Web 2.0 in Higher Education
Ellie Kutz, Professor Emerita of English and IT Faculty Liaison, Umass/Boston
My argument1. Changes in technology bring2. Changes in learners—their experiences and
expectations3. Changes in how we reach and teach those
learners4. With new tools that can better support our
educational goals and practices. Web 2.0 Technology provides one important set of
tools for Higher Education
What is important with any technology of literacy and
learning is not just the tools
But the ways in which members of a community
use those tools
Once, a few literate scribes hand copying manuscripts
Now access for most students to the most current technologies of reading and writing
Changes in the technology of literacy
Societal changes from
Literacy in hands of a few
To
Literacy in hands of many
Changes in Social Practices
Writing used for royal and ecclesiastical authority
Writing by anyone, shared with anyone, anywhere.
Changes in Modes of Interaction
From face to face
To multi-user electronic environments
Outside of School
Students interact with sites that Go beyond providing information Allowing users
To add to what’s there To communicate with each other To add images and sound as well as words
In Digital Environments
Participants Learn by doing Learn from each other Co-create environments in games and
social media
Contemporary literacy is
increasingly Interactive Collaborative Multi-modal Unbounded in time and space
Web 2.0 Tools
Allow us to create Interactive Collaborative Multi-modal Unbounded
learning environments for our classes
Not all technology has these
characteristics
Web 1.0 Limited interactivity (hypertext reading)
Web 1.0 in teaching Online site as repository
Web 2.0 Enhances Interactivity
Information-sharing
Web 2.0 Encourages Creativity
Web 2.0 Supports Collaboration
Web 2.0 reaches a public audience
Web 2.0 reaches across international boundaries
Web 2.0 Builds Local Community
Different web 2.0 formats offer different potential for interaction,
creativity, and collaboration
Using Web 2.0 in Higher Ed can
Extend the classroom with online environments Enhance in-class learning Provide tools for collaboration Provide multi-media learning tools
Wikis
Blogs
Teachers use blogs and wikis
To support student learning To let students
Create pages Compose in multimodal ways, using
images and sounds as well as words Interact and collaborate Stay engaged with the work beyond their
time in the classroom
Examples of Wikis, Blogs, and other
Web 2.0 tools used by university
faculty