My action research project with the Knowledge Bank: New Generation Collaborative Learning and Research Project is about social networking and maths and science learning in the middle years. First, what is social networking? My own definition would include sites that allow participants to upload text, photos, videos, audio and other items they have created, to share with others and allow comments from other participants. From a student perspective, it gives them an authentic audience, apart from their teachers, parents or classmates. Due to this wider audience, I believe it also makes students more reflective about their work and more inclined to do their best. Some of the social networking tools useful in educational contexts include:
- Blogs
- Wikis
- Nings, Elgg (like MySpace, Facebook and Bebo)
- Scribd, skrbl (collaborative text)
- Google docs (collaborative spreadsheets)
- Flickr, Photobucket, Picassa (images)
- Teachertube, You Tube, Mathtrain (videos)
- Slideshare, Slide, Picturetrail, Animoto (moving images)
- Podcasting, Voicethread (audio)
This page has a collection of various web 2.0 sites, many of which would be considered social networking tools. http://learningweb2.wikispaces.com/Step+Two (Thanks Marg for this link).
But, are all of these tools applicable to maths and science learning? Is trying to use these tools like trying to knit with a knife and fork – they are great tools but for a different purpose, and you end up with an inferior product that is more difficult and takes longer to produce?
Part of the appeal of web 2.0 is it’s new and different, but when it is used often, will it lose this appeal and become another ‘chore’ for students? Hopefully, my research will help me to answer some of these questions – stay tuned!
I agree that if students are saturated and are not provided with a mix of a learning activities great tools like the ones you mention will lose their appeal. The key is to be agile and to go on meeting the challenge of finding diverse ways to engage students. Personally I have found that tactile activities retain their appeal/
Hi there,
As the person that put together the site that you have linked to in the article, I agree that we need to not overcook the whole web 2.0 thing. It is important that any activities and grounded and authentic so that kids do use them as a tool and not as a novelty. As an ICT facilitator, I used to get frustrated by teachers that always wanted me to show them something new each time and would say ‘we’ve done that’ with tools like Voicethread that can be used in so many ways and with such depth. I wanted them to start thinking about picking a tool that the children would benefit from using rather than always having to learn new things constantly.
In saying that, there are obviously some great tools around and I think that teachers should try to have some awareness of these so that they can reach into this toolbox to find the ones that will work for their children. Just so you know, the most up-to-date page of tool links on my wiki is here:
http://learningweb2.wikispaces.com/Table+of+tools+for+blogs+or+wikis
Looks great. You should enter your project in the WebQuest and beyond competition! It definitely doesn’t have to be a WebQuest to meet the criteria.