21 posts tagged “web 2.0”
The “The Web: End of the classroom era?” debate today at the eFest meets Teaching and Learning Conference, was well-attended. Initially the rules around the debate were established: panel of 6 people, 3 affirmative (in agreement with the statement) and 3 negative (in disagreement with the statement). Both panels were seated on the stage. The audience and a red and green voting paper. There was an adjudicator and a timekeeper. Each panel had 3 minutes each to speak.
The first speaker was from the affirmative team, and began by giving some statistics around online learning. Learners in online courses spend more time on task than in purely face-to-face contexts, and achievement of learning outcomes is higher. The second speaker from the panel in disagreement, responded by coming from the ‘human’ aspect – human teachers for human learning. It was interesting that face-to-face was seen as a positive approach for emotive factors, and being able to ‘see’ where learners were at, and what they were feeling. There appeared to be no understanding around the range of tools that can facilitate these same factors, the fact that somehow face-to-face learning is better – that there is no boredom, more engagement, more opportunities to contribute. Joyce was quick to challenge these ideas, pointing out that in face online it can be more democratic, that more learners have a voice, can create an identity. She recommends the You Tube video: Mr Winkle awakes. The Internet releases the teacher from the information transfer model and frees them up to debate.
The next speaker did not rebut any of the previous points, saying that she felt nothing had been said that needed to be rebutted! She feels that the Internet caters for the trivial, and referred to Andy Warhole’s 10 minutes of fame. The Web lets inadequate, foolish people express their thoughts, and the Web can deceive. You can’t trust the Web and there are perils and traps for young players. The next affirmative speaker chose to rebut the previous speaker’s points. He pointed that Ivan Illich foresaw the Internet. Schools and classrooms are industrial strength learning and that this is not the sort of learning we need. He quotes Illich’s book around conviviality. Learners are reliant on teachers and the system that makes education work. Learning is what happens on the Internet, and that will usher in the post-industrial age.
The final person from the disagreement panel, Colin Cox made a comment about the fact that he had not heard the previous speaker as he was Tweeting. He than gave an overview of his flight from Auckland to Palmerston North, pointing out that pilots who had learned in a simulated environment would not have the skills to really fly a plane.
Next stage was to throw things open things open to the audience for questions and comments. The first person from the audience made the point that simulators have been used to train medical professionals and pilots for years; that dentists were being trained in second life. The rebuttal made the point that the classroom is as big as the world – which played directly into Joyce’s hands – who pointed to the title of the debate!!
A question from the audience asked why eFest took place in a classroom on Tuesday. It was argued that eFest in fact had started months before in wikis, through Twitter, in Skype meetings – in a collaborative, globally diverse participants. The one laptop per child initiative enables children to connect to each other, even if they are not able to connect to the Internet.
One of the audience pointed out that she felt nervous about contributing to the discussion, but if she were online she would be able to contribute more comfortably. She poses the question – are teachers motivated by popularity, and their ‘ego’, when students appear to ‘love’ them?
A final comment from the audience pointed out that he could’t imagine his kids picking up the skills they currently have in an online environment…like kicking a ball.
A final vote from the audience was requested after a humorous summary of the main points made in the debate. It was a close call. The adjudicator declared the debate a draw given the quality of the debate and the spirit behind it!!!
I heard the people behind me say that it had been the best part of the conference. It certainly provoked passionate responses that showed the depth of commitment and feeling educators invest in their ‘calling’.
Yesterday was an inspiring day. I came away from work refreshed and energised, even though it had been a long day. The reason was because my colleague, Vickel Narayan and I were privileged to work with a visiting group of academic faculty (international languages, and accountancy departments) from Shandong University (China). They have 2 weeks in New Zealand, much of which they are spending on an intensive Professional Development course at Unitec NZ, which is ranging in subject matter from, to name but a few, facilitating large classes, assessment, and eLearning.
I went to see another colleague, Ed Flagg beforehand to get an overview as to what our visitors might be hoping to do, and consequently planned a hands-on, interactive session where they would enrol into a Ning community and follow up with a Web 2.0 web quest (using resources we had hosted in Moodle).
