Blogs

Blogs are among the first of the Web2.0 tools that appeared. In the past the main personal use for teachers seemed to as professional Journals. Teaching in the Digital Age. - Louise Starkey is indicative of this use.  (Note that   this Blog seems to abruptly end around 2008). Which raises some interesting questions. A current example may be Kevin's Meandering Mind. Life is not a race - Allanah King  has as a  purpose which appears to be slightly different. It is more an information sharing thrust.  Derek's Blog; Derek Wenmoth  moves more towards the, convincing the audience.  Scott Huette (2006) suggested an extensive list of uses of blogs in the classroom

Drawing on that list there was some evidence of teachers using blogs to;

•  post class-related information such as calendars, events, homework assignments and other pertinent class information.
• communicate with parents.
• provide examples of classwork, vocabulary activities, or grammar games.
• gather and organize Internet resources for a specific course.
• invite student comments or postings on issues in order to give them a writing voice.
• publish examples of good student writing done in class.
• show case student art, poetry, and creative stories.
• post tasks to carry out project-based learning tasks with students.
• build a class newsletter, using student-written articles and photos.

There appeared to be little use being made of activities that involved student

• reactions to thought-provoking questions.
• reactions to posted photos or videos.
•  journal entries.
•  results of surveys carried out as part of a class unit.
•  ideas and opinions about topics discussed in class.

There is even less evidence of students

• using blogs to create communities of learning (collaboration).

It also needs to be noted that while there are between 10 million and 30 million blogs (an interesting statistic in its self) there would appear to be little daily use in New Zealand schools. There is of course always the possibility that school / student blogs are private groupings and considering the safety issues this is as it should be. Leaving the issue of visibility aside for the moment. The conclusions arrived at after investigating whats out there, are;

• that there would appear to be little integration of blogs as a learning tool in New Zealand schools
• that would appear that secondary schools are using blogs less than primary schools
• that the dominate paradigm within the institution appears to be reflected in that use.

I would welcome correction on the posited conclusions especially if accompanied by some examples. I would suggest that this is not just a local issue

OCL4Ed Course Reflection 2

The course has raised some interesting thoughts re the barriers and opportunities of OER (Open Educational Resources)  beyond my philosophical position, of sustainability and equity. This is important as others within our institutions need to see some advantages, if the concept is to find fertile ground.

OCL4Ed Course Reflection 1

http://wikieducator.org/OCL4Ed

The concept of Open access to knowledge seems at first glance axiomatic and fitted well with my long belief that current practices of knowledge acquisition, are unsustainable and wasteful of human talent.

The question as to teaching being a vocation or profession raised some issues that I had not really thought about before, however. In an open source environment the idea that teachers are providers of knowledge is obviously seriously flawed and has been for some time. This did not surprise, but can I still even cling to the concept of a credentialed professional, as posited by Edgar Schein;

Massive Open Online Course

For me eLearning is about providing "affordances" that allow movement towards "heutagogy" (self determined learning). It is also my belief that we can not afford to waste the worlds human resources by only educating those that can afford it, or are lucky enough to be in a specific geographical location and set of buildings. If we add to this my belief that that access to knowledge belongs to all, as a basic human right, then the nexus of a micro Open Online Course (mOOC) and OCL4Ed (Open Content Licensing for Learners) has to be a starter. 

So I have enrolled with 400 odd others from 63 countries in  OCL4Ed 

Web 2.0 and Educational Paradigms

Roblyer et al (2003) suggest there are two paradigms that inform instruction, “Objectivist” and “Constructivist”.

They posit that the objectivist paradigm is informed by: Behaviourist (B.F Skinner), Information processing Cognitive-Behavioural (Atkinson and Shiffrin) and Systems-Systematic, theories of learning.

And that the constructivist paradigm is informed by: Social Activism (J Dewey), Scaffolding (Vygotsky), Stages of development (J Piaget), Discovery Learning (J Bruner) and Multiple Intelligences (H Gardner), theories of learning.

In the New Zealand context primary education generally has greater freedom to employ constructivist learning theories than the secondary and tertiary systems. The difficulties at secondary and tertiary levels are centred around the credentialing system especially at the secondary level with its atomised performance based standards   (an objectivist paradigm). At first glance Web2.0 would appear to support a constructivist paradigm. With its participatory model and it’s harnessing of collective intelligence and, wisdom of crowds.

