Web 2.0: What Does it Mean to Me?

My journey through Web 2.0 is approaching the finish line. But how did the "journey" impact me as a student, as a teacher and as a person? Within this post I'll share with you what I know, what I have learned and what I plan to do with all of this newfound knowledge. Let's get started...


What I Know

Our world has changed profoundly over the last fifteen years due to the arrival and dissemination of digital technology. "Today's students - K through college - represent the first generations to grow up with this new technology. They have spent their entire lives surrounded by and using computers, videogames, digital music players, video cams, cell phones, and all the other toys and tools of the digital age". (Prensky, 2001)

As a teacher, I've had a front row seat to these unfolding changes over a fifteen year career. It's obvious to me that these changes have been massive in scope and that teachers and the education system are playing catch-up to some degree. This is the main reason for me to enrol in a course such of this as well as pursue a Masters in Education. I don't want to be left behind! I want to keep learning! I know that most students have more knowledge of this digital world than I do, thus I need to think differently and make some changes myself. I want to be an effective teacher and more knowledgeable in this new digital world in general.

I do see governments and schools "trying" to make teachers and "the system" more effective and better prepared to deal with this fundamental shift in society. We are on the right path but there is still a long way to go. Unfortunately, "new technologies are still regularly used to provide more polished performances of traditional practices..." (Davies & Merchant, 2009, p. 2)

Many teachers learned and studied in an educational system that was "old-fashioned". Concepts were taught slowly, step-by-step. It was serious business and you certainly couldn't be distracted by listening to music or watching TV. You had to face the front and be quiet. However, this differs from todays students who are used to processing massive amounts of information and who are often multi-tasking while they do it. They like graphics, enjoy being networked, and prefer games over serious work. (Prensky, 2001)

As a teacher and as a professional, it is my duty to improve and adapt in order to be effective.


The Learning Process

It's been a busy three and a half months of learning and I'm tired! Learning new skills is challenging & time consuming yet very gratifying and rewarding. There were highlights and lowlights along the way that I want to share with you.

Learning how to use and implement Web 2.0 tools into my personal and professional life was the primary highlight for me. I am a firm believer in the usefulness & importance of these types of tools and I plan to continue using many of them. For example, I plan to continue using Flickr (photo sharing), Animoto (multimedia & mashup tool), and Google Reader (a blog aggregator tool). I will discuss which Web 2.0 tools I plan to use professionally later in this blog.

Another highlight for me was the network of teachers I was able to connect with during the course. The power of networking & sharing has become more apparent to me and I plan to keep in contact with a number of my colleagues in order to expand my professional network. I still keep in contact with my instructor and two classmates from my last grad-level course; combine these with those from this class as well as the connections I have made in twitter and Classroom 2.0, means that I have created an amazing network.

Along the way there were also some struggles. The major one for me was the short time period (approximately one week) to learn about, use and blog about a new Web 2.0 tool. Considering I had never used any of these tools before (except blogging), the process was stressful at times. In reality, learning something new can be difficult and I certainly was frustrated at various points. This was compounded by my need to have a certain level of mastery with each tool in order for me to demonstrate my learning within each blog post.

To add to this problem, I felt like I had to completely drop one tool in order to focus on the next one and repeat the process over again. I didn't mind learning something new, but more time to "play" and discover with my new found skills would have lead to a higher level of skill retention. I just hope that I remember the bulk of what I have learned next time I use a particular tool.

Also difficult at times was the lack of any face-to-face interaction. This was my first ever online course and it took some getting used to. While I enjoyed the asynchronous environment, I felt something was missing. Things like the smiles of my classmates, the banter, the connection on a personal level. I am a very sociable person yet socializing online is still a challenge for me.


What's Next??

How do I keep the learning going? For me it comes down to continued use of these tools in and out of the classroom. I won't use them all regularly but I do have my favourites. On the personal front, social bookmarking, photo sharing (Flickr) and RSS are all incredibly useful tools to me and I have already incorporated them into my routines. Bookmarking gives me a common place to file away useful and interesting "stuff", Flickr is a great way to safely back up and also easily share my photos with others (especially when traveling), and Google Reader allows me to sort through large volumes of information from the web quickly & easily.

