Web 2.0 for University 2.0

September 25, 2009 at University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT
"Web 2.0 Delivery & Content for University 2.0"

I wrote earlier about this session I'll be doing Friday at the conference eLearning 2.0: The Next Generation of Online Education. One thing I am observing is that, not by design, e-learning is becoming less independent and more collaborative. Web 2.0 and social networks are driving that, but whether educational institutions or businesses will lead in this is yet to be decided.

Companies have embraced the 2.0 world with less hesitation than schools.

In the fully online graduate program in Professional and Technical Communication that I teach in at NJIT, I use web 2.0 not only as a delivery method for the course, but as the content for the course - as do other courses in the program.

Students use blogging as a reflective practice to complement the more traditional ePortfolio that is used to assess core competencies. We use Moodle as our LMS, do collaborative work in wikis, use tagging to share resources, view my iTunes U podcast "lectures." More importantly, students work within that 2.0 environment.

We have been hearing for years that we value student discussion and should be moving away from the lecture, dispense information, and keep students quiet model of the last century. Virtual classrooms are already more interactive and more student-centered by the environment.

Small businesses, community schools, homeschoolers, some K-12 classes are using online classes for tutorials, instruction, and  certification programs, and most are using open source systems like the very popular Moodle, or smaller ones like WiziQ and Myicourse.

Should schools be a little worried that on the Myicourse site they say: “We do not believe all of life’s necessary learning is contained within the walls of universities or between the binders of books. We believe there is a tremendous need for on-line teaching of all subjects and we have eliminated the barriers to use for everyone."

Once, big universities and a few big businesses owned online education. Now, open sourceware makes it possible for almost anyone to teach online.

If you look at how companies are using web 2.0 the past three years, you see that they are starting to see measurable 2.0 benefits. This wiki tracks lots of examples of their use of social media marketing using blogs, mash-ups, microblogging, peer to peer, podcasts, prediction markets, rating, RSS, social networking, tagging, video sharing, and wikis.

It's all so new that it is not clear who the winners will be. People ask me if Twitter can be used in an educational environment. It can be used. It is being used. It is being used for study help, group projects, catching up on world or campus news, public relations and recruitment (and see the links below). But I would say the educational jury is still out.

In a piece last year, "Thinking Differently About Mobile Learning," Cheryl Johnson says that when we think about using mobile learning, we we continue to think in familiar terms: modules, quizzes, tests, assessments. "Sure, it is currently easier to create modules, quizzes, tests, assessments, and the like for small handheld devices. But people learn in many other—informal—methods."



She was writing for an audience of ASTD trainers, but universities need to also be looking at mobile as part of web 2.0 delivery, and need to consider if this is not also the time to evaluate how we present learning.

University 2.0 is probably going to be found online, and the next generation of online education will be more social and collaborative.

MORE
The Future of Learning Institutions in a Digital Age
Redefining Universities and Ho We Teach and Learn
Redefining Universities part 2

The Twitter Hype Cycle and Educators
Twitter in the Classroom: 10 useful resources
101 Ways to Use Twitter on Campus
UK university Twitter accounts and a list of UK university fan pages on Facebook

Peer 2 Peer University