Web 2.0: Learning platform for Higher Education
By The Nation
Published on June 21, 2010
Increasingly advanced technology, in particular the Web 2.0 application, can contribute greatly to the learning/teaching process - and all educators should take advantage of it.
Web 2.0 is commonly associated with web applications that facilitate interactive information sharing, interoperability, usercentred design, and collaboration on the World Wide Web.
A Web 2.0 site allows its users to interact with each other as contributors to the website's content, in contrast to websites where users are limited to the passive viewing of information provided to them.
Webbased communities, hosted services, web applications, socialnetworking sites, videosharing sites, and wikipedia.com all rely on this marvellous technology.
When combined with the Internet, Web 2.0 has the potential to transform how humans live, work, and communicate in higher education.
Most universities have already developed learning platforms (LP) to allow students to access course materials and to communicate with their classmates, lecturers and university staff. Such webbased applications usually include web pages, email, message boards, discussion forum, text and video conference, shared diaries and communication tools. Learning Management System (LMS) or Course Management System (CMS) is also introduced.
However, the use of such platforms within an old teaching frame may not deliver much impact at all.
After experimenting with the Web 2.0based LMS, CMS and LP for many semesters, I have found that students do better if the platforms allow them to selfdirect or personalise their learning. I thus strongly believe that ICT pedagogy should encourage students to interact with each other, asking questions and trying to find answers along the way. Such collaborative learning supports active learning and imaginative inquiry by students
Web 2.0 learning platform, therefore, comes as a perfect tool to help students achieve extraordinary learning results in classrooms, laboratories and beyond.
Thanks to Web 2.0 technology, LMS, CMS or LP can play an active role in promoting interaction, networked communication, discussions, integration, and add to the daily lives of the student community - offering users a range of pathways, modes, and styles of learning. It also offers rich opportunities for the individual empowerment of students within multiple learning modalities, which are the sensory channels or pathways through which individuals give, receive, and store information.
Based on my experience, I can testify that students learn better if they think about what they are learning and have an opportunity to engage with the learning materials, rather than simply get the chance to see it and passively use it.
This is why the read/write properties of Web 2.0 can help.
The Web 2.0 technology allows a twoway communication, something vital to university students. Today, Web 2.0 applications, such as blogs, wikis, podcasts, Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds, social tagging, mashups, Twitter, Facebook and so on are focused on the creation of communities that allow people with common interests to meet, collaborate and learn from each other. Therefore, educators can use such technology for their students' benefit.
However, the educators must realise that the Web 2.0 is just a tool for education. It is not supposed to replace lecturers in classrooms.
PRIYAKORN PUSAWIRO
Learning ScientistComputer Engineering Department, KMUTTpusawiro@cpe.kmutt.ac.th
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
ICT Books (Syllabus)
Auerbach, Carol(2006). Active Training: A Handbook of Techniques, Designs, Case Examples, and Tips .John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated,
Bruns,Axel.(2008). Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life, and Beyond: From Production to Produsage Peter Lang Pub Inc.
Bruns Axel,&J Jacobs ,j.( 2006). Uses of Blogs: Peter Lang Pub Inc.
Bowles, M. S. (2004). Relearning to E-Learning: Strategies for electronic learning and knowledge. Australia: Melbourne University Press.
Driscoll, M. (2002). Web-based Training: Creating e-Learning Experiences. San Francisco.
Grabe, M. & Grabe,C. (2007) Integrating Technology for Meaningful Learning. New York:Houghton Miffin Company.
Hess, G. & Hancock, S. (2001) Using Dreamweaver to Create e-Learning. Vancouver
.
Inglis, A., Ling, P., and Joosten, V. (2002) Delivering Digitally: Managing the Transition to the Knowledge Media, Second Edition London: Kogan Page.
Roblyer, M. D. (2003). Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching. Columbus, Ohio: Merril Prentice Hall.