I will also need to incorporate into my classroom a number of the Web 2.0 tools I have learned. My three favourite ones are blogs, multimedia sharing, and wikis. I see the use of blogs as one of the more powerful tools available. Not only is a blog a great place for students to express their thoughts & feelings, this information can be easily accessed by the teacher and even parents. I often ask my youngest daughter about her day and I usually end up getting a stock response; I really have to pry to get some kind of information out of her. However, when I read one of her blog posts, I got so much out of it! I see myself using a blog in my Phys. Ed classes, giving students an opportunity to express thoughts and feelings regarding the various activities within the course.

Animoto is the one tool that had an immediate impact on me as a learner. The fact that it was so easy to learn combined with the fact that videos are so popular, made me want to get creating immediately. Also appealing is the fact that almost anything can be made into a video. While I have only made three different videos (all for personal use) I can see myself incorporating this tool into my classroom. I already have an educator account ready to go.

The last tool that I have learned to love for professional reasons is the wiki. At first glance, the wiki came across as a bit dull to me. I did have access to a wiki at my last school but I never used it much nor was I encouraged to add information to it. However, I did shortly realize the power of wikis. In one regard, wikis are a great place to store data or search for data. The success of Wikipedia certainly supports this notion. I can see myself creating a PE department wiki where staff can search for, add and edit information for the benefit of all. Within specific classes, I can also envision the usefulness of a classroom wiki. As a teacher I can add supporting content, review questions/tips, and links to other helpful resources. Students can also add review questions, study tips, and other useful information they think is relevant.

I haven't used any of these tools in the classroom...yet, but I do look forward to giving them a try and seeing what my students reaction to them will be. It will be interesting!


What Would I Share With Colleagues?

There are a number of tools that I would introduce to colleagues in the hopes that they would incorporate them into their teaching practices. Why? Because students have changed and teachers need to change with them. Students "think and process information fundamentally differently from their predecessors". (Prensky, 2001) Prensky calls those who have grown up in the digital age as digital natives. The major problem in education that Prensky sees (and I concur) is that these so-called digital natives are being taught primarily by digital immigrant teachers who tend to speak a different language than their students.

There are four tools that I would most definitely encourage my colleagues to use. They are Google Reader, Social Bookmarking, Social Networking, and Wikis. Google Reader has been a great way for me to manage massive amounts of content available on the web. For any teacher using the web to get ideas for teaching and learning, a tool like Google Reader can definitely be a huge time saver.

Social bookmarking sites such as Delicious and Diigo are great ways to store content from the web in one place. Content can also be managed by the use of tags for easy referral and the best part is that this content is retrievable from any computer connected to the internet.

I was introduced to Ning at the beginning of this course and I ended up joining the Classroom 2.0 group. A large group of teachers are members here; all are interested and involved in technology integration to improve teaching and learning. Many interactive sessions are also available. Networking with other teachers in Classroom 2.0 is an easy way to learn about and implement new teaching practices.

The wiki is a powerful tool for sharing, storing, and editing information for any group to take advantage of. Wikis could be used by a specific class, by a group of teachers or an entire school. I definitely appreciate wikis more now that I have spent some time using them.

Here's another reason for me to share with my colleagues. As previously mentioned in this post, many young people have extensive experience using computers, MP3 players, mobile phones and social networking sites. These new "mediums" of communication are what students are knowledgeable with and comfortable using. It is imperative that teachers incorporate these tools into the classroom to not only take advantage of their usefulness but to also "teach" students in a language they understand. Also imperative is the fact that the "medium" of communication has more impact than the content within that form of communication. (McLuhan, 1964) The form of a message (print, visual, auditory etc.) determines the ways in which that message will be perceived. (McLuhan, 1964). If we as teachers attempt to communicate with our students in a language they don't understand, then our ability to be effective will be severely compromised.


What Did I Learn From Classmates and Other Sources?

