Web 2.0 and the school of the future, today

Neil Selwyn (2010)

Presenters

Catherine Emmerson Riccardo Rosadoni

Selwyn explains and explores the role of Web 2.0 tools in our current and future educational system discussing the challenges, obstacles, problems and proposed solutions.

Central Concept

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“Web 2.0 provides a convenient umbrella term for a host of recent Internet tools and practices ranging from social networking and blogging to “folksonomies” and “mash-ups” (p. 22)“In particular the “Web 2.0” label reflects the changing nature of contemporary online activity…” (p. 22)

What is Web 2.0?

“...an increased socialisation of Internet tools, applications and services.” (p. 22)

“...a “mass” Internet connectivity based around the collective actions of online user communities rather than individual users.” (p. 22)

“...shared digital content that is authored, critiqued and reconfigured by a mass of users - what has been described as “many-to-many” connectivity as opposed to “one-to-many” transmission.” (p. 22)

What is Web 2.0?

It has facilitated a move from consumption to production.

It has provided a location for “...“authentic” learning where knowledge is constructed actively by learners with the support of communal social settings.” (p. 23)

It has sparked debate about Web 2.0 being intrinsically linked to “the future of education.” (p. 23)

“...an opportunity to (re)connect with otherwise disaffected and disengaged learners.” (p. 24)

Why is it of educational importance?

“...artefacts that are positioned under the Web 2.0 label are of less importance than the wider ideals that are seen to drive their use (Allen, 2008).” (p. 22)

Web 2.0 Internet users are “more engaged, active and a participant in the key business of the Internet: creating, maintaining and expanding the ‘content’ which is the basis for using the Internet in the first place (Allen, 2008).” (p. 23)

Supporting needs of the 21st Century learner through “...emphasising freedom of choice and the empowerment of individuals through the ‘architecture of participation’ (Allen, 2008).” (p. 23)

“...education driven by the individual rather than the institution (Evans, 2009).” (p. 23)

Advantages of Web 2.0

Change is difficult

“...teachers were generally cautious in adopting collaborative and communal Web 2.0 practices that many felt could challenge traditional school structures.” (p. 24)

“...use of Web 2.0. tools largely depended on the rigidity or flexibility of the school curriculum.” (p. 24)

“...little evidence of critical enquiry or analytical awareness, few examples of collaborative knowledge construction, and little publication or publishing outside of social networking sites (Luckin et al, 2009).” (p. 25)

Acknowledging the realities of Web 2.0 use in the school of today

“...many Web 2.0 practices do not translate easily into classroom contexts.” (p. 25)

“...the structure of contemporary schools and schooling is responsible primarily for ‘emasculating’ the potential of Web 2.0 technology (Somekh, 2007).” (p. 26)

Inhibitors sighted in the reading:o structured hierarchical relationshipso formal systems of regulation - school curriculum is too rigido school buildings are architecturally unsuitable for networked wireless

technologyo teachers are “too old”, incompetent or distrintestedo students lack skillso leaders lack required direction or foresight

Acknowledging the realities of Web 2.0 use in the school of today

Is school’s out for ever?“...school is conceived as an outmoded technology from a past industrial age that should be dismantled.” (p. 27)

“Needs radical rethinking and reorganisation of existing structures.” (p. 28)

“...home-based Web 2.0 technologies are allowing students to learn despite (rather than because) of their schools.” (p. 28)

“...huge potential to create new stores of knowledge to the benefit of all, innovate more effectively, strengthen democracy and give more people the opportunity to make the most of their creativity.” (p. 29)

Popular solutions - Replacing the school with Web 2.0 technologies

A good hard look

“...digitally aligned modes of schooling that are built around the active communal creation of knowledge… imbued with a sense of play, expression, reflection and exploration.” (p. 29)

“...it no longer makes sense to retain ‘pre-digital’ models of curricular organisation focused on rigidly hierarchical organisation of static content under the control of the teacher.” (p. 30)

Embrace “Curriculum 2.0.” (p. 30)

“...give students the tools, and they will be the single most important source of guidance on how to make their schools relevant and effective places to learn.” (p. 30)

Popular solutions - Reinventing the school through Web 2.0 technologies

“...most educational thinking concerning Web 2.0 reflects an implicit “technology-first” way of thinking.” (p. 31)

“Educational term Web 2.0 represents the ‘killer app’ for bringing more desirable forms of socio- constructivist learning to the masses and a chance to reinvent education.” (p. 34)

“...Web 2.0 technologies are being used as a vehicle through which to express a long-standing tendency in western societies to view digital technology as a “technical fix” for wider social problems.” (p. 32)

“...“anti-establishment” ideals that have underpinned much of the development of information technology since the 1970s.” (p. 32)

Towards a more reasoned response

“...there is no neat, unproblematic “Web 2.0” solution to the deficiencies of twenty-first century education.” (p. 33)

“...at the very core of the debate are the ideological and ethical issues concerning what schools should be about and whose interests they should serve.” (p. 34)

“...failing to consider the wider social, economic, political and cultural contexts of the societal act of schooling.” (p. 34)

“...adopt more organic “bottom-up” approaches to the adjustment of schools and schooling.” (p. 35)

Conclusion

1. What is Web 2.0 and why is it of educational importance? (p. 22)“... shared digital content that is authored, critiqued and reconfigured by a mass of users - what has been described as “many-to-many” connectivity as opposed to “one-to-many” transmission.” (p. 22)

● What makes a good Web 2.0 tool? ● Each create a P(lus)M(inus)I(nteresting) table for

your chosen Assignment 2 tool. Discuss your results.

3. Replacing the school with Web 2.0 technologies (p. 27)“...school must be removed in order to facilitate the realisation of the digital transformation of education.” (p. 27)

● What outcomes for students, teachers, parents and the education system could result from replacing the school with Web 2.0 technologies.

● Is safety a concern and how might it be assisted?

Group Questions2. Acknowledging the realities of Web 2.0 use in the school of today (p. 24)“Social progress is driven by technological innovation.” (p. 31)

● What needs to change in our school so we can give students the tools they need to SOAR into their futures?

● What barriers exist to the integration of Web 2.0 tools into your classroom practise?

4. Reinventing the school through Web 2.0 technologies (p. 29)“...give students the tools, and they will be the single most important source of guidance on how to make their schools relevant and effective places to learn.” (p. 30)

● Where do you see St John’s currently residing on the reinvention continuum? Are teachers ahead of the game?

● How can we keep driving change in order to maintain curriculum that supports 21st Century skills?

Groupings

Group 1: Early adopters (1st contributors) - The ‘Replacer’ ready to replace the school with Web 2.0

Group 2: The Re-inventors (2nd contributors) - Ready for the “many to many” revolution

Group 3: The Collaborators (3rd contributors) - Analysing the relevance

Group 4: ‘User Driven’ Educators (Final contributors) - Acknowledging the reality

Technology is increasingly pervasive, resulting in greater interactivity of everything. This brings great opportunities for sharing, learning changes how learning can be accessed, causing debate which appears to have progressed from “should institutionalised education change” to “how do we change”?

“We need to have open and public debate on the nature and purpose of education in the digital age, which goes beyond safe slogans such as ‘meeting the needs of every child.” (p. 36)

Our Take on the reading...

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