Salmon, G. (2002). E-activities: The Key to Active Online Learning. London. Conducting training workshops: a crash course for beginners (by Eileen K. Van Kavelaar, newest edition)
The workshops that really work (by Hal Portner)--
The Non-Designer's Design Book (Robin Williams)
Katz,Y ,Millin,D,and Offir,B,(1996) The Impact of Information Technology,from Practice to Curriculum,London:Chapman&Hall
Chou,L,and Others.Technology and Education:New Wine in New Bottles Choosing Pasts and Imagining Educational Futures
Conole,G and Oliver,M,(Contemporay Perspectives in Elearning Research,themes,methods and Impact on Practice,London and New York:Routledge
Jung,I,(2005), ICT-Pedagogy Integration in Teacher Training:Application Cases Worldwide,Educational Technology&Society,8(2),94-101
Bruns,Axel.(2008). Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life, and Beyond: From Production to Produsage Peter Lang Pub Inc.
Bruns Axel,&J Jacobs ,j.( 2006). Uses of Blogs: Peter Lang Pub Inc.
Bowles, M. S. (2004). Relearning to E-Learning: Strategies for electronic learning and knowledge. Australia: Melbourne University Press.
Driscoll, M. (2002). Web-based Training: Creating e-Learning Experiences. San Francisco.
Grabe, M. & Grabe,C. (2007) Integrating Technology for Meaningful Learning. New York:Houghton Miffin Company.
Hess, G. & Hancock, S. (2001) Using Dreamweaver to Create e-Learning. Vancouver
.
Inglis, A., Ling, P., and Joosten, V. (2002) Delivering Digitally: Managing the Transition to the Knowledge Media, Second Edition London: Kogan Page.
Roblyer, M. D. (2003). Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching. Columbus, Ohio: Merril Prentice Hall.
Salmon, G. (2002). E-activities: The Key to Active Online Learning. London. Conducting training workshops: a crash course for beginners (by Eileen K. Van Kavelaar, newest edition)
The workshops that really work (by Hal Portner)--
The Non-Designer's Design Book (Robin Williams)
Katz,Y ,Millin,D,and Offir,B,(1996) The Impact of Information Technology,from Practice to Curriculum,London:Chapman&Hall
Chou,L,and Others.Technology and Education:New Wine in New Bottles Choosing Pasts and Imagining Educational Futures
Conole,G and Oliver,M,(Contemporay Perspectives in Elearning Research,themes,methods and Impact on Practice,London and New York:Routledge
Jung,I,(2005), ICT-Pedagogy Integration in Teacher Training:Application Cases Worldwide,Educational Technology&Society,8(2),94-101
ICT Resources
The following are some of the most used in education:
Google Groups /Docs /Maps*
Blogs*
Slideshare
Wikis *
Jamuse, Museworx
Virtual Earth
Bookmarking
Freemind
* Used in instruction already.
Google Groups /Docs /Maps*
Blogs*
Slideshare
Wikis *
Jamuse, Museworx
Virtual Earth
Bookmarking
Freemind
* Used in instruction already.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Videogames and Teaching
DICK AHLSTROM Science Editor in San Diego
Educators urged to incorporate video games in teaching
US SCIENCE CONFERENCE: FAR FROM being a waste of time, computer games are one of the best learning environments for students, according to an academic who lectures in literacy studies.
He urges educators to incorporate gaming strategies into modern education systems if they want to improve learning.
The idea that computer gaming will numb a student's mind is way off the mark, Prof James Gee of Arizona State University told a session of the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in San Diego. The gaming environment challenges the mind, encourages learning and could transform the standard educational format.
"Commercial video games, the ones that make a lot of money, are nothing but problem-solving spaces," he said yesterday during a session entitled First-Person Solvers? Learning Mathematics in a Video Game.
Prof Gee has been looking at gaming as an educational tool for some years, writing one of the first books on the subject in 2004.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0220/1224264879480.html
He is not advocating the use of Super Mario, Grand Theft Auto or Resident Evil as a way to learn multiplication tables or Irish history. But he wants to make use of the game structure that allows the gamer to learn. Gaming optimises learning in several ways, he says. For starters, games offer new information to the player only when it is needed and not all at once in the beginning.
