a) The way in which a teacher conveys new information is a critical aspect of online learning. It has to be reflective of the environment one is going to teach in, therefore, the most important thing to remember is that it must be on the internet. It is also important, considering that the teacher is a digital immigrant, rather than a digital native, to realize this point and not to be afraid to ask for students help – they can be a great asset to the classroom and will be more than willing to help out.

Since Web 2.0 is a collaborative learning space, it is important that the students are constantly updating their sites (which, in the Web 2.0 world, everyone has their own) and staying on top of the software and hardware upgrades. Teachers must also release that Web 2.0 changed the look and accessibility of e-learning. It is the second generation of internet use, moving away from the world of personal and unchangeable information: Web 1.0. Web 2.0 allows for completely collaborative and interesting learning experience. Web 2.0 in the classroom means that there is: creativity, collaborative learning, a multitude of media is being used (for example: video, Wiki’s, blogs and podcasts), a highly structured lesson, multi-tasking occurring from both the teacher’s and student’s perspective and there must be trust in the classroom because it is such a collaborative learning environment.

b) The encouragement of collaboration of students is easy to achieve by using specific software and websites that allow social networking to take place. By using programs and websites such as WordPress and Facebook, where social networking is a priority, therefore collaboration is expected and easy to happen, it allows for an easy and interesting classroom.           

Wiki’s are also fantastic ways to encourage and get students collaboration happening. Using a Wiki website such as PbWiki also allows the teacher to see the history of the Wiki and who has edited it at what time, meaning that whilst it is a collaborative learning environment, it still means that the teacher is able to see and mark students work appropriately. Since Web 2.0 is all about student driven work, working collaboratively is an important and essential element to the Web 2.0 classroom. 

c) Dreikurs believes that in a democratic classroom, teachers provide firm guidance but do not promote rebellion. Students are allowed to participate in making decisions about what is studied as well as in formulating rules. His overall goal was that students would learn to cooperate reasonably without being penalized or rewarded because they would feel that they are valuable contributors to the classroom.

Democratic teachers’ help students understand that making decisions is firmly tied to responsibility. Students are allowed freedom, but they are expected to assume responsibility for what they do. These teachers do not feel compelled to habitually correct the behaviour of their students. Allowing students some leeway, they believe, is the best way to help them eventually learn to be self-governing. Students are free to explore, discover and choose their own way as they increasingly assume personal responsibility. Democratic teachers have a way of establishing order and limits without usurping their students’ right to autonomy. They are firm, yet kind and they involve their students in cooperative learning experiences. Children in a democratic classroom develop as sense of belonging to, and having a stake in, the class, which ensures for a better class environment, a happier class, more learning occurring and education is the main focus of the classroom.

a) http://trenchwarfare.pbwiki.com/ 

b) During the process of making our group project Wiki, we faced several problems: 

• Finding a legitimate and interesting activity for our students – we had to make sure that the students were interested and kept interested so that they could put in one hundred percent effort.
• Attempting to utilize all of the skills learnt throughout the course and combining them into our Wiki – we had to make sure that the information and the activities they would be using and utilizing were of value to them and they would make sense of it all.
• Agreeing on the style of questions / tasks in the team I worked with – they had to be relevant, interesting and challenging activities that the students could immerse themselves in and yet gain a lot of information from at the same time
• Finding accurate information on the internet that students could rely on – information on the internet can be useful but it can also be unreliable. We catered to this by selecting specific websites and putting them in the ‘Links’ page.
• Working on the format of the Wiki – was a challenge because it had to be easy to follow and read. The ‘SideBar’ application makes it easier to navigate your way around the project, for parents and students.

 c) It is extremely worthwhile that the project is to be worked on collaboratively. From the beginning of the project, it is clear that it is a student-driven assessment; they are to choose the question they want to do, in the amount of time that they require. Yet, at the same time, it is also important to note that the tasks are all worthwhile, because Year 12 is pressed for time, and there is a lot of information that needs to be gained during this year, so all the tasks reflect knowledge that needs to be learnt. Students tend to work better in groups. They are able to learn easier, if they are working together and teaching one another the information and it is this purpose that Dreikur’s says, is the key driver when it comes to working collaboratively. The fact that there are tasks include one where they have to do a individual project and then come together for a group, then do another individual project and then come back as a group one final time is very significant – they end up coming back together every time. It is the best way to ensure a deeper and more knowledgeable understanding of the topic at hand.

     Learning and teaching in the classroom is becoming increasingly easier due to the influx of many new technologies and a myriad of software. The new technology and software allows for a more open and collaborative classroom where communication, learning and creativity is an occurrence that happens frequently. Web 2.0 is the way of the future for educators and learning because it allows for many different learning styles, encompasses creativity, which is the best way for students to learn, and is accessible and able to be modified wherever there is internet available. This essay will explain what Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 is, will explain the differences and major changes between the two differing webs and explain and expand on how the changes in technology allow for a better learning environment.  

