Sunday 11 January 2009

Web 1.0 and Web 2.0
This blog has been inspired by recent conversations with a number of colleagues. The buzzword is, without doubt, Web 2.0 leading to education 2.0, a rethinking of student engagement, teaching and learning. There are some that would have us believe that the elements of a Web 1.0 environment are somewhat old-fashioned and that somehow transmission of information is less desirable. Web 2.0 and Education 2.0 are where the up-to-date teachers are now!

I prefer to think of a Web 1.0 and 2.0 applications as offering a possible synergy of potential activities and engagement that can be conveniently organised and managed. Web 1.0 applications, particularly in education (for example, learning management systems) offer a number of affordances that are useful in large institutional settings. A little bit of bureaucracy is a necessity when faced with multiple groups of students undertaking a myriad of different subjects and taught by a variety of academic staff. In particular, learning management systems help structure groups of students with common interests and provide mechanisms for scaffolding and organising learning. Personally, I prefer the mix master approach. Does everybody remember the Mix Master? You bought your basic machine for mixing eggs and creating cake mixes. However, you could also buy attachments which could slice onions and carrots, beat dough for bread, juice oranges or lemons, and grind coffee or nuts. Modern learning management systems such as Moodle fit the idea of a mix master, with the LMS providing the 'engine' for managing the student learning experience. For example, creating student profiles, enrollments in courses/subjects, grouping students, grading and grade books, access to content, forums and glossaries, to name a few. Into this environment one can now add Web 2.0 applications such as YouTube videos, Blogs and Wikis, ePortfolios, and RSS feeds, for example. For too long learning management systems have been not unreasonably described as being too teacher centred. The flexibility (for example Moodle) offered by a second-generation LMS allows teachers to enrich the learning environment by adding additional Web 2.0 applications and links to these applications as required by the learning outcomes. One of the combinations I have been particularly impressed with is combining Moodle and Mahara, or what is now described as MaHoodle. The two applications provide a learning environment that can be co-constructed with students. The organisational component is provided by Moodle with single sign-on into Mahara. In Mahara students have the ability to organise their own groups, publish and tag blogs, develop and present a personal eportfolios, embed media created by them or from external sources (e.g., YouTube) and comment on other student work. In effect, the two applications provide an environment which supports what teachers are expected to be able to do well (designing an effective learning environment) and what students are encouraged to do well in enlightened learning environments (articulating their ideas, mentoring others, interacting with and creating a variety of media artifacts which may also be used for presenting and structuring arguments). Moodle supports RSS feeds and Delicious or Diigo bookmarking, to name just two Web 2.0 applications. Mahara supports publication of student work in the form of an ePortfolio, Blogging and tagging. Initial observations in a recently taught Masters subject (module) suggest that students value the organisational framework provided by Moodle while relishing the freedom offered by Mahara to express their ideas and collaborate with peers of their choosing. Feel free to share your comments about these two applications.

5 comments:

Ray Tolley said...

Hi, David,

I have heard many HE people extolling the virtues of Mahara but have never been able to understand how user-friendly the application is.

I suspect that it needs a certain amount of 'ICT savy' to set up one's own e-Portfolio. Can you quote me actual case studies or links to actual users who have submitted their e-Portfolios for assessment purposes?

My primary contention (see my blog at www.efoliointheuk.blogspot.com ) is that the e-Portfolios set up by HE students are possibly not as lifelong as one would wish. Who maintains and hosts one's e-Portfolio years after having left academia?

Secondly, I'm not sure about your fixation on Web 2.0. Surely any e-Portfolio independent of an institution is capable of using Web 2.0 apps?

I think that the first thing to resolve is the different functions of the institution's VLE and the distinct differences between the VLE and an e-Portfolio. For me, I see the VLE as being totally apposite for close MIS integration, for profiling, assessment, diagnostics and content delivery etc.

If this can be accepted, then the e-Portfolio can then be developed to do what it does best... and I go into this in some depth in both my website and my demonstration e-Portfolio.

Kindest Regards,
Ray T

P: http://www.raytolley1.xfolioworld.com
B: http://www.efoliointheuk.blogspot.com/
W: http://www.maximise-ict.co.uk/eFolio-01/htm

David M Kennedy said...

Interesting observations Ray

I look at it all this way. The LMS is basically teacher-centred although you can make many aspects of the enviroment focus on student learning the majority of control remains with the teacher. Mahara on the other hand is more student-centred and controlled, from what they publish, to whom, and the groups they form.

Mahara is very user friendly and relatively simple to configure. My students create ePortfolios of artifacts including blogs, photostories, hot potatoes (online) questions, concept and mind maps, images and video. In regards to the institutional aspects, when you have thousands of students undertaking many subjects at a number of levels, some form of organisation is required in order to provide the framework for the learning environment. As I said, a little bit of bureaucracy is sometimes a good thing. Thanks for the thoughtful post - I will give is some thought
David

gabber said...

I've seen a demo of Mahara & it looks very intuitive. One of the best of breeds at present. And it's similar technology to Moodle & so can "plugin" to Moodle VLE. This makes it an attractive proposition to VLE managers who have Moodle up and running. Transference of Moodle skills and mapping of affordances by the familiar Moodle interface to the new Mahara becomes much easier.

And because of it's potential to plug into Moodle - transference of user data becomes seamless (read reduced errors). Double whammy for IT mangers and those needing to impress inspectors looking for alignment with the new framework for excellence.

David M Kennedy said...

Hi Kev
I agree with your assessment of Mahara and Moodle because that is reflective of my experience. With Single-sign-on (SSO) and a simple interface, the combination of applications offers many advantages, not the least of which are more engaging ways for students develop understanding.

Anonymous said...

Our team at the Gilfus Education Group just released this white paper to provide critical insights to practitioners while clarifying "Social Learning" as a concept.

Social Learning Buzz Masks Deeper Dimensions Mitigating the confusion surrounding “Social Learning” (Download Here)

It is our hope that by leveraging socially based technologies the education industry can shape a new educational technology paradigm that realizes the promises of true “Social Learning”.

By understanding its applications we can create a unique opportunity to improve student engagement, student retention, academic success and overall educational outcomes.

– Stephen Gilfus, Gilfus Education Group (Founder Blackboard Inc. left the organization in 2007)