Blog Posting #2: Learning 2.0

We learn by doing. This seems to be an easy enough concept to understand. It makes great sense. And yet, many teachers, including myself, get caught up in passing along the information, and too often the info means nothing to our students. Web 2.0 can change this. With Web 2.0 tools, we can engage our learners, help prepare them for the future, and they will be learning by doing. As teachers it is important to not resist this, but to embrace it. We must first use the resources available in our own classroom, and then maybe educational reform can take place.

According to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVr5pokOVG0, most students are already using Web 2.0 outside of school. They enjoy it, and we should encourage the students by using it in traditional learning settings. This video also brings up the concern of public safety and such which should be considered just as any matter of public safety should. However, Web 2.0 offers the benefit of learners taking control of their learning. The learners can work through problems and such on their own and get feedback. Web 2.0 also offers learners help with the practicing of communication skills. This Youtube video shows some positive ways that some schools in Scotland are using Web. 2.0. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVr5pokOVG0

Todays' students are 21st century learners. They spend an exorbitant amount of time using Web 2.0 tools, whether they realize it or not. This Youtube video offers an idea of how much time the 21st century learner spends. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NzQqPH3JRw Of course this is a generalization, but the main idea is that Web 2.0 is here, and as teachers we should utilize this tool. It will only benefit our learners. By individually using Web 2.0 tools, we can influence our learners, and begin to change the tide of education.

I have thought of a great use for blogging in my classroom. In my orchestra class, I have always had the students keep a practice log. I can now have the students keep a practice log through a blog. They can add to it, by writing about the practicing experience, and explaining why they practiced what they did. This is an example of how a Web 2.0 tool can further engage students. Web 2.0 has many exciting learning options for the teacher and the student.

References

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVr5pokOVG0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NzQqPH3JRw

Week 1 - Blog Posting #1 - Web 2.0

I had not heard of Web 2.0 before last month's class. I had never realized the power of learning through the internet. Sure, research can easily be done on the internet, but to learn from one another? I had never considered this aspect of the web before.

Web 2.0 is a powerful tool for education that has not been considered in most places. It seems that technology itself is just now being encouraged within classrooms, and yet, the full possibilities of learning are still not being explored. Web 1.0 is being embraced, but the collaborative piece has not been explored. Yes, there is some worry and concerns to be considered within the world of Web 2.0. Privacy, safety, etc. are vital when exposing students to this world. Students should be educated about how to keep information private, and about how to discern what is scholarly. These issues hopefully will not deter educators from using Web 2.0 tools. Skiba (2006) offers some ideas on ways to use Web 2.0:

• Bookmarking, so that students can gather sources from one another and instructors, instead of being limited to what they can find on their own.
• Social Writing Platforms (to work collaboratively, or even blogging)
• Searching and saving information (ex. searching news stories over time)

This makes me consider the options for my own classroom. I can use social writing platforms for music history papers. Social networks for discussions on music theory, as well as posting tutorials and such. Web 2.0 has so much to offer in the educational world.

The benefits of Web 2.0 are not only furthering learning, but also motivating and engaging the learner. Barlow (2008) speaks of his success with this. Barlow is a science teacher and he used blogging and podcasts with his students. The students became active in their education and intrinsically motivated. Barlow also addressed the fact that even within Web 2.0, you have to make the information interesting and meaningful to the students. One cannot just

setup a blog and expect learning to take place. There must be a purpose. The article is definitely worth a read, and offered me ideas on what I want within my own classroom. To me, the important thing is to make every thing purposeful. All Web 2.0 tools must be made interesting and meaningful to the student, and then the student will be actively engaged. Barlow's experience with podcasting was exciting. He would often overhear students discuss something they learned from listening to a podcast. This would be the ultimate reward for me: to have students' talk about learning outside of the classroom.

While I enjoy embracing all of these ideas and thinking of new ways to engage my students, the subject of internet blocks comes up. Within districts, so many Web 2.0 tools are blocked from use within schools. As of now, I do not know what is available to me, as I have not started the school year yet. I will simply have to wait, and then see what I can do. I am sure that there is still a multitude of Web 2.0 resources that will be available, and it will be fun, exciting, and

interesting to learn new ways to further engage my students.

Barlow, Tim (2008). Web 2.0: Creating a classroom without walls. The Journal of the Australian Science Teachers Association, 54(1), 46-48. Retrieved August 4, 2009, from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=9&hid=3&sid=49b04d57-6e36-48ef-9706-45f0e2d22038%40sessionmgr11&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=31324945

Skiba, Diane (2006). Web 2.0: Next great thing or just marketing hype? Nursing Education Perspectives, 27(4), 212-214. Retrieved August 4, 2009 from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=12&hid=105&sid=1be4bbb3-ea39-47c9-a4dd-c8296da24a68%40sessionmgr11&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=ehh&AN=21801702