      Web 2.0 changed the look and accessibility of e-learning. It is the second generation of internet use, moving away from the world of personal and unchangeable information: Web 1.0. Web 2.0 allows for completely collaborative and interesting learning experience. Web 2.0 in the classroom means that there is: creativity, collaborative learning, a multitude of media is being used (for example: video, Wiki’s, blogs and podcasts), a highly structured lesson, multi-tasking occurring from both the teacher’s and student’s perspective and there must be trust in the classroom because it is such a collaborative learning environment (Niven, 2007).

     O’Reilly (2005) suggests that there are several features of what Web 2.0 comprises of: using the Web as a platform; allowing for social networking on an easier and larger scale, the combined effort of all users – each user is encouraged to edit and create previously written WebPages and that Web 2.0 is run mainly by specific websites and programs.

     Within Web 2.0, there are specific programs that are considered to be from the Web 2.0 era: Facebook, MySpace, Blogs (such as WordPress), Wiki’s, iGoogle, Flickr, RSS Feeds and YouTube. Each of the above programs are able to be collaborative, promote creativity and use a variety of multi-medias, such as videos, music clips and podcasts.

     When using Web 2.0, you are using a contribution-type internet. People are expected not only to gather and gain information but also to contribute and to be creative. To help and expand on what information is on the web. It is a collaborative place where you can make friends from all across the world in a very easy and stress free way; unlike Web 1.0.  

     Contrary to Web 2.0, which is the second generation of internet usage, Web 1.0 is the first generation. Web 1.0 is considered to be a very passive activity, where one, rather than creates and helps build on the information, simply gathers the information and then manipulates it to what they are searching for. Examples of Web 1.0 include Britannica Online, directories (such as YellowPages) and personal web sites. Web 1.0 cannot be collaborative and can not be adjusted or extended upon once it has been place on the internet. It is considered to be like a library, full of books, waiting to be read, as opposed to Web 2.0 which is a continuously updated Wiki, waiting for anyone and everyone to change the content.

     The changes between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 are quite dramatic. No longer is the information simply fed to you, from your computer screen, but you are expected to contribute and thereby allow other people to use your information. Web 2.0 is more about user generated content, than simply published content, where the user of the internet is expected to give back to the internet, as much as they take from it. In Web 2.0, rather that the information that is accessible being from only a couple of sources, the internet is considered a place of collective intelligence; where everyone shares their information and knowledge in one place, so that everyone else is able to gain insight and learn better through differing mediums.

     Changes in software and programs since Web 1.0 have allowed for easier and more interesting ways that lessons can be taught. Such programs include Wiki’s, Facebook, iGoogle, del.icio.us, Flickr and YouTube.  

     Wiki’s allow for a group of students, or a class of students to use their imagination and work together to create their own page on the internet. Instead of simply writing your work down and taking notes off each other, now, because of Wiki’s, a student can post their work up which instantaneously allows other members of the Wiki, and other users of the internet, to see the post. A Wiki is one of the easiest ways to have collaborative and creative e-learning occurring in a classroom.

     Facebook is a social networking site that claims to be ‘…an online directory that connects people through social networks at schools’ (Facebook, 2007). Facebook is great to use in a classroom because it is easy to monitor, easy and enjoyable to use, students love it and have fun, it caters to different learning types and it can be accessed anywhere, meaning that if a student does not finish their work in class, rather than have to carry heavy books home, they simply have to log on to the internet and continue their work from home. Although Facebook can be useful, it can be distracting and hard to keep students on track. However, the positive uses of Facebook far outweigh the negative features.

     iGoogle is a wonderful example of Web 2.0. It has many interactions available to the user and can be personalised, as well as allowing the user to social network with their friends and family. iGoogle also allows the user to add their own content to their homepage, such as links to YouTube, RSS Feeds from news centres and even allows for an up-to-the-minute weather forecast. iGoogle is a great place for e-learning through Web 2.0 to begin.

     Del.icio.us is a social bookmarking site that allows a registered user to have a list of favourite websites and keep them listed on del.icio.us. It also allows social networking so you are able to see most other user’s favourite websites as well. Using del.icio.us means that you can log on from any computer anywhere in the world and access your favourite websites. For a classroom environment this is essential because it allows students to simply log into their user page and access any websites they bookmarked, rather than having to search on the internet again and waste time.

     Flickr is a photo sharing website. Again, like most other Web 2.0 programs, it allows the user to have a social network, which automatically allows you to share photos with your friends. Flickr is very helpful in general because it saves time and saves natural resources, such as paper, because rather than printing your photos for your friends, they can pick and choose which ones they want themselves. For a classroom environment, this can be very helpful when studying, for example, propaganda posters of WWI or photographs taken during the Viet Nam War. It is bright and colourful and interactive, which the students like. 

