Loisath-My ICT Journey

This is part 2 of a series of blogs about using Web 2.0 technologies in the classroom. This section looks at the reasons why we need to change the way we teach to include web 2.0 tools.

What Do the Experts Say About Web2.0 Technology in Education? – Part 2

Steve Hargadon- “Web 2.0 is the future of Education” (Hargadon, 2008)

Hargadon is director of the K12 Open Technologies Initiative at the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), and the founder of Classroom 2.0. The social network Classroom 2.0 has over 13,000 members who are(Classroom 2.0, 2008) interested in Web 2.0 and collaborative technologies in education. He is well respected and very active in writing and speaking about Web 2.0 issues relating to education.

Hargadon believes “that the“ read/write Web, or what we are calling Web 2.0, will culturally, socially, intellectually, and politically have a greater impact than the advent of the printing press. (Hargadon, 2008)

He identifies ten trends that have particular importance for education and learning. I have summarized and combined the trends into categories that I think will make sense and be relevant to our school situation.

Information, collaboration and opportunity are part of our core business as educators. We have a responsibility and a moral obligation as teachers to help students access the tools they will need to make sense of their real and online world. Web2.0 is already part of all forms of modern communication, providing access and opportunities now and in the future so it must be included in the school curriculum.

David Warlick

David Warlick  is an educator, author and consultant in educational technology. He is a strong supporter of Web 2.0 and advocates that teachers take advantage of the unique capabilities of the technology.

“David Warlick has been an innovator and leader in the field of educational technology and a prolific programmer. His classroom blogging site, Class Blogmeister, serves more than 100,000 users, and his attribution tool, Citation Machine, receives more than a half-million page views a day.”(Warlick D. , 2006, p. Bio)

“Blogs have grown like a range fire and they have exerted amazing influence on our lives, causing us to redefine journalism and political activism. Blogs also hold enormous potential for education as teachers and administrators have a new avenue for informing and inviting the broader learning community and for students as they learn to communicate by becoming part of the global conversation.”(Warlick D. F., 2005, p. 5)

He discusses the way our economic system has changed from the Agricultural Age through the Industrial Age to the Knowledge Age that we have today. He explains how and why the curriculum must change to address the nature of information that is a result of technology.

He groups the Web 2.0 outcomes into three purposeful areas for educators and students. Collaboration, communication and information are three essential elements for rich inquiry based classrooms. There is no easier way to achieve these elements than to use the web 2.0 technology.

“Today, the world is a different place. Our sense of the future has changed, our students are different, and the very nature of information has changed. Technology has advanced at a rate that would have been unbelievable to me when I was growing up. As a result, there is a fundamental question that faces us today, as educators and as communities. What do children need to be learning today? ..and How do they need to be learning it?”(Warlick D. , 2006, p. Welcome)

References:

Classroom 2.0. (2008). Main. (Hargadon, Producer) Retrieved Nov 12, 2008, from Classroom 2.0: http://www.classroom20.com/

Hargadon, S. (2008, July 25). Web 2.0 is the Future of Education. Retrieved November 2008, from Steve Hargadon K-12 educational technology: collaborative web technologies, free and open source software, and the future of education. : http://www.stevehargadon.com/2008/07/web-20-is-future-of-education-talk.html

Warlick, D. (2006). Retrieved Nov 12, 2008, from CoLearners: http://davidwarlick.com/wordpress/?page_id=3

Warlick, D. F. (2005). Raw Materials for the Mind. Raleigh, North Carolina, USA: The Landmark Project.

Convert Your Web Page to Web 2.0 and Your Staff Along with It. #1

This is the first in a series of blogs describing our school’s journey to using Web 2.0 technology in our classrooms . It includes the background research, reflection on a trial run, and problems and possible solutions.

Why Change to Web 2.0?

What is Web 2.0?

Web 2.0 is not a new invention but a shift in the use and capabilities of the World Wide Web. Previously the Internet was used mostly to retrieve information but now, due to changes in the software, users can easily and without technical knowledge participate as contributors, collaborate online and have access to online software.

“These concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities and hosted services, such as social-networking sites, wikis, blogs, and folksonomies (the practice of catgorising content through tags).” (Stilton Studios, 2008)

Teachers and students who participate in Web 2.0 have powerful tools to construct knowledge, collaborate locally and globally and to be creative with many powerful and free online tools (think, communicate  and create).

