In learning about Web 2.0 concepts this week, I, of course, began to see Web 2.0 everywhere. I can see how meaningful the relationships can be when people, and for my work, students interact with one another and generate their own content on these Web 2.0 platforms. We love to see students engage with us and participate in career discussions.
While working on a project today, I was reminded of Web 2.0 concepts although the project itself was not digital content. The task was to create a worksheet that outlined career-readiness competencies and examples. The worksheet would also have blank spaces where the students would be encouraged to write in things they have done to gain those competencies/skills (generate content) and space to brainstorm organizations or activities on campus where they could achieve those skills (connect with others). As we were working on this project, I was starting to notice similar concepts to Web 2.0 definitions. It made me wonder if we are designing our educational materials with a Web 2.0 structure because that's what today's learners are used to utilizing, or if engaging the learner in this way has always been best-practices in education and Web 2.0 just digitized it?
While working on a project today, I was reminded of Web 2.0 concepts although the project itself was not digital content. The task was to create a worksheet that outlined career-readiness competencies and examples. The worksheet would also have blank spaces where the students would be encouraged to write in things they have done to gain those competencies/skills (generate content) and space to brainstorm organizations or activities on campus where they could achieve those skills (connect with others). As we were working on this project, I was starting to notice similar concepts to Web 2.0 definitions. It made me wonder if we are designing our educational materials with a Web 2.0 structure because that's what today's learners are used to utilizing, or if engaging the learner in this way has always been best-practices in education and Web 2.0 just digitized it?
I think that at the core of your activity was the knowledge you have of best-practices and pedagogy. It's a great activity for the reasons you noted, but I do think it is the digitized version of that project. In ESOL classes we have done the same. Where we once had students write on paper and collect pamphlets/brochures from clubs and academic groups, we can now ask for online content and links. I have made my own ESOL classes more up-to-date by taking steps like this, but I, too, now wonder if there is a deeper way of engaging students by focusing on the Web 2.0 idea of open access and using the apps it has engendered in different ways.
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