The support for this argument should be evident in the instructional uses that Web2.0 applications are being put to and where they are being employed in New Zealand Schools. It is going to be an interesting time as primary students used to using web 2.0 tools arrive in greater numbers in secondary schools especially if we add BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) to the mix.


Reference Roblyer, M., Edwards, J., & Havriluk, M. (2003). Intergrating educational technology into teaching. New Jersey: Prentice Hill.

Web 2.0 Defined ?

What defines Web2.0   Wikipedia (2012), suggests the term Web2.0 became notable after the first O’Reilly Web2.0 Media Conference in 2004. Wikipedia is quoted here at some risk, considering the schism in educational institutions as to its validity as an academic source of information. Wikipedia, however, is a part of Web2.0 and it seems disingenuous not to include it in the discussion. Tim O’Reilly (2005) provides a complex and extensive description of the features of Web2.0. He suggests that;

• Web2.0 involves providing access to web based data management, facilities, rather than providing applications as such. That data is produced at what he calls the “edge of the web” by everyone who is interested, rather than by a few at what he calls the “centre of the web”. Suggesting that the fundamental rule is, the more the service is used the greater the amount of data involved. Use has no impact on the amount of data in Web1.0 applications, in comparison. 
• Web2.0 embraces harnessing collective intelligence; data is collectively generated and scrutinised. 
• Web2.0 applications, unlike Web1.0 applications, allow users to display data as they choose and to make hyperlinks as they see fit. The result being that Web2.0 “connections grow organically as an output of collective activity of all web users” (O’Reilly, 2005, p6).

It appears therefore that Web2.0 is built around a participatory model. Richardson (2006, p5) citing Rushkoff, highlights this participatory model of Web2.0 stating that “every person with access will have the ability to contribute ideas and experiences to the larger body of knowledge that is the Internet, and in doing so …they will be writing the human story in real time, together”.

It also appears that Web2.0 has the ability to harness, collective intelligence and the wisdom of crowds, depending on the application. With Collective Intelligence, being defined as emerging through deliberation, where people share, alter and evaluate other’s contributions to arrive at common ground. This is not the same as the wisdom of crowds which James Suriowecki(1995) suggests is that the wisdom achieved when data from a number of sources is aggregated.

If this is a useful conceptualization of what Web2.0 is, then applications that are clearly identified with Web2.0 should fit easily within it. Looking at  mode here. It is defiantly supplying facilities for managing data and while an application (Web Browser) has been used to access it, blogger it is not  supplying that application they are supplying a data management service. That data is defiantly being produced at the edge there has been no editor, publishing house or scrutiny by others before publishing. It is self evident that the greater the number of users (bloggers) the greater the data available, will be. It is possible to change how the data is displayed with the content being displayed in an order and logic which is the authors. There is also a set of layout templates to choose from and with knowledge of  HTLM / PHP it would possible to make some major changes to the look of the blog. The range of additional widgets and tools that can be added to the blog is also extensive. This blog, however, currently fails the conceptualisation being put forward with regard to collective activity. There are links out, but these are static rather than two way and there are no comments at this point in time. It has yet to become part of the blogosphere, threfore it has as yet, not been subjected to the wisdom of crowds. It has not had the opportunity for selection, comment and dissemination by the community of web users. This is not because its not possible but rather it is as yet not utilised. This is a Web2.0 beginner blog after all, and it has not been posted for long. References

What is web2.0? View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: web2.0 web)
Web 2.0 View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: 2.0 web)

O’Riley, T. (2005). What I sWeb2.0 Design patterns and business models for the next generation. Retrieved March 18, 2008 from the World Wide

Web:http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html Ricardson, W. (2006). Blogs, wikis, and podcasts and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

 Roblyer, M., Edwards, J., & Havriluk, M. (2003). Intergrating educational technology into teaching. New Jersey: Prentice Hill. Surowiecki, J. (2005). Wisdom of crowds. Random House:NewYork

Intent

The rational for a blog? Partly because of there was a requirement to have a blog: PD being undertaken. Hence the formal style on some posts and the reflections.  It also explains the gaps. The intention as of the April 2014 is to try and post at least once a week.On an interesting tool or aspect of eLearning.