Thursday 4 May 2006

It’s Not a Textbook World

by David Warlick

one of the most impressive aspects of Web 2.0 is the aggregator concept, and our ability to mix and remix content


He continued to quote an example:
...[an] assignment where students used their word processors to write a two-page letter on drug-abuse and other software to produce slides for a class presentation.
They were instructed to visit a variety of anti-drug Web sites to get help for their letter and presentation.

The fundamental difference between this and a traditional version of the assignment, has less to do with the presence of technology, and more to do with the conspicuous absence of a textbook. Rather than getting their content exclusively from a packaged information product, designed to make learning slick and easy, students are asked to visit a variety of information sources, that, hopefully, do not agree on every aspect of the topic. It puts more responsibility of learning, on the shoulders of the learner, to make some decisions, recognize that there is more than one side, more than one answer, and more than one perspective. [my emphasis in bold]


Now, that's Web 2.0 concept in school. It is NOT the wiki, the blog or another new found technology. It is about students interact with information, own their learning process AND the change of attitude by the adults responsible for their learning to recognise that learning is a process, not just absorbing information!

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