Friday 29 April 2011

Back to wikis!

Since my second post on collective intelligence, I have had a chance to learn more about wikis and explore examples of them a bit further. Well, I am a fan to say the least, and I think being exposed to them has helped my understanding of the notion of collective intelligence. So much so, that I am a little embarassed by the naivete of my second blog!

I still have to come to terms with how web 2.0 technologies such as Facebook and Twitter could be used in an educational setting, if at all. Wikis, however, open up a whole new range of possibilites for education. On the one hand, it allows people with previously limited access educational resources, a chance to take part in innovative learning opportunites. Charles Leadbetter's Education innovation in the slums is a great example of that. It requires a great deal of creativity on the part of educators to make each learning experience relevant and engaging to students, wherever they may be. I also love how students can revisit or catch up on content they have either missed or don't understand. This can be pretty difficult to achieve in a traditional classroom environment.

What I loved about playing around with my own wiki, was the way you could incorporate everyday classroom strategies into each learning experience. For example, when introducing a new lesson or concept to students, teachers use activites to elicit students' prior knowledge in order to plan future lessons - diagnostic assessment, in other words. In a classroom setting, you might get students to complete a "Things I know about XYZ" chart to determine what they know about the topic. In a wiki, you could use a program like Wallwisher which is like an online notice board, to have students post their ideas about "XYZ". Students also get to read other students' responses, which may encourage further deeper thinking about the topic. The strategy of "Think, Pair, Share" can also be achieved online through discussion boards.

I love the creative potential of wikis and the other tools (which I am yet to explore) that can be incorporated into them to make the classroom a much more interesting place to be in. Once you get your head around the mechanics of the technology, web 2.0 tools really do promote 21st century skills. But more on that later....

Tuesday 19 April 2011

Could I be wrong about Web 2.0?

When we were shown Ken Robinson's "Changing the Education Paradigm" video in a lecture the other week I was completely blown away. Not so much by the animation, which was amazing in itself, but by the content. I have since read many articles by Sir Ken as well as his latest book "The Element". I know the idea of Creativity in Education has been around for a while but my recent exposure to the concept has set off bells, light globes, whatever the appropriate analogy may be.

In a lot of ways it fits in with what we have been learning about web 2.0 technologies. I have been very wary of the whole web 2.0 thing as I only understood it's applications from a Facebook/Twitter perspective. That's an understatement actually - I avoid it like the plague as my minimal exposure to it has found it to be time consuming (read "wasting time") and full of innane conversations. I'm a talker not a texter - and yes, I could be accused of many a innane conversation! But inanity (is that a word?) hangs around for so much longer when it's there for all to read.

The following video by Sir Ken, along with Charles Leadbetter's video "Education innovation in the slums" has me re-evaluating the whole social network phenomena. If I view web 2.0 technologies within an educational framework, then I am a definite convert. I do believe we have to rethink the ways in which we educate our kids. I think schools can be very un-creative environments and this has a lot do with how we view creativity. It is not about being artistic - which was a bit of a revelation to me and even more surprising given my creative background. If we view it as a way of thinking about things, then it has so many implications for education that it's staggering. I am drawn to teaching so much more because of these possibilities.

While I go away and ponder this some more and if you haven't already seen it, here is Sir Ken on "Changing the Education Paradigm"...

Saturday 9 April 2011

To be or not to be....collectively intelligent!

I guess the best place to begin my second post is by discussing the idea of collective intelligence. Unfortunately, I missed last weeks lecture, so I looked up Wikipedia for a quick definition - the irony!

While I understand the whole concept of collective intelligence is based on the idea that the end result of collaboration is supposed to be greater than what would otherwise be achieved by an individual, I'm not sure that this is for me, on a personal level at least. Perhaps it is a little egocentric of me, but I don't think I would get the same level of satisfaction from creating a collablorative work as I would from creating something on my own, even if it were of a lesser quality. While every creative process involves degrees of collaboration, even if only through internalising other's thoughts and ideas, I know the final product is mine. I have gone through all the neccessary processes of knowing, understanding, analysing, synthesising and evaluating to come to my final product. If this isn't as good as it could have been, had it been a collaborative work, at least I know I have learnt from the process. I can do better next time.

Hang on....I guess this is an indirect form of collaboration itself, isn't it? I have collaborated with other's ideas and end products to inform my future thinking. (I think I have just had a reflective moment - something that, along with blogging, still sits uncomfortably with me. Maybe I'm finally getting the hang of this.)

Like most things, I believe the tools of collective intelligence such as wikis, have its place. I can definitely see me using it in my classroom. However, using it will depend on what I ultimately want to achieve. But how do I determine individual growth and learning on a collaborative work? I am a definite proponent of collaborative work but I think the satisfaction lies in what you personally make of the process. Perhaps for me then, it is more about how collective intelligence can lead to personal achievement.

This is a far more complicated concept than I realised when starting this entry and far too thought provoking for a Sunday morning. Who knew I would have so much to say!

Birth of a Blogger

Well, I never thought I would ever be doing this but here goes - my first blog! And for once in my life I am lost for words......

And now, more than 2 weeks after my enlightened contribution from above,  I am still struggling to find something worthy of typing. Mind you the fact that I seem to have 7 followers without blogging anything so far... well I can see how the attention might be addictive for some. Makes you feel quite special really.

So, a good place to start might be my view of the social constructivist approach. Well, it seems to go hand in hand with the use of web 2.0 in education but it is something I still have to get my head around in the classroom. I still prefer a good old fashioned face-to-face conversation with my fellow students - discussions boards and blogs just don't provide the same level of interaction and engagement, along with all the humour, anger, frustration and the light bulb moment, that a "in-house" class discussion can often provide.

I think I might feel more favourably towards wikis as an educational tool, once I find out exactly what it does and how to use it. Stay tuned, as they say!