Although the term Web 2.0 was deliberately not mentioned in the title (Inside out: what do current Web trends tell us about the future of ICT provision for learners and researchers?), it naturally featured heavily during the day. In his introduction, Andy Powell said that it undeniably has already had a disruptive impact on educational institutions, particularly in higher education, on the way learning and research is carried out and on the way learning is supported. The word disruptive, though, was questioned several times throughout the day, both in the talks and in the live streaming. Is it too negative a word to use? Should emergent or innovative technologies be used instead?
The loss of control when Web 2.0 technologies are adopted was raised several times. The two speakers from outside the HE sector, though, talked about this in terms of empowerment. Jem Stone mentioned that the BBC gives staff license to criticise the BBC in blogs, while Bobbie Johnson (The Guardian) talked about Salem Pax, an architect in Baghdad, who was given a book deal and the offer of a film by The Guardian to write about the invasion in a blog. Both the BBC and The Guardian distribute their own material through other websites – Facebook, YouTube, Flickr – and allow content to be taken out of their control, possibly even without getting credit for their work. Journalists tell stories in different ways through a variety of media – video, audio, the Web – and in an integrated way, for instance, writing a blog entry with a radio programme attached.
Therefore, what are the parallels for HE? Do students work in the same integrated way? Does the HE community experience the same loss of control / sense of empowerment through the adoption of Web 2.0 technologies? What should we be doing? Geoffrey Bilder (CrossRef) talked about trust and an “Internet anti-trust pattern”, in terms of the Internet (spam, viruses), the publisher (sales / marketing, content hidden behind a paywall), the librarian (ownership / access), and ultimately the student (being able to read, contribute feedback to and assess the value of sites). He also discussed the setting up of a system of industry standards or kitemarks for information on the Web, and included a mention for peer-reviewed blogs, along the lines of slashdot. Larry Johnson discussed the New Media Consortium’s Emerging Technologies Initiative, the Horizon Project, by first looking at how machines changed the way that we lived and worked in the twentieth century: washing machines freeing up women’s time for paid work, telephone systems altering our communication patterns and so on. In the twenty-first century, the Horizon Project has identified a number of challenges and issues as being relevant for learning, including: moving to 3D visualisation technologies, games as pedagogical platforms, and collective sharing and generation of knowledge, through the use of networking, user-generated content, and folksonomies.
Other topics that struck me throughout the day included: managing the risks of Web 2.0, in terms of security and data protection (Are students really aware that Web 2.0 providers are 3rd party organisations? Would enterprise organisations adopting HE services for free – for example, Google taking over the email system – pose confidentiality risks?); the importance of partnership at all levels of the educational organisation; as always, the provision of education and training being essential; and the exciting use of Web 2.0 technologies in good learning models: writing a blog as a reflective diary or using a wiki as a class resource.
Inevitably, the day posed more queries than answers. The parallels between other sectors and HE raised some interesting points for me: loss of control versus empowerment; using Web 2.0 technologies in a multi-faceted way; and telling stories in different ways / using Web 2.0 technologies for learning. As one speaker said, our biggest risk is to do nothing.
Click here to access video recordings of all the presentations and see a transcript of the live chat on the event website.
Tags: efsym2008
Ale Fernandez says: May 13, 2008 @ 12:23 pm
Hi, Thanks for a great and concise write up of a really interesting symposium!
Just a note about the idea that washing machines and other household appliances saved any time. I have some doubts about this – although they certainly changed things. Here’s an article just on washing machines – makes me wonder if you can and should really compare assumptions about the past with modern IT trends and what value any conclusions from that might have.
Martin Poulter says: May 19, 2008 @ 11:07 am
Correction about the Baghdad Blogger. His name is Salam Pax and he was already writing the blog before the deal with the Guardian. The book deal enabled him to reach a wider audience and to keep blogging, allowing the Guardian to publish a perspective it couldn’t have with conventional reporting.