Part 1: The People:

Since discovering web2.0 (blogging, online personal learning networks, wikis) I can’t help but feel all teachers should know and use these tools. I’m not sure if it is part of human nature that we have to share and bring others onboard to think the way we do because it is reaffirming or because we believe it is important and our duty to nurture our peers.  I feel there is an urgency to inform teachers about the educational online world. So much is going on in the “webasphere” especially in education, that if teachers are not connected then I fear they are being left behind and can only provide an outdated education program.

Part 2: Community  & Communication

The web site at our school is professionally designed and provides lots of information for parents and prospective families about the history of the school, the curriculum it offers, newsletters, contact details etc. However the communication is directed one way- out to the community. Even then only one or two people in the school have the technical knowledge required to upload information. Putting student work on the web page for viewing is limited by the time it takes one person to do it and without any avenue for feedback, one wonders if anyone even sees it.

Part 3: The Solution:

To solve both problems I believed we could convert the web page to weblogs and by giving the staff ownership of their own class blog they would begin to learn about web 2.0. This sounds simple, but of course there are many complications and responsibilities when you combine publishing material to the wider community, students work, and multiple teachers with a wide range of skills and knowledge.

•    Student safety and privacy,

•    school integrity, and

•    teacher’s professional image

…all have to be considered and protected. And this is a big change in the underlying philosophy of a school, which until now has had almost complete control of material that was published or written to the school community. The school now has to consider the “digital identity” that it is creating.

The Australian, Victorian Department of Education has links to documents, advise and help guides for schools and teachers who want to start their own web 2.0 pages. I have linked to some of the material below.

Documents School Must Have

Internet Acceptable Use Policy for Students

Student Images Agreement

Acceptable Use Policy for School (or Department’s) ICT Systems

Documentation Teachers Should Read

Copyright Information Sheet for Schools(National Copyright Unit, 2008)

Student safety and blogging(DEECD, 2008)

Global Teacher – Blog Directory and Web 3.0 Community(Global Teacher)

It is important to have the essential cyber safety rules and protocols in place before starting weblogs to protect student online identity. For example

• Student photos if the student can be easily recognized will not be used
• Only first name and grade, or initials, or an online name will be used
• All comments will be moderated by the teacher before appearing on the page

In our trial period we decided to follow the Department’s(DEECD, 2008) advice with becoming “proficient with your own teacher blog” (DEECD, 2008) before creating any student blogs. From my own experience the best way to understand how blogging can facilitate learning is to have your own blog and this is one time in teaching ICT that I think it is important for teachers to have prior learning before introducing it to their students.

References

DEECD. (2008, Oct 21). Teacher > Global > Blogs. (S. o. (DEECD), Producer) Retrieved Nov 12, 2008, from Department of Education and Early Childhood Development State Government of Victoria

Stilton Studios. (2008). Glossary. Retrieved November 12, 2008, from Stilton Studios: http://www.stiltonstudios.net/glossary.htm#w

based on the Connect Learning with David Warlick podcast episode 98

I was listening to the podcast with Chris Lehmann about Educon 2.0 Conference. Chris Lehmann is the “Principal” of the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia. It is a school with Year 9 and 10 students -and growing- with a progressive philosophy using web 2.0 technology to achieve their goal. They collaborate with their students in all matters, work closely together as a staff and always have the “scientific” approach as the understory for their pedagogy.
Inquiry Research Collaboration Presentation Reflection
It sounds like a dream school, one that is beginning to look like a true school of the future, one that has stepped out of the mould away for the stereotypical institutions that we know as schools. It is no wonder that Chris Lehmann talks so enthusiastically about his school.

Secondly, this is the second podcast that I have heard the same story told the by podcast author. In this scenario David Warlick had his podcast notes on iTunes infected by porn spam and he had only found out about it through his Twitter network. He didn’t know the person who had found the spam bu the way that the spam was discovered was by a podcast user who didn’t know David but made a comment on Twitter for someone to tell the him of the spam. This is exactly the same as the previous story but different people. “An example of the “bigger mind” a community of people who you are in conversation with.”

This is the whole point of Web 2.0. It is about the community of like-minded people who you may never have met but are “in conversation” with.
I feel I am at the edge of this conversation not quite in there. I know it is difficult at the beginning to build the conversation because a conversation can’t be one way. It means having to have something to say too and being prepared to make comments and read what others have to say. I know that it is worth it because I can see the conversations that others are having.

It is the biggest revolution in professional communication in my lifetime. Instant messaging is huge but the way this has grown to become a tool for Personal Learning and Professional Growth is powerful.