The group from the very beginning were engaged, enthusiastic, and willing to try anything. They all signed up for their Ning, took photos with the laptops they were using them and added them to their profiles, participated in discussion forum, and made blog postings. The Web 2.0 quest involved pairs or groups of three choosing a Web 2.0 tool they were interested in and knew little or nothing about, and then doing some research in the Internet to find out what the tool was. The next stage was to think how learners might use the tool and how it may enhance learning and encourage active engagement. Finally, the group presented their findings and shared their ideas, before identifyng some opportunities as well as some issues...and were overall incredibly positive. At one point, the three accountancy teachers, who had never heard of virtual worlds before, but chose it as the tool to research and think about for their teaching, became really excited. They now have plans to set up their own virtual business, and run simulations and role plays there! It was so...uplifting...to witness people really engage with ideas, and even though they face far greater barriers that the privileged folks here, they instead chose to dream a little. It was a joy. I came away inspired :-)
Just wanted to jot a couple of thoughts down in response
to this podcast "Teaching outside the limits of space and time" which I listened to while running along the waterfront
in Auckland a couple of days ago. The podcast features the EdTech Posse who pretty regularly have entertaining discussions around a whole heap of aspects of ICT enhanced learning and teaching. (They have a laid-back, pretty unstructured approach, sometimes featuring pub-settings, and often with guest appearances by the dogs...you just have to listen :-) )
In this particular podcast a lot of what they were saying hit a
note of accord and I found myself grinning like an idiot (not a good
look at the best of times). Some of the key topics they covered were designing programmes and what (if any) is the optimum duration for a course for effective learning, and aligning assessment (types as well as content with course design) - i.e. if you have a course that encourages open learning, then more traditional forms of assessment are unlikely to measure the effectiveness of the learning that has taken place. They also mulled over the importance of building learning networks, but that these too need time to develop, and that it is hopeless to try to force a community to develop. The final point was about podcasting - taking offline conversations and putting them online...but in a forum where futher discussion from disparate voices from around the globe is encouraged.
I did think there were a couple of points I'd like to add into the mix. For example, when they discussed the optimum length of a course, one aspect that I don't think was mentioned directly was motivation (extrinsic or intrinsic), although there was discussion about how interest in a subject can shape the learning experience (irrespective of duration). Alongside this factor is the notion of whether a learner is 'ready'...if they have developed the necessary cognitive framework that can be built upon with this next set of thinking and/or skills. If the learner is in just the right spot then an hour may be all it takes to turn the tide; something that just falls into place that makes sense of everything else. I think that this may be the case irrespective of whether it's a content based or process based course.
The other thing that really struck my imagination was the embedding of one discipline with in another that really 'smokes the tyres' of the learner. The example was the art class with embedded math. Awesome. We did something similar (but not as sophisticated) at Dubai Men's College where we had a project-based ICT enhanced blended-learning programme over 40 weeks. Math, English, academic literacies, ICT literacies, and Arabic were all integrated into the incremental, experiential learning course. Students would gradually produce one artefact over 10 weeks, building cumulatively another 'bit' each week, and the focus was very much on the process - the learning journey - rather than the end product.
I reckon I've drivelled on for long enough. I'd highly recommend the podcasts as thought-provoking and entertaining.
This video is
an extract from a workshop that was facilitated by Diana Ayling and
Hazel Owen with the Business Department at Unitec NZ. The workshop was
part of an initiative initiated by the Business Department to revisit
the programmes that they offer students, and the learning experience.
Formal and informal sessions focussed on aspects such as:
A sense of the dynamic discussions that have been ongoing is captured, as well as a feelings of excitement, seeing potential, anxiety, and concerns around pragmatic issues.
The extract features discussion around the results of the ICTELT survey that participants had completed before the session, as well as dialogue around blended learning in general, and what a course that uses the ICTELT design mindmap as a foundation may feature.
(If
you would like to find out more about the work that underpins some of
the workshop and the ICTELT mindmap, please feel free to visit the ICT Enhanced Learning and Teaching wiki.
A brief comparison of Web 1.0 and Web 2.0. The comparison was given as part of a workshop around using ICT Enhanced Learning and Teaching in general, and Web 2.0 in partcular. As such this is an excerpt from the workshop, which was facilitated by Hazel Owen and Vickel Narayan (The Centre of Teaching & Learning: Te Puna Ako, Unitec NZ)..
After much discussion and research with Fran Skilton and Donna Salmon, on Wednesday May 13th a group of groundbreaking librarians met at Unitec NZ to delve more into what the learners of today could potentially be using for their research.
We started with an overview and introduction to the Moodle site that had been developed, and then moved into an icebreaker which included discussion around favourite food types (given that we were heading toward lunchtime) - there seemed to be a majority vote for chocolate!
After discussing Web 2.0 and what it is, we moved into the scenario of Susie, and then heard an excerpt from David Lankes "You are the Future of Libraries: No Pressure" who speaks about the future of libraries and the changing 'shape' of information literacy.
After some discussion about Susie and the video, the participants then organised themselves into groups of between 2 and 4, with a laptop per group and logged into Mindmeister. The remit was to mindmap issues, concerns, opportunities, potentials, required support around the library and meeting the needs of students such as Susie. After some initial hiccups with setting up Mindmeister accounts, everyone got up and running, and soon the mindmap started to take shape on the screen in front of us as people edited synchronously. It was superb to walk around and listen to the discussions that were happening around the mindmapping exercise, and also see what happened as people gained confidence – both in skills with the tools and communication within their group.
After a quick overview of the minmap, each group logged into the Libraries of the Future Ning community.
Summarising some of the key themes from the mindmap, people summarised their thoughts and added discussions, and then went on to add to other people’s discussions and started to answer some of the questions that had been posed. Hopefully, some of the other people in the international Ning community will also add to the discussions.
