Web 2.0 Adoption In Schools
Presentation given at BAISNet Web 2.0 meeting
Who Participates?
Poll: Who reads the NY Times online? Uses Blogger? Wikipedia? Facebook?
Slide: Five-year trends
Slide: Total known Moodle sites
Top 10 U.S. web sites
1. Google
2. Yahoo!
3. Myspace
4. YouTube
5. Facebook
6. Windows Live
7. EBay
8. Wikipedia
9. MSN
10. Craigslist
Slide: Who Participates
Introduction
Why does a small, wildly enthusiastic group embrace Web 2.0 for teaching and learning, yet the majority do not? A growing club of international edubloggers seek to redefine education using Web 2.0 tools. Students have quickly adopted Web 2.0 to meet their social needs. Yet, only a minority of teachers have embraced Web 2.0 to support teaching and learning in their classes. Almost none employ Web 2.0 in their own professional practice. Why is this so? There must be good reasons, right? Seeking to understand these apparent contradictions may help us better understand what Web 2.0 actually is and what long-term potential the tool has for education.
Connectivism (George Siemens, 2004) may help explain the difference between observing Web 2.0 tools from a distance and embracing them.
- A new theory of learning impacted through technology
- Knowledge continues to expand exponentially and at an ever-increasing rate
- Learning happens in a variety of means, some informal and some through personal learning networks — what some have termed "School 2.0"
- Focus on the process of knowledge acquisition rather than knowledge itself.
- Challenges the notion that all learning takes place inside the individual
- Technology takes over the tasks of information storage and retrieval ("Hold on while I Google that.")
- Emphasizes skills of acquiring knowledge, making connections, seeing patterns, and making decisions.
- Leadership: highly-connected individuals who help facilitate knowledge flow within the organization.
Potentially Connective Technologies
- Learning environment, learning community
- Blog, wiki, podcast, forum, social network, (video) chat, microblog (doesn’t have to be web!)
Examples (focusing on enhancement)
- Summer Reading, Sustainability/Recycling
- Trip Planning Project (kmz file?)
- Reconstruction and Civil Rights Songs
- Pirates of Penzance
- Image galleries
- Becoming a World Class Negotiator
- Knowledge I gain through blogging: school Drupal sites, Riffly, Web Site Baker, K12 Online Conference, EduCon 2.0, connectivism
- The importance of reflective practice in professional improvement: forum diaries, A Window into Gaza
Conclusion
- Still seeking to understand
Suggestions
Richard Kassissieh is Assistant Head of School for Academics and Strategic Initiatives at
Rich,
Not sure who your BAISnet audience will be, but:
Is it worth starting the presentation with a clear definition of what Web 2.0 means? You have examples (blog, wiki, etc) but these technologies have been around for a long time – Web 2.0 is about fundamentally using them in a consciously new way.
Based on your above examples, sounds like you are in agreement with O’Reilly.
In my experience, many teachers don’t really know what some of these technologies are, even if they have heard the words by now.
Jac,
It turns out that I was last in a series of five speakers, but I did work in some slides from a previous presentation. Thanks for the feedback.
Richard