meaningful engagement with course materials, experiences, and new ideas.
Literacy and learning is evolving, not only in text, but also image and screen literacy. The new literacy, beyond text and image is one of information navigation. The real literacy of tomorrow entails the ability to be your own personal reference librarian, to know how to navigate through confusing complex information spaces and feel comfortable doing so (Bruns, et al, 2006). Most of us experienced formal learning in an authority based lecture orientation school. Now with incredible amounts of information available through the Web, we find a ‘new’ kind of learning assuming, that is discovery based. The tendency toward ‘action’ brings us into a loop in which navigation, discovery, and judgement and exploration. (Brown, 2000). The learning then becomes situated within the action; it becomes as much social as cognitive, it is concrete rather than abstract, and it becomes intertwined with judgement and exploration (Brown, 2000). As such the web becomes not only information and social resource, but a learning medium where understandings are socially constructed and shared. In that medium, learning becomes a part of action and knowledge creation, this is known as ‘learning to learn’, and because learning to learn happens most naturally when you and a participant are stimulated in a community of practice. You learn 90% of what you teach someone else. When you teach someone else how to use a program or the software, you are reinforcing what you have already learnt and you are teaching someone else a valuable skill.
Ultimately wikis, blogs, and other sociable applications can create for students a vibrant, dynamic, and challenging informal environment to learn. Such environments go beyond the traditional boundaries of educational establishment, they transgress into areas that are yet to be fully explored, but teachers can explore these areas, much like we expect students to in class. The Web 2.0 software is increasing in range and this supports a variety of technologies. This software promotes open and collaborative communication, learning, and creativity within students. It also enables a different style of teaching and learning which can apply to all students with regards to learning styles. Web 2.0 in conjunction with Blooms taxonomy enables higher order thinking and fosters retention within the cognitive domain.
Reference List Bruns, Axel, Cobcroft, Rachel, Smith, Judith, Towers, Stephen, (2006), Mobile Learning in Review: Opportunities and Challenges for learners, teachers, and institutions, (online), Available: https://olt.qut.edu.au/udf/OLT2006/gen/static/papers/Cobcroft_OLT2006_paper.pdf(23rd October 2007)
Bruns, Axel, Cobcroft, Rachel, Smith, Judith, Towers, Stephen, (2006), Towards User-Led Education via Mobile Technology, (online), Available: http://snurb.info/files/Mobile%20Learning%20Technologies.pdf (23rd October 2007)
Brown, John Seely, (2000), Growing up Digital: How the Web Changes work, Education, and the Ways People Learn (online), Available: http://journalism.berkeley.edu/conf/conference2003/present/brown-paper.pdf (23rd October 2007)
Boulos, Maged Kamel, Wheeler, Steven (2006), Mashing, Burning, Mixing and the Destructive Creativity of Web 2.0: Applications for Medical Education, (online), Available: http://healthcybermap.org/publications/RECIIS_51_EN.pdf (23rd October 2007)
Wikipedia (2007), Web 2.0, (online) Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/web_2 (23rd October 2007)