There are now discussions around a day-long retreat (with chocolate on tap) to explore the Web 2.0 tools, and to discuss potential initiatives for Unitec NZ library.
I
have just finished working on a mindmap that tells the story of Susie
and her use of Web 2.0 tools to conduct research for her assignments.
The mindmap: Susie Web 2.0 Research
is designed to give an idea of the complex web of information, ideas,
sharing, evaluation and analysis that can go on (in an ideal world)
when the potential of the Web 2.0 is exploited fully.
The Scenario
Susie is studying at Unitec NZ for a Bachelor of Architectural Studies. She is in her second year and has just received the rubric for her next assignment, which is a paper that focuses on analysing architectural sites, discussing a hypothetical development, which demonstrates, for example how to ensure the environmental sustainability of the project.Susie and her classmates initially sit around with their laptops and discuss strategies, ideas, and deadlines. They set up a Mindmeister mindmap and make sure that it has been shared with everyone in the group, and then they brainstorm into it while also consulting Wikipedia for insight into some of the key terminology and concepts, as well as for inspiration. Susie meanwhile Tweets a couple of questions out to her Twitter community (several of who are architects) around environmental sustainability. Before the group sign off they also set up a PB Works wiki site, and a Twine account to collaboratively bookmark any of the useful resources they find online. A discussion around key tags and categories, along with the necessity for annotation plus a brief evaluation, helps ensure that the resources they discover are actually useful. Finally, the group members check that they have Skype contacts and mobile phone numbers for each other.
Over the next couple of weeks Susie starts her research. She searches Google with some of the key words and phrases that she brainstormed with her classmates, and brings up a host of tools and resources. She explores an online community of architects, and finding someone whose work she likes, Susie emails her with some questions about design. She also watches some videos around the subject, attends a couple of Webinars for architects, accesses a metasite that collates urban planning links specific to New Zealand, searches Flickr for designs, takes a tour of Paris on a site that uses a mashup, and logs in to Second Life to visit the Architects Community and the virtual library. During the time she is doing this, she publishes some of her initial thoughts in her blog and receives some comments from around the globe that challenge some of the ideas, or give suggestions how they might be expanded. She is also able to access some raw data made available in open databases around soil and geology, which she collates and displays in Gapminder – an online tool that transforms the data into a dynamic longitudinal representation of soil erosion tendencies. Every time she discovers a resource she thinks is useful she adds it to the group Twine, and she and her group have read, summarised and referenced three journal articles each and added them to the group wiki.
Finally, she pulls all of her ideas together into a mindmap that forms the framework and structure for her assignment (using the notes function on the mindmap tool to help her remember key points and sources). She types up her assignment adding links, images, and references as she goes. Her last steps are to add her reference list (which she has been keeping online in Noodle Tools), and then to run the assignment through a free online plagiarism checker tool to check for unintentional errors.
Recently an email dropped into my Flickr inbox asking if I would like a photo I had taken of Rangitoto and licensed under Creative Commons to be included in a map project (the seventh edition of the Schmap Auckland Guide). Schmap not only offer maps. You can also 'emplore' a destination online through the combination of maps, photos and reviews. Widgets are available that can be embedded into your blog(s), and you can use the maps on your mobile device. It seemed like a great project that really started to dig into some of the potential of Web 2.0, and the sum of the whole being much greater than the parts! :-)
Ever
had that meeting where you have been working on innovative approaches
to something, and then you hit the brick wall? The person or group who
really do not want anything to do with what you are suggesting and are
not open to seeing the potential benefits, but rather focus on issues.
This animation: "Web tech guy and angry staff person"
looks at some of the common barriers frequently mentioned, and
discusses responses while also acknowledging that there is no easy fix.
I found it useful for raising awareness of some of the key points and
how I might open a dialogue around them in relevant situations.
A few days ago I was out running and listening to podcasts, one of which was by Sarah Robbins-Bell entitled "Social Media and Education: The Conflict Between Technology and Institutional Education, and the Future" (which can also be watched as a streaming video).
I was very impressed with the accessible way that she described the
potential of Web 2.0 and social media with learners, and the potential
of these types of ICT to enhance teaching.
She emphasises the role tertiary education in helping students develop critical literacy skills to enable them to evaluate and analyse the resources and information that they locate, and the knowledge creation that they become involved in. Key concepts that she mentions are active participation and collaboration, especially in blended sessions...if the students are on Facebook instead of participating in a session it is to do with the design and facilitation of the session...not, necessarily, the learner.
The Educause site provides the following summary of the session: "Today's technology enables users to form and join communities of common interest to learn and share information. In opposition to the privileged learning spaces of higher education, social media encourage learners to seek out their own answers and construct knowledge as a community rather than as individuals. Twitter, Flickr, Facebook, and Second Life offer new learning spaces, but how do they fit into the learning expectations of institutions?"
