Web 2.0 Technologies

"Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs, wikis, podcasts, and RSS feeds have been dubbed "social software" because they are perceived as being especially connected, allowing users to develop Web content collaboratively and open to the public" (Alexander 2006 cited in Parker and Chao 2007) Question: Does anyone over 40 years of age (not working in IT or media) have a clue what any of those words mean? If these are just things that kids and computer programmers play with when they should be getting some fresh air - can't we just ignore it? From an academic perspective is collaboratively designed web content such a good idea? How many times have you written "don't use wikipedia" when marking a student essay? What's the real fear? Is it that we lecturers are losing control of the information flow? Or is it that we don't trust students to develop their own ideas? Lars Aronsson, a data systems specialist, summarizes the controversy as follows: "Most people, when they first learn about the wiki concept, assume that a website that can be edited by anybody would soon be rendered useless by destructive input. It sounds like offering free spray cans next to a grey concrete wall. The only likely outcome would be ugly graffiti and simple tagging, and many artistic efforts would not be long lived. Still, it seems to work very well.(Heigl, Richard; Glaser, Markus; Ebersbach Anja (2006): Wiki: web collaboration. Springer, ISBN 3540229396) Just thinking about that grey wall .... Either way we can't ignore these technologies, we have to work out how to use them to everyone's benefit - learner and teacher. "talk to junior staff in any organisation and they'll be the ones doing this stuff. Obviously I'm not suggesting you give the office junior a fat load of bandwidth and let them play all day but consider how these digital natives are going to change the way you structure your business" (Ranger, S 2007) Enough chat - what are these tools and how can we use them in HE? Wikis Blogs Social Networking Sites ...........Facebook ...........delic.io.us ...........Second Life

Objectives

So why did I sign up for this course? I mean, it's not like I haven't got enough to do already! On reflection, I think there were 3 reasons; boredom children and work. (Thinking about it they are the three drivers for most things.) Boredom: If you read Wikipedia's definition and explanation of boredom carefully it mentions a couple of things of direct relevance. "1) Perhaps more importantly, boredom is often a symptom of deeper problems, such as depression, ineffective classroom teaching, or ineffective management in the workplace. and 2)Some people believe that boredom can be cured by activities such as exercise or social activities" So I am bored in the classroom and as a result my students are bored and need some social activity or exercise to cure the ennui. Is e-Learning the answer for all of us? Children Secondly - children! I am being left behind. What is so fascinating about The Sims anyway? What do they learn from it 18 hours a day? Have you noticed children spend more time playing with computer technology than watching the TV? Have you noticed students get bored sitting in class just listening? And what does VARK tell us about people's need to interact to learn? Perhaps e-Learning is the answer? Is it the bridge between the generations - between the teacher and the learner? And who is now the teacher and who is the learner? If new technology is transparent for kids, yet opaque for us parents - doesn't that make them the teachers? And isn't that what we are trying to encourage - independent learning? Work The last reason is clearly that of work. One or two universities are clearly ahead of the game and we need to catch up if we want to build any sort of reputation in this area. Leicester's MediaZoo demonstrates what can be done as does this clip from YouTube So, in summary, can e-Learning technologies be used to engage learners in HE?

A sort of contents page

Assuming that you read them in chronological order of course! 1. Objectives for following the pgCeL course 2. Web 2.0 technologies - the new toolkit 3. Web 2.0 experienced 4. Blogs 5. Social Networking Sites - Facebook 6. Social Networking Sites - Second Life 7. Breaking out of the classroom 8. Learning Spaces 9. Reflections on being a virtual student 10.The 5 Stage Model 11.Integrating e-Learning into current modules