Web 2.0 and classrooms - week 4

Notes from textbook reading chapter 16
Mandy Peace

Technology has changed the world. Who would have thought that the computer and internet could changed the way we work, learn and play so drastically. The internet now provides us with a vast audience that can inspire us, we can collaborate with, learn from and create with. Hargreaves (2003) states, 'ICT's potentially provide a network structure to turn 25000 schools and their staff into another small world in which any two nodes can connect with each other easily and quickly' (p.13)

Web 2.0 is an umbrella term used to describe  the new generation of web-based communications including social networking, wikis, blogs and podcasts. It is now relatively simple for anyone with minimal expertise to create webspace.

It allows students to

• be creative
• have a degree of control over their own learning
• solve problems
• improve personal IT capabilities
• work cooperatively

By incorporating Web 2.0 into a classroom teachers are allowing students to be exposed to a rich and diverse learning environment. Some of the platforms that teachers could use in a classroom could be:

• blogs - this could be used as a forum for online journalling, or class blogs where students are encouraged to post specific pieces. It could be used to collect and store information on a certain topic or share work with your own class or other classes or even schools
• wikis - a place where students can place information they have researched for others to see. A collaborative place where students can work together without actually having to be in the same space
• Podcasts - a place for students to record and share things from music they compose to verbal instructions to information on topics they have learnt about.

It is important to understand that you don't need to KNOW everything. A classroom is a place of learning for teachers as well and often students find great pleasure in 'being the teacher' and teaching others about Web 2.0 capabilities.

references:
Hargreaves, D.H. (2003) Working literally: How innovation networks make an education epidemic. Nottingham: DfES Publications.