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