I’m teaching a special topics seminar this summer for graduate students. The topic will be Teaching and Learning with Web 2.0 Technologies. I began preparing for this course in June 2007 and I’m very excited about it. While we’ll consider common trends and issues and survey many of the popular tools and services related to Web 2.0, the heart of the course will be learning to effectively integrate Web 2.0 technologies and principles with teaching and learning. The focus will be on K-12 education but accommodations can be made for individuals from other fields (health, corporate, military, higher education, etc.). This draft version of the Course Topics provides an overview of the likely curriculum.
While the dominate driving force in the development of the curriculum and resources has been the upcoming class, I always planned for this to be a relatively open learning community. In keeping with the principles of Web 2.0 I encourage the participation of everyone with an interest or expertise in this topic. You may contribute to the discussion and fun by using the following tag/keyword: idt7078
Related Resources
- Course Wiki
- Google Reader Shared Items
- Diigo Group
- News Notes on This Topic
- More Coming Soon
I’m a teacher, I like teaching and my students. To be a good teacher I need constant working at myself,new and interesting materials for my lessons.I would like to know more about web 2.0 tools,so that i can effectively include them in my curriculum.A web2.0 learning tool which is gaining a lot of popularity is this online interactive and group based flash card system .
I was not aware of what web 2.0 was until taking my technology class at Union. There were things about the internet alone that I was unaware of, so this seems like a wonderful presentation. It is always wonderful for teachers to learn more about the internet and all technology.
Lori,
We currently offer a certificate in technology integration and all of the courses are available online and f2f. http://idt.memphis.edu/?q=node/21.
I encourage you to engage in the Teaching and Learning with Web 2.0 course as you are able. Please also feel free to browse through all of my online resources (https://clifmims.com) and use all that you wish. I welcome your input, suggestions, questions, etc. Just jump in!
Clif, I currently teach in a small private school in Memphis. I’m very interested in the content of your course, but unfortunately cannot attend this summer due to my older daughter’s softball schedule. Are there any plans for U of M to develop online versions of their technology classes? I earned a Masters from the University of Missouri-Columbia, completely online and love the flexibility of online learning. I have often thought of entering the doctoral program at Memphis, but cannot commit to being in a class at a particular time on a specific day at this time of my life. I will watch this summer for further activity on the Wiki and follow that way for now.
Lori
Pat,
You may certainly always use my resources for educational purposes. See my Creative Commons License information for assistance (https://clifmims.com/blog/archives/338).
I am teaching a course on Learning Disabilities and I hope to include using technology as some of my lessons. I hope you don’t mind if I refer to your wiki because it looked great.
kamccollum,
Wow, these are good questions that do not have simple answers.
This course will primarily focus on teaching and learning with the understanding that the technology is meant to enhance learning. You can look at the Course Topics (DRAFT) at http://clifmims.wetpaint.com/page/Course+Topics and see that we’ll begin by looking at various instructional models, rationale for networking, the principles of web 2.0, related current topics and issues, and more before we ever look at any specific tools.
We’ll survey a variety of Web 2.0 technologies and the learners will have some flexibility in which tools they choose to use (For example, For the social bookmarking unit the learners could choose to use Diigo, Del.icio.us, etc.). Again, the tools are not the primary focus of the course as many will be vastly upgraded or obsolete 18 months from now. The idea will be for the learners to become comfortable with their selected tools and begin developing strategies to integrate them with teaching and learning in their own classrooms.
I’ve tried to group the tools according to use in the classroom. That is, I’ve group everything related to audio together, etc. This class does not seek to be on the bleeding edge of innovation so we’ll look at tools that have documented examples of being implemented in classrooms and have at least a small community of edu-users.
The number of groups of tools that can be studies will likely be more than we can study in the course, so I anticipate that we’ll all learn some of the most common tools together (blogs, wikis, microblogging, etc.) and then I’ll allow the learners to customize their learning by picking 3 or so of the remaining half dozen groups as they deem most appropriate to their needs, interests, etc.
As we survey all these tools, we’ll always bring the conversation back to the educational merits each brings to the design of instruction. I do not believe in using technology for the sake of using technology, nor do I wish for anyone to leave my class with that misconception.
I encourage you to join in the development of the content through the wiki (http://clifmims.wetpaint.com/page/IDT+7%2F8078) and welcome your input, suggested resources, ideas, engagement, etc. before, during, and after the course.
All the best,
Clif
I also teach a course about technology in k12 education, so I really interested in your curriculum. What is the balance between pedagogical theory and tool training in your course? Also, with so many tools out there, how did you decide what will be included or excluded from the course?
Roger,
Yes, we’ll be using a variety of online resources throughout the course. It looks like the frontdoor will likely be on my wiki. You can access it at http://clifmims.wetpaint.com/page/IDT+7%2F8078.
This sounds really interesting, Cliff. Will you be blogging the course content, or publishing it on a wiki? I’d really like to see it.