3.18.1 What is Web 2.0?
The evolution of web use and the invocation of newer technologies and standards that facilitate social networking, provide access to a large set of networks and services through the introduction of more complex media and data types, including audio and video. These services rely on a wider community collaborating, sharing and creating or designing content. For example, the services include blogs, wikis, social booking, media sharing, rich Internet applications, RSS feeds and several others. The major categories for Web 2.0 activities include trading (buying, selling or exchanging through the Internet), media sharing, media manipulation, data/web mashups (combining data from multiple sources to create a new application), conversational arenas, online games and virtual worlds, social networking, blogging, social bookmarking, recommender systems, collaborative editing and syndication (Leeson 2008).
In their report, Crook & Harrison (2008) state ―despite the anecdotal evidence and hype surrounding the concept of Web 2.0 technologies in education, there is a lack of studies
providing empirical evidence on the role of Web 2.0 technologies to support learning‖.
They further emphasized that the Web 2.0 use is outside school and for social purposes. In addition, they noted significant gender differences in the use of Web 2.0 technologies: older learners take part in more social networking, younger learners take part in more interacting gaming using the internet, girls are involved more in social networking and boys are involved in internet-based gaming.
There are many technical skills that are lacking and also a lack of awareness for the range of technologies of when and how they could be used. The digital literacy, and critical skills to navigate and use this space, is not yet fully mature. Four potential benefits were identified for teaching and learning from using Web 2.0 and these were described by the following expressions:
Stimulated new modes of inquiry, Engaged with new literacy, Engaged with collaborative learning activities and Publication of online content. (Crook & Harrison 2008).
3.18.2 Barriers and Issues of Web 2.0 and Beyond
There are a number of significant issues such as legal, privacy and parental concerns which relate to Web 2.0 technologies and learning. I will discuss specific aspects in the case study later in the thesis in Chapter 7, and compare these with the Becta (2008) findings, which are summarized here: technical failures and removal of facility due to insufficient budget; insufficient access to computer resources; insufficient support for Web 2.0 tools; administrative costs; networking issues, for example insufficient bandwidth; storage management issues; teachers lack of legal and copyright laws; portability issues and authentication; cyber bullying issues; and teacher and student safety and privacy protection.
In fact, the Becta (2008) summary report recommends specific approaches to what it calls e-safety. These are referred to as the ―Walled Garden, Empower and manage,
Lock down and Open Access‖ respectively. The same report emphasizes the need for
new modes of learning, different approaches to assessment and an alternative approach to private modes of study, research and production. As a consequence of this approach, there will be new products of learning such as digital literacy, sharing of resources and an enhancement of young people‘s skills and confidence with multimedia hardware and software.
Furthermore, the report provides guidelines regarding implications for policy on learners‘ use of Web 2.0. The main considerations are for the activity of learners and the relevant skills to be acquired from social networking by using technology in and out of school. One important aspect is support for skill acquisition post-16 and the requirements of the Leitch 40
implementation plan. Schools might also take more advantage of technologies to which learners have free access, such as MP3 players.
Furthermore, the UK Becta (2008) report proposed the following main principles to policy makers in this field: (1) Web 2.0 should be used to support learning and teaching through engagement and participatory learning by the students; (2) curriculum design and assessment should not inhibit teachers from innovation and Web 2.0 technologies should provide a medium for creativity and incentive; (3) there are various issues such
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as privacy and recording of assessments, file access, storage of files and compliance where schools need to be vigilant to ensure the medium does not compromise teaching and learning; (4) the schools need to exercise a duty of care in relation to cyber safety beyond the school walls to safeguard themselves; (5) In addition, it is significant that they understand the issue of plagiarism and authority of knowledge; the need to develop skills in internet literacy, and to provide the necessary training and guidance, to ensure that the students can use the web in a proper and safe manner.
These main principles will also be explored in the present study to see how the various actors, both human and non-human, are affected by Web 2.0 technologies.
One of the research sub-questions that are presented in the thesis is the issue of school to work transition. The next section provides a brief discussion from the literature on this topic.