K-12 School Computer Networking/Chapter 25/Performances of Understanding through Web 2.0 Technologies

Introduction
An eighth grade class in a small parochial classroom recently embarked on a field trip to New York City. Their teacher brought these twenty-four students to Ellis Island, the Tenement Museum, and the Statue of Liberty. These students read about experiences from Mario Cuomo, Ezra Pound and Maya Angelou for background on their journey. While on their field trip they explored the Great Hall of Ellis Island, experienced the living conditions of new immigrants in a tour of the Tenement Museum, and listened to current New York City Cabbies discuss their recent immigrant experiences and reasons for travelling to the United States.

Cool field trip, but unique? No, not particularly unique. What was unusual about this field trip is that the students never left confines of the second floor computer lab to travel to these New York sites.

Traditional Classroom Setting
Through the development of a website, students were provided a gateway to the immigrant experience in the United States. Traditionally taught using a textbook, notebooks, various handouts and a movie, the immigrant experience unit would culminate with a debate between students on the current hot topic of immigration in the United States today. Students would read various readings in their textbooks, have some class discussion, write journal responses (that only their instructor would read), research on the immigration issue today, and then conduct a classroom debate (assessing persuasive techniques and argumentation skills). The more academic achievers as usual excelled, participating, engaging, and arguing. However, the classroom dynamic and learning curve remained constant. While some students were engaged, many remained passive, and some taking notes for information pertinent to the test, always looking for the correct answer, but never making any deeper connection. “If their [students] initial understanding is not engaged, they may fail to grasp the new concepts and information that they are taught,” (Fullan, 2007).

Collaboration is to Understanding
In the journals, the teacher would provide feedback and commentary, but it was only a dialogue between one student and the teacher. And while the opportunity for group discussion occurred in response to the readings, the same students voiced their opinions, but the usual quiet students made no contributions. While even the vocal population of the class, primarily directed their discussions to the teacher and not with their classmates. Communication with other students, the sharing of ideas, is always the most fulfilling experience for educators. When students take over the class and demonstrate their understanding through their passionate ideas on a given topic they might not readily consider, and when they begin to relate this topic to their personal lives and experiences does the learning experience and the understanding of knowledge then become authentic.

Using objective and goals, often prescribed by National and State Standards, to guide the lessons’ designs, educators need to scaffold frameworks to work towards a collaborative environment for student learning, and also teacher learning. Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs, and wiki-spaces can allow students (and their teachers) to conduct classroom discussion and have a more interactive journal experience. The solitary use of the web from a simple source of research to be transmitted between teacher and student can now be shared with the rest of the class and beyond; beyond to future students studying the same lesson both within the same school or to be shared with other schools.

Example of Student Collaboration (i.e. Blogging)
For this unit, the instructor created a blog within the web-site lesson unit:.

The instructor, to guide students’ responses, posted the reflection prompts, and the first student entries were soon deleted by the first to post after reading more developed responses from their classmates.

With the discussion of a blog, the students acknowledged an understanding of the blog concept but had never used one. All students did acknowledge however, a vast experience with social networking, such as MySpace and Facebook. The later being a main tool of communication that students engage in outside of school. Engaging students’ interest of social networking environments, the blog would satisfy this same type of interaction and expression of ideas to early teenage learners. It is imperative for educators to not only use technologies in learner isolation with research and review activities. Educators must “take notice of the ways in which learners use technology outside a formal educational environment” (Scardamalia and Bereiter 1994; Lee 2000; Kop 2007).

This engaged learning became apparent in the learner suggested section of the blog posted as “Struggles and Solutions”. Students primarily addressed the teacher (as would be expected in a traditional classroom learning environment). However, once comfortable with the interface, students began to collaborate with problem solving on the blog. This led to more collaboration and commentary throughout the entire activity blog postings not only the “Struggles and Solutions” section.

Other Observations
Before the unit began, students had never participated in a blog (or so they thought). While setting up access to the blog, there were the typical technical issues that need to be accepted while using technology tools. As a result, an interesting and inspiring occurrence ensued. Students not usually on the higher-end of academic achievement, but adept at using computers (primarily the web) spontaneously started to help each other. Students often considered to behavioral issues assisted (without persuasion from the instructor) Honor Society students. This gave them a noticeable sense of empowerment. These students immediately became interested enthusiastically at the prospect of a web-based learning environment.

Coined “fun-ducational” by one of the eighth grade students, many of the students (and their parents) made mention that students could not wait to get home “to blog” and work on the web activities over other more traditional class assignments.

One more note for the educator, the immediate feedback, flexibility, and affordances that Web 2.0 technologies provide is valuable. Educators can make changes in overall scaffolding by editing, adding or deleting information. They can create new tasks and follow the trajectory of students interest and understanding immediately, assessing and meeting learners' needs in real time, developing understanding of the lesson's goals and objectives.

Final Thoughts
While the use of Web 2.0 technologies is an obvious engagement to captivate learners, encourage student collaboration, and demonstrate learning understanding, it is only a portion of engaging learners in different modes of learning.

The use of this website, which does have an emphasis on the reflection blog, also provides activities for student collaboration and construction. Students are also required to create a video of an immigrant (1st, 2nd or 3rd generation) experience to be posted on YouTube. This exhibits a documented and shared knowledge for learners that will extend well beyond the second floor computer lab of a particular small parochial school.

The culmination of the unit on immigration is assessed through a student debate. With the aid of web cams, students will use some type of web interface, such as Mogulus to broadcast and record their debate. This public debate will allow students to participate “in actively debating, constructing, producing, and presenting their understandings, not just listening to or reciting knowledge created by other people” (Wiske 2005). Although these two activities are not to date complete, they demonstrate the importance of a wide range of Web 2.0 technology applications that can enhance student learning and understanding, while appealing to their interests that occur beyond the classroom.