New technologies such as Blogging, RSS, social networks (and other systems generally thought of as Web2.0) have had a huge impact the way people manage and share information.
Developing/ Teaching Information Literacy
I think e learning technologists need to realise that the closed modular course, that is the usual fare on VLE’s such as WebCT and dare I say it Moodle, doesn’t fit with emerging use of computers. Bricolage –“the construction or creation of a work from a diverse range of things which happen to be available” (Wikipedia) I think best describes the processes that are emerging with things like Blogging and this is increasingly becoming a core skill in the workplace. This DIY approach to learning and information managemen, that web 2.0 seems to encourage, for me is the next frontier, and as educators we will need to find pedagogical ways to assimilate peoples bespoke systems for managing the information and networks that are important to them. Forcing students into corporately owned VLE’s like WebCT will increasingly jar with students’ experiences and expectations of social computing.
I think that new pedagogies should centre on encouraging loose networks between learners and a DIY approach to finding and creating/ publishing information. This would shift the role of teacher more towards that of facilitator or information aggorgator and learner to that of knowledge sharer rather than just knowledge consumer. I also very strongly believe that teachers should increasingly be engaging with learners through systems in which learners use currently, such as social network sites and blogs etc.
I think we need to be experimenting as much as possible with teaching through web 2.0 so that we can discover and harness the pedagogical opportunities that they create. Has anyone got any examples of using web2 techs as a pedagogical strategy?