"We tend to teach science, for example, by telling you a lot of stuff and then letting you do science," he said. "Games teach the other way. They have you do stuff, and then as you need to know information, they tell it to you."
They also coax the mind to engage with the game, in the process challenging the player to learn and advance. Prof Gee calls it being "pleasantly frustrating" as you attempt to overcome a difficult but doable challenge.
Many games also encourage the player to participate directly in the conduct of the game, to modify the playing environment, a process known as "modding".
This means the player must learn the rules of a system before being given access to the game environment to create a scenario. This is deep learning because the person must know much more than simply how to move around a screen or accomplish a task. "Think about it," said Prof Gee. "If you have to make the game, or a part of the game, you come to a deep understanding of the game as a rule system.
"If I had to mod science - that is, I had to make some of my own curriculum or my own experiments - then I would have an understanding at a deep level of what the rules are."
His arguments are not the wishful thinking of a thwarted gamer who grew up too soon. What he describes is already being put into practice. Prof Brianno Coller of Northern Illinois University uses gaming to help his mechanical engineering students to absorb the difficult mathematics of the subject.
He put together a driving game similar to Need for Speed or Gran Turismo, but driving in this case requires the application of mathematical tools and techniques.
Educators urged to incorporate video games in teaching
US SCIENCE CONFERENCE: FAR FROM being a waste of time, computer games are one of the best learning environments for students, according to an academic who lectures in literacy studies.
He urges educators to incorporate gaming strategies into modern education systems if they want to improve learning.
The idea that computer gaming will numb a student's mind is way off the mark, Prof James Gee of Arizona State University told a session of the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in San Diego. The gaming environment challenges the mind, encourages learning and could transform the standard educational format.
"Commercial video games, the ones that make a lot of money, are nothing but problem-solving spaces," he said yesterday during a session entitled First-Person Solvers? Learning Mathematics in a Video Game.
Prof Gee has been looking at gaming as an educational tool for some years, writing one of the first books on the subject in 2004.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0220/1224264879480.html
He is not advocating the use of Super Mario, Grand Theft Auto or Resident Evil as a way to learn multiplication tables or Irish history. But he wants to make use of the game structure that allows the gamer to learn. Gaming optimises learning in several ways, he says. For starters, games offer new information to the player only when it is needed and not all at once in the beginning.
"We tend to teach science, for example, by telling you a lot of stuff and then letting you do science," he said. "Games teach the other way. They have you do stuff, and then as you need to know information, they tell it to you."
They also coax the mind to engage with the game, in the process challenging the player to learn and advance. Prof Gee calls it being "pleasantly frustrating" as you attempt to overcome a difficult but doable challenge.
Many games also encourage the player to participate directly in the conduct of the game, to modify the playing environment, a process known as "modding".
This means the player must learn the rules of a system before being given access to the game environment to create a scenario. This is deep learning because the person must know much more than simply how to move around a screen or accomplish a task. "Think about it," said Prof Gee. "If you have to make the game, or a part of the game, you come to a deep understanding of the game as a rule system.
"If I had to mod science - that is, I had to make some of my own curriculum or my own experiments - then I would have an understanding at a deep level of what the rules are."
His arguments are not the wishful thinking of a thwarted gamer who grew up too soon. What he describes is already being put into practice. Prof Brianno Coller of Northern Illinois University uses gaming to help his mechanical engineering students to absorb the difficult mathematics of the subject.
He put together a driving game similar to Need for Speed or Gran Turismo, but driving in this case requires the application of mathematical tools and techniques.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Web 2.0...The machine is us/ing Us by Michael Wesch
This clip attained a monster digg count if I remember correctly...and just took off.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g [final version here but didn't work for me]
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Educational Blogs
Always looking to improve the overall layout of my blog. Will investigate at a later stage:
http://edublogs.org/
http://edublogs.org/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)