     YouTube is the ultimate in Web 2.0 programs and technology. YouTube, and its subsequent programs such as TeacherTube, allows for those who learn visually to have a constant point of reference. YouTube is very connected to other Web 2.0 programs, meaning that often in social networking programs such as Facebook, it is enabled to allow people to put their favourite videos on their page. YouTube is a social video uploading site, allowing any user to upload a video they have seen or watched. In a classroom, YouTube can be of value because it allows for another way for the students to learn. TeacherTube is probably a better resource for the classroom.

     Within Web 2.0, there are several things that must be kept in mind: it is a social networking world. This means that constantly people, from all over the world are able to help and exchange information with you. Web 2.0 is also a connected world; once you are connected through one of the programs, such as iGoogle, you are able to connect with other programs and mesh them together to make a Web 2.0 that is personalised for you. It is also important to remember that Web 2.0 is constantly changing and that in order to keep up-to-date with all the changes, one must constantly be logging into their accounts. Web 2.0 is a wonderful step forward, especially in the classroom. One only wonders what Web 3.0 is going to be like.

References  

It is important to remember that Web 2.0 is a commerical world. The internet is not a commerical world, because they provide their services for free (such as Yahoo, Google) and instead, they put advertisements on their sites.

The commerical / advertising aspect of using free and commercial sites allows for some free Web 2.0 programs

Google is the way of the future because of their large income – they can invest and research ways to improve the service they provide, such as iGoogle.

The Semantic Web will also be the future. It has been eight years in the making, and is created by the man who created the internet. It will be a new way to search the internet – it searches for ideas and meaning, as opposed to Google, which searches for words. You will be able to link all the information together.

Google is controlling the world by personalising a normal search page – people then have a sense of ownership. A sense of place is a key intinctive emotion that all human’s need and want. iGoogle is a great way to input Web 2.0 into the classroom. 

Whilst it is a space for you, it is not a private space. You must be careful what you write and post on what programs you have.  

You need to simplify everything for students so that all their accounts link into each other.

When thinking about Web 2.0 – keep in mind Google and the Semantic Web.

The Hey Jude Blog is good and colourful, informative and interesting and always being updated. It is an excellent example of a good blog.

I found this video very useful in describing what Web 2.0 actually is. It is also a good way for students to revise information, as I found that it re-enforced and strengthened my knowledge on Web 2.0. 

What del.icio.us allows you to do is upload and store your favourite websites online, so when you are not using your home computer, you are still able to access your favourites.

You can use del.icio.us to:

• Keep links to your favourite articles, blogs, music, videos and access them from any computer on the web
• Share your favourite links with family, friends and foes
• Discover new things by checking out everyone else’s favourite sites.

  

            To see my del.icio.us site please click the link below:

      http://del.icio.us/danipn

http://au.news.yahoo.com/070804/2/144g3.html

Could this also be the same with class time? Could hours upon hours leave students with a lesser education because they are too busy, when using computers in the classroom, networking on MySpace or Facebook? I think this article serves as a reminder that when using Facebook in the classroom, you MUST MONITER WHAT THE STUDENTS ARE DOING, because otherwise, they could lose hours of their education.

It allows for groups to be formed, which as a teacher, would be the way to conduct a classroom forum whilst using Facebook. Some of the positive aspects about Facebook (as a teacher) are the following:

• It is EASY TO MONITER – unlike MySpace or a similar networking website, when one signs in as the administator to the Group – you can see exactly what specific people have written / posted / drawn on their page, but also on the group page
• It is EASY TO USE – kids today know about all the newtworking sites and probably already have their own page. Facebook is easy to use, both from the students perspective, but, most importantly, from the teacher’s perspective because it is easy to grasp and when setting up a profile or a group, it allows a step-by-step process which helps enormously
• The STUDENTS LOVE IT – remember back to when you were a student. Sitting in front of you was a textbook, probably larger than a modern computer and you were forced to read (throughout the year) every page, and answer every question. Now, students can sit in front of a computer and join a discussion about Romeo and Juliet or the Cuban Missile Crisis. They can follow links to specific pages, answer questions which have been placed on the group site by the teacher and even upload videos, music or images. MUCH more exciting than a textbook.
• It CATERS TO ALL LEARNING TYPES – the internet is the gateway for all learning. By capitalising on this gateway, the teacher can also find links that contain the same information, in a variety of ways, so to cater for the different learning styles. For example, those who learn best musically, there could be a link to listen to a scene of Romeo and Juliet; for those that learn best spatially, there could be video of the same scene from Romeo and Juliet; for those that learn liguistically, there could be a link to the written version of the scene; for those who learn by talking with others, there could be a forum you direct them to. The internet is full of open possibilities.
• Students can ACCESS IT ANYWHERE – by using a internet page, the students are pretty much guarenteed to have the internet set up at home (and if not they can go to their local library and use it there). This makes setting and checking homework that much easier. It also allows those students who didn’t finish the lesson or those who are sick and missed the lesson, able to catch up easier and speedier.

