The Use of Web 2.0 Technologies in Economics Teaching*

Bhagesh Sachania

Information Manager Economics Network

*& Research, Policy, Analysis and Public Engagement

What is Web 2.0?

• Umbrella term for a range of internet applications

• Examples include blogging and various social network sites

• Moving static to more dynamic web content

• Encourage interaction between and within groups

• User driven and strong emphasis on sharing

What We Will Cover

• Blogging– Introduction/possible use in teaching

– Examples

– Activities

• Social Bookmarking (Delicious)

• Video (YouTube)

What We Can’t Cover:

• All the technical and related issues • New revised Guide to Using Blogs in

Economicswww.economicsnetwork.ac.uk/showcase/ayres_blogs.htm

• Looks at software options, writing and managing content, risks, specific uses for Economics and the future for blogs

Blogs: Key Characteristics

• Journal format

• Messages or posts

• Links

• Use of tags

• Invite comments

• Single or multiple

• Personal

• Departmental/Institutional/Corporate

Blogs: Key Characteristics

• Ease of use

• Non-technical

• Customisable

• Accessible

• Increasingly a social/networking activity

Blogs: Educational Uses

• Online teaching resources/research interests

• Course web page

• Online discussion

• Group blog

Blogs: Examples

• Teaching blogs

• Economics blog aggregators

• Economics podcast blogs

• Individual academic blogs

• Group blogs

Pedablogy by Steve Greenlaw

• Excellent US blog on Economics teaching

• Emphasis on the use of technology in teaching

• Useful archive going back to 2005, as well as current commentaryhttp://jerryslezak.net/pedablogy/

Economics Roundtable

• Aggregator site of over 120 Economics blogs

• Can view latest posts, explore links to individual blogs and get a feel for what is happening in the Economics blogosphere

• Good for identifying blogs in your specific subject area, but lots of posts to readhttp://www.rtable.net/index/rt/economics/recent/

Palgrave Econolog

• Aggregates content from Economics blogs

• Filters posts into: reviews of papers, conference reports, original research and everything else

• Zeitgeist and Hot Topics features pick out trends in the Economics blogospherehttp://www.econolog.net/

EconTalk

• Part of the Library of Economics and Liberty website

• Features extended audio interviews with Economists and others

• New interviews added every weekhttp://www.econtalk.org/

Economics in Action

• Part of the Why Study Economics initiative from the Economics Network

• Aimed at encouraging broader understanding of Economics, especially among prospective University students

• Films, audio interview and articles aimed at a popular audiencehttp://whystudyeconomics.ac.uk/blog/

Greg Mankiw’s Blog

• Supports his teaching at Harvard and his commonly used textbooks

• Uses the blog to keep in touch with current / former students and discuss current topics http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/

Robert Reich’s Blog

• Former Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration, now teaching at Berkeley

• Extensive comments on current economic policy issues that are also accessible to the general reader

• Supplements his many TV and radio appearanceshttp://robertreich.blogspot.com/

VOX

• Not a blog but a policy portal to analysis and commentary on economic issues

• Good example of collaborative writing increasing impact

• Articles aimed at a level between journalism and academic journals

• Produced by the Centre for Economic Policy Research – also includes audiohttp://www.voxeu.org/

Crooked Timber

• Another example of a group blog

• Covers a range of Social Sciences subjects, including Economics

• One of the few sites where you can learn as much from the comments as from the original blog postshttp://crookedtimber.org/

What’s Changed

• More portal sites, aggregators and group blogs for Economics

• Fewer teaching blogs as more material brought into VLEs

What’s Changing

• Greater integration of other Web 2.0 content into blogs from YouTube videos, Delicious links and other applications

• US stranglehold on the Economics blogosphere will slowly be broken

Activity 5: (Social) Bookmarking

• Create a delicious account

• Add a bookmark form your previous list

Uses

• Excellent way of sharing and managing all your bookmarks

• Find out what other people have been viewing: bhageshsachania

• Choose what to share

• Who to share with

• Potential for collaboration (learning/research)

What is YouTube?

