Comments on: Web 2.0 Tools for Education

By: chris

chris — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 01:46:54 +0000

As in many of the points, I have only my experience to back this up anecdotally. I figure it this way: students have been occupying their minds with other things since long before there were any digital tools to do so. If by having a backchannel that is ostensibly oriented towards the class I am able to capture even a sliver of that attention that would otherwise drift away, then it’s a plus. And in my experience it is almost inevitable that people who tend to chat a lot are people who are more silent when I’ve had them in other classes or when the chat is not available. I can quantitatively state that the great majority of the chatting in the backchannel is somewhat related to class… I suspect that is not the case with general IM. I also suspect that this ability to talk to one another reinforces a kind of class community and I have seen that community at work.

My real point is that it goes against everything I have experienced– and the experience of others I have talked to about it– to believe that trying to block wireless and close laptop lids and artificially constrain attention has any real positive benefit. It’s a fallacy that if my eyes are not on my computer screen then I must be paying attention to the instructor… if anything, the minute someone issues that edict I tune even *further* out– but I’m contrary that way

Of course, there are various situations where it makes sense to limit other activities… I am thinking here in the general case of “lecture” and other instructional class time that isn’t devoted to actual group activity.

By: Jared Stein

Jared Stein — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 17:08:13 +0000

9 is absolute.

6 is discomfiting to me without something empirical to Back It Up. (“Synchronous chat and backchannel activities can, as counterintuitive as it seems, lead to higher comprehension and enhanced participation.”) Gimme gimme research results. Haven’t seen anything on this topic, but I bet you could do it, Mr. Lott.

By: Andrea Sandvig

Andrea Sandvig — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 02:24:35 +0000

Do you know of any free blog program that lets you preview your blog privately for an indefinate amount of time before posting it live on the web?

By: elearnspace

elearnspace — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 02:26:51 +0000

Alaska…

I arrived in Alaska late yesterday for a week-long stint as a visiting scholar at University of Alaska Fairbanks. I delivered a few presentations today: Connectivism 101: For the Curious and Organizational Impact of Networked Learning. But the most val…

By: chris

chris — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 03:59:26 +0000

The sessions were a mixed bag, though I think I got a bit luckier than Scott! Still, the hallway conversations, dinner and coffee meetings were great.

By: chris

chris — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 03:58:22 +0000

Doug– #4 could be better phrased. I mean ‘passive’ in a less negative sense than it comes across. The main point is that without activity by the participant, the network remains passive and the positive effects minimal or non-existent.

However, I do think that a fair amount of resistance and unwillingness to engage in social acts of learning– at least at the University level and in my experience– does come from that kind of environment posing a hard, new challenge. I know it is challenging for *me*…

By: www.educationadvice4u.info » Web 2.0 Tools for Education

www.educationadvice4u.info » Web 2.0 Tools for Education — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 02:18:25 +0000

[...] chris added an interesting post on Web 2.0 Tools for Education.Here’s a small excerpt:My first activity at WCET was putting on a pre-conference session on Web 2.0 tools and technologies with Ritchie Boyd, Darren Crone and Jenny Jopling. As usual I had far more material gathered together than I could share, … [...]

By: Brian

Brian — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 17:03:14 +0000

Session looks fantastic. Wish I could have been there. (Though your Twits and Scott’s Twits make me feel… maybe less so.)

By: Doug Noon

Doug Noon — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 15:22:35 +0000

My recent experience helping teachers see the value in the social web suggests that your point #4 is a very large stumbling block. I don’t know if it’s “passivity” or something else, though. It’s true that students in school (especially the successful ones) are trained to be compliant. But I’m not convinced that passivity, or being unused to challenge, is the problem. There is a broad spectrum of values and personality types among any group of people. People sort themselves accordingly.

I emphatically agree with the final point in your list.

By: Ruminate- Web 2.0 Tools for Education

Ruminate- Web 2.0 Tools for Education — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 12:43:51 +0000

[...] strong and put a bit more directly than you usually see but I really couldn’t agree more. Ruminate » Blog Archive » Web 2.0 Tools for Education If only one point sticks, I hope it was/is the last [...]