Information Innovation Exchange

New ways of using the Web mean change is on the horizon for schools, as well as students. Web 2.0 has raised its fair share of security questions. Also, the amount of bandwidth a school needs to support has grown, as teachers use tools like video-sharing and blogging to communicate with students. The enhanced degree of communication that Web 2.0 utilities enable is changing the corporate world, for good or for ill, as enterprises decide whether to reject or embrace concepts like wikis, blogs, social networks and video-sharing. The trend has touched the academic world in similar ways. Web 2.0 utilities have raised concerns about security in nearly all IT fields, and educational institutions are no exception. “The biggest worries schools have are hackers getting into the Web site,” Steve Yin, vice president of global marketing and sales for Web security appliance firm St.
Bernard, told TechNewsWorld.

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A core debate about learning design arises from the fear that, if we allow learners too much freedom, they will not learn the right things. Web 2.0 exacerbates that fear because it is beyond the control of educators.

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Web 2.0 is changing the landscape of higher education IT and the application of learning technologies. Washington State University’s Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology Director Gary Brown explains why he thinks we’re moving from collaborative learning environments (CLEs) and ePortfolios, to personal learning environments (PLEs) and worldware.

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As online tools become more ubiquitous inside and outside the classroom, and the growth of distance learning continues, education researchers have begun to focus on how best to harness new technologies. Advocates for the classical lecture experience still exist, of course, but the general trend has been toward incorporating various technologies into the classroom, from course management software to digital photography. One approach, called “blended learning,” mixes traditional “face to face” techniques with cutting-edge developments in theory and technology. A new book, Blended Learning in Higher Education: Framework, Principles, and Guidelines (Wiley, 2008), summarizes the current theory behind blended learning but offers practical guidelines (with examples) on how to transform existing courses into the new framework. The authors, D. Randy Garrison and Norman D. Vaughan, of the University of Calgary, discuss the ideal conditions for a blended learning experience, how a blog and a wiki can enhance a class and how exclusively face-to-face encounters can lead to short attention spans.

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