Web 2.0 in the classroom
In the 1990s, web technologies available to and used in the classroom had been limited mostly to information acquisition. Users browsed, read, and obtained information, with little place for creating knowledge and sharing that knowledge. Needless to say, these first generation web technologies, also known as Web 1.0, were very one-dimensional.
Moreover, the concept of knowledge remained unchanged. That is to say that knowledge had to be compiled and authenticated by “experts with substantial credentials in academic fields and disciplines” (as cited in Greenhow, Robelia, & Hughes, 2009). Still, with the classical education lecture model as the predominant practice utilized in the classroom, incorporating any technology into the curriculum was a step forward.
Fast forward to 2004 and we see the emergence of the next generation of the World Wide Web referred to as Web 2.0. In the Web 2.0 classroom we see significant shifts in the use of technology, the role of teachers and students, and the concept of knowledge. No longer are educational uses of the web limited to information retrieval. Applications of technology include computer-supported collaboration on a global scale and the construction of knowledge. Web 2.0 also provides a medium for sharing that knowledge, again on a global scale (e.g. Facebook, Ning, YouTube, Skype, wikis, podcasts, blogs, etc.). Now, students are producers of knowledge, no longer constrained to being recipients only.
The concept of knowledge has been set free if you will from the classical authoritarian constraints. As Greenhow, et al. (2009) declares:
Conceptually, Web 2.0 seems to embody “knowledge” as “collective agreement” that “may combine facts with other dimensions of human experience, such as opinions, values, and spiritual beliefs” (Dede, 2008, p. 80). Validity of knowledge in Web 2.0 environments is established through peer review in an engaged community, and expertise entails understanding disputes and offering synthesis widely accepted by the community (Dede, 2008, p. 80). In other words, knowledge is decentralized, accessible, and co-constructed by and among a broad base of users. (p. 247)
The role of the teacher and students has also changed. Teachers must co-learn, model, and facilitate if they are to support and supervise students in a Web 2.0 classroom. Students are no longer passive observers in learning but participate in the process. In agreement with constructivist learning theory, they create and recreate knowledge by gathering and structuring content provided by myriad different sources.
References
And this is only the beginning. If the funds are available, teachers and students are limited only by their own creativity and imagination.
Greenhow, C., Robelia, B, and Hughes, J. (2009). Learning, Teaching, and Scholarship in a Digital Age: Web 2.0 and Classroom Research--What Path Should We Take "Now”?. Educational Researcher, 38 (4), 246-259.