However, along with all the possibilities, there are some drawbacks to using Facebook in the classroom

• It can BE DISTRACTING – students will be students, and the first lesson will not be anything about what it is intended to be. They will be so interested becoming friends wih everyone and adding applications such as FunWall, that they will not get any work done. So long as they have a clear goal of what needs to be acheived by the end of the lesson, this crisis can be averted.
• It can be HARD TO KEEP STUDENTS ON TRACK – as mentioned in the previous point, without a set-in-stone, clear, concise directions, the student will easily stray off course and not complete their work. By setting minimum word lengths on responses as well as a list of tasks that are clearly labled ‘Tasks EXPECTED to be completed’, it should keep the students on track, which means that the teacher will have to have a decent lesson plan and have the work prepared before entering the classroom.

I think that internet sites such as Facebook have enormous potential when it comes to online learning; and teaching using Web 2.0. I think that Facebook, for the present, is the website to use when setting up a classroom on the internet. It is collaborative, creative, incorporates a multitude of media and is highly structed – which are CRITICAL when using Web 2.0 in the classroom.

To view my Facebook profile, follow this link:

http://ndedu.facebook.com/profile.php?id=722778032

It must be CREATIVE – The students need to be creative in order to be able to have fun while learning. If they are not interested and are not having fun, then they have no motivation or interest in pursuing their work.

 It must be COLLABORATIVE- Online collaboration is the way of the future – being a key point in Web 2.0. Students who can collaborate are able to correct each other anonymously, have their say without feeling embarrassed and can work from home, continuing their learning as they are able access online collaboration (such as a Wiki) from anywhere.

It must use a MULTITUDE OF MEDIA - Again, to keep the interest of the class at a peak, it is essential that a multitude of media is used while collaborating and creating on a online classroom. It is also imperative to use a multitude of media so that the different learning styles are catered to.

It must be HIGHLY STRUCTURED – In order for an online classroom to work successfully, it must have a highly structed learning pattern. Students should know exactly what they need to do and exactly what is expected of them (in doing so, they should know the consequences if they misuse the computers). This is a key element which should be embedded in the teacher’s lesson plan.

It must allow students to MULTI-TASK – Multi-tasking is an important and useful skill for all students. The way on which this could be acheived could be by telling them they need to have copious amounts of windows open when working. But in doing so, the teacher must make sure they are on task.

Students should be able to TRUST AND HAVE CONFIDENCE WHEN POSTING – Students who are contributing to a Wiki are able to do so anonymously, if they wish. This is an aspect of the classroom that needs to be dealt with before going on the computers. If it should get out of hand, you can always refer to the classroom rules.

Our group Wiki:

http://group6wiki.pbwiki.com/

It consits of

1. A Platform

• This is browser based – e.g. Internet Explorer or Firefox. (Firefox is preferred because it is free and open software in a constant state of development (Web 2.0), whereas Explorer is owned and comes out in a fixed form and then has updates and upgrades on an irregular basis (Web 1.0))
• It operates on open and collaborative principles
• Communications are the key applications

2. Social Networking

• Personalised and open collaborative knowledge spaces
• Access people as well as knowledge
• Copyright issues exist and have to be dealt with and replaced with a Creative Commons culture
• This is beyond the normal formalities of the classroom and can take place anywhere at any time

3. Read/Write Web

• People are consurmers of content and services
• People and publishers of content and services
• Such people are called Produsers

4. What makes Web 2.0

• Blogs
• Wikis
• Social Tagging – bookmarking, Tag Clouds
• Sharing sites
• Podcasts
• Mashups
• Aggregators
• Ubiquitous connectivity

My Flickr Site:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10855673@N02/

This is simply using the internet like a library. It does not take much skill and is a very passive activity whereby one simply gathers and manipulates other peoples information to suit your own need. Some examples included: Britannica Online, Personal Web Sites and Directories. Web 1.0 is something that cannot be added to and cannot be continuously constructed. 

Web 2.0 is constructing knowledge collaboratively on the Web.

This means that it is a contribution-type internet. People are expected not only to gather and gain information but also to contribute and to be creative to help and expand on what information is on the web. It is a collaborative place where you can make friends from all across the world in a very easy and stress free way. Examples of Web 2.0 are one the diagram below. Programs include Wiki’s, Blogs, Flickr, Google Earth and YouTube