Apart from learning about Web 2.0 tools, there has been other learning occurring courtesy of my classmates and various other sources on the web. Here is a summary of the of the material that has had an impact on me as a learner:

From Ed (classmate): I really liked Ed's use of the term "media locker" in his January 25th post on Flickr. Flickr has become a place to store important photos and it has also become one of many new "media lockers" for me.

From Brandi (classmate): Brandi talked about "breaking up" with blogs and tweets (January 29 message in eclass) that weren't providing anything useful to her. I also see the whole Web 2.0 world as being very fluid and one must regularly edit sources of content in order to get the best stuff without feeling overloaded. This girl can also write...wow!

From Pauline (classmate): Pauline's post (February 2010) about YouTube discusses the endless possibilities available but warns about the "slippery slope" of endless distractions; been there done that.

From Nicola (classmate): Nicola talks about "new learning" in her Feb. 2 post and how it "will take time to digest over the next 6-12 months". I agree that over time the learning I've experienced in this course will become more meaningful.

From Brad (classmate): Brad forwarded a great YouTube video to us all that gave me a lot of "perspective" in terms of technology in society today. I watch this video regularly; its a hoot. After you watch it you will know what I mean.


From the Classroom 2.0 group (Ning network): This group really showed me the sharing and collaboration power of networking of like-minded teachers. A number of interactive sessions are available online from members to partake in. I will continue to be a member and use this group as a powerful resource.

From CopyBlogger (blog): I picked up some great quotes that made me smile. The first: "Few appreciate brilliance but everyone appreciates clarity". I use this quote to guide me when writing my blog posts. The second: "Love your family but choose your peer group". Great advice that I will share to my students and my children.

From 2 cents worth (blog): The February 11th post on Matrix codes was very informative as I am seeing more and more of these codes in certain publications. Wouldn't it be great to use these in textbooks in order to allow students access to extra content?

From the Blue Skunk Blog: A post in February talked about E-books. While the post wasn't very positive I think that devices like these could lead to paperless learning. That would be cool.

From the New York Times: I love the material available in The Learning Network. I became a member because of the great content there.

From the U of A Libraries: I've learned how to research online from the comfort of my home. The staff at the libraries are always so professional and helpful; I took part in two great tutorial sessions that have helped me with my research skills.


Conclusion

It's been an intense journey into the world of Web 2.0 for me. I started out as a rookie with most of these tools but my desire to learn some 21st century tech skills provided the drive and determination needed to succeed. I'm no longer a novice and consider myself an "informed" user with some learning still to achieve. However, I am well on my way.

The big part of this process for me was becoming a learner again. I think at some point in the last fifteen years I stopped being a learner and just put life on "auto pilot". It's easy to do when there is so much going on: family, personal life, career. It's all very time consuming. Thankfully I challenged myself and decided to take the plunge into grad studies. For me, its about pushing the envelop and developing some new skills and being determined to make positive changes. I envision that this process will change me personally & professionally and open up some new opportunities in the future.

The beginning of this process was intimidating considering I have not been a student for the past fifteen years. That first grad level course was an eye-opener. The reading, the researching and the writing were new again and more work than I remembered. I was intimidated at first considering within this course (and my first course too) I had many incredibly talented and intelligent classmates. Their strengths and abilities impressed the hell out of me yet pushed me to be an active participant and a positive contributor. So far so good...the best part is that all my classmates and instructors have been incredibly positive and helpful.

I now feel more confident and knowledgeable both as a student and as a teacher. For me, I now understand the power of so many Web 2.0 tools, but I also understand that I can't hope to integrate them into my teaching if I haven't used them myself first. I have even developed a blogging voice (to some degree) that I didn't really have before. All in all it's been a great ride and although I'm ready for a well-deserved break, I am looking forward to continuing my learning in the area of Web 2.0.

Thanks to everyone who has been following this blog.


References

Davies, J., Merchant, G. (2009) Web 2.0 for Schools. Peter Lang Publishing Inc., New York

McLuhan, M. (1964) Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. New York: McGraw-Hill

Prensky, M. (2001) Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon, MCB University Press, Vol. 9, No. 5

Richardson, W. (2009) Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. Corwin Press