I’m taking a new class, “Social Networking For Educators: Using Web 2.0 in the Classroom,” and I’m very excited about this class because I see it as an extension of “Designing Constructivist Learning.” This time we’re focusing strictly on Web 2.0 and creating a Social Network. The reading and podcast for the first class focused on Web 2.0 and how we need to change our thinking about educating students. Both also stressed the role that Web 2.0 should play in this change of thinking. With the help of technology, we now live in a global economy and if we are preparing students and our workforce to compete in this new economy, we must teach them how to use this technology effectively.
In the reading, Solomon and Schrum state “Web 2.0 signals a transition from isolation to interconnectedness.” They go on to say that these new tools allow multiple learners to participate and collaborate rather than work alone. As an instructional designer in a corporate setting, collaboration is a major focus. While each person may have a specific role, most of us work on projects as a team. We particpate on multiple teams with various functions. However, when I think back to how I was taught in school, we had very few group projects and homework was done as an individual rather than a collaboration. Incorporating Web 2.0 into the classroom will help foster these skills. In the podcast, John Seely Brown, mentioned that we must focus more on a collaborative learning environment or context of learning rather than the content of learning. Web 2.0 creates an architecture that allows for this focus of collaboration.
As educators, we need to embrace these tools by using them ourselves so that we can make decisions about how to apply them to the classroom so that we encourage collaboration and learning by discovery. Our learners are already using these tools for many reasons. We need to take advantage of their motivation to use these tools and get them excited about learning. My question is this, with so many Web 2.0 applications available with similar functionality and more being developed each day:
- Where do we start?
- Do we choose tools currently being used by our learners? Does it matter?
- Will the tools we use be outdated in a few months or a year?
I’m looking forward to your thoughts and comments.
You asked 3 very important questions! I think if we teach our students how to use the tools properly; how to find the tools, how to learn how to use the tools (exploration, trial & error, collaborate w/ a friend) then they will be able to adapt their “tool” knowledge to learn any tool they want to use. This could take a while and it also needs to be practiced throughout the system so children are used to this philosophy/use of tools!
Your questions really made me think! I wasn’t sure how to respond at first, but here’s my current thinking:
“Where do we start” is a loaded question, but I think we start by considering which tools will deepen our students thinking, meet our educational goals, and provide safe opportunities for them to learn to collaborate.
As far as your second question, I’m not sure. I guess it’s nice to pick the tools the kids are using because they’ll have some experience, but I’m not convinced that should be the first criteria. Perhaps if you identify your learning objective and then look at the tools that would support your goal, you may find that some of the tools they use would work. Planning instruction centered on the tools they use (instead of focused on the learning objective) could be hard to achieve in a meaningful way.
Finally, in response to question 3, I think a lot of tools will be outdated in a few months, but I don’t think we need to switch tools as soon as a “better” one is released. Unless the current tool isn’t working well or meeting your needs, I think you can stick with it for a while. (Otherwise we’d go crazy!)