• Number one video sharing site on the Internet, top 10 of all Internet sites

• Approx. 40% share of online video market - if it's not on YouTube, it doesn't exist?

• Viewers watch 10's of millions of videos each and every day

• Vast majority of videos are "user generated content" - made by people like you and me

A YouTube profile can

• Upload videos

• Assemble videos into playlists with their own URL

• Recommend videos to other people

• Subscribe to video providers (e.g. Nobel Foundation)

What you need (1)

• Camera – Flip £90 on Amazon

• Video editing software (Movie Maker/ iMovie) – no charge

• Account on YouTube or other video sharing site – no charge

• Consider a dedicated laptop

• May need a firewire cable or interface if getting a higher-spec camera

What you need (2)

• Something to say!

• YouTube is a community website, be prepared to engage

• You don't have to have to be the BBC - it's a world of webcams

• Perhaps you'd prefer to be Tim Harford instead

Example: Economics Network

• Uploading student videos

• Playlists

• Recommending Oxford Brookes student presentation videos

• Monitoring other providers

Educational Uses

• Distance learning

• Supplementary lectures (e.g. maths skills, presentation skills)

• Contextualising an issue, e.g. old news footage

• Perspectives for students to examine critically (news coverage, activist videos, TED lectures)

• Screen capture (e.g. demonstrating software)

• Short humour items to break up a long lecture

• Student video assignment?

Audience feedback

• “Inspired and emotional. I go all teary-eyed watching this.”

• “This guy makes Statistics much more fun. I am speechless to him, a truly amazing guy.

• “This is absolute mastery, I'm awed.”

• “Educational talk, yet innovative enough to stick in your mind forever.. Sticky Statistics!!”

• “I love this man. What I like most of him is the hope in a better future he gives with the strength of solid arguments.”

Finding more videos (1)

• Findability on YouTube is awful - try the Education section, try searching for Economics

• Video can't be indexed in the same way as text - relies on user input / metadata

• Third parties can help to get beyond the what's popular / new lists

Finding more videos (2)

• Intute Social Sciencesintute.ac.uk/socialsciences

• Economics Network video indexeconomicsnetwork.ac.uk/teaching/video

• Subscribe to EN’s YouTube profileyoutube.com/economicsnetwork

SlideShare - what is it?

• Upload PowerPoint presentations so they are freely available online

• Easily embeddable in other services e.g. blogs

• Add an mp3 soundtrack / narration and sync it with the slides

• YouTube for PowerPoint

• Community features such as tags, comments, favourites, related SlideCasts etc.

• http://www.slideshare.net/

SlideShare - an example

• Initially presented to 25 people at the DEE conference in 2007

• Now viewed over over 1300 times, downloaded over 50 times, embedded in 5 other websites

• Adding an audio track makes a SlideShare much more useful

• http://www.slideshare.net/cfbloke/the-effective-use-of-blogs-in-economics-education/

SlideShare - possible uses

• Disseminating lecture material for revision purposes

• Discuss lecture material using the comments feature to aid understanding

• As a student assignment assessing virtual presentation skills

• Find other presentations on your topic - save reinventing the wheel

• Building up a body of resources over time on a particular topic

• Drawing together conference / seminar materials using a common "tag"

Stephen Kinsella

• Great example of using a blog for teaching

• Uses polls, lecture videos and short articles to support each lecture

• Brings together content from a range of Web 2.0 sites – Twitter, Delicious, SlideShare etc.http://www.stephenkinsella.net/

Advice and Information

• Start with a hosted service

• Have a clear idea about what to produce– Examples: personal web page, research blog,

course outline

• Build it into your work routine, so it’s not an extra job

Intute

Intute: Social Sciences - a guide to the best of the web for education and research

http://www.intute.ac.uk/socialsciences/economics/

Over 1000 high quality economics Internet resources

Economics Network

Economics Network

http://www.economicsnetwork.ac.uk

Bookmarks and presentation will be available on