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Web 2.0 Learning Platform: Harnessing Collective Intelligence. Please enjoy this thoughtful paper on how technology is changing the way we learn and teach. Web 2.0 Technologies and Education

In short, in today’s world everyone is both a teacher and a learner combined. We all know the old adage of the teacher being the ultimate source of knowledge as being simply not true anymore. Social constructivism emphasizes that learning takes place as we interact with one another and the world. Specificially we learn within authentic situated context. Simply put we learn when we can see the real purpose and understand how the new knowledge can benefit us. Learning within a community of practice or a collective intelligence environment provides us with something that is immediately useful, therefore infinitely more memorable.

Web 2.0 learning involves a “decentralization of authority” according to the authors of the paper. It also provides an architecture of participation, specifically exposing metadata to allow purposeful searches, and useful community produced “stubs” for saving data on comments and interactions.

References:

Rogers, P., Liddle, S., Chan, P, Doxey, A., Isom, B. (2007). Web 2.0 learning platform: Harnessing collective intelligence. Retrieved January 25, 2008, from http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_
storage_01/0000019b/80/34/ec/cb.pdf

The following represents reviews I conducted articles relating to the importance of “sense of community” to help alleviate isolation and frustration for online learners.

Article 1
Kreijns, K., Kirschner, P.A., Jochems, W. (2003). Identifying the pitfalls for social interaction in computer-supported collaborative learning environments: a review of the research. Computers in Human Behavior, 19, 335-353.

Problem Presented in Article
Sharing experiences, and collaboration are doorways to richer dialogue, and deeper levels of learning. Two pitfalls exist that hamper such levels of communication. Just because social interaction is technically feasible within an OLE doesn’t necessarily mean learners will. Interaction must be intentionally designed within the course. The second pitfall is the fact instructors must focus primarily on meeting learning objectives and covering content rather than fostering socio-emotional relationships. Just completing assignments online is a narrow type of interaction that isn’t at the proper level necessary for true group dynamics to occur. Instructors should think of how to produce interactions that encourage group cohesion, a sense of belonging and positive interdependence. By being proactive in monitoring and weaving discussions and interactions, instructors can help to create a sense of social presence and true community.

Summary
Many studies have shown that social interaction is the key for effective group learning. Social interaction is important for: feelings of affiliation, forming impressions of others, building social relationships, and developing a community of learning. Collaboration results in students learning to think more critically and on a deeper level. Learning through collaboration means knowledge will be more apt to be remembered for a longer period of time (Garrison, 1993).   Collaboration amplifies the development of social and communication skills particularly when participants are working with loosely defined, authentic situated learning environments. They develop social and communication skills in order to solve their challenges, build relationships and work in ways that enhances group cohesion.   The authors cite work by Hiltz (1998), who said that, “the social process of developing shared understanding through interaction is the €˜natural’ way for people to learn”.

Social interaction influences whether or not collaborative learning is effective.   Just because a person is placed within a group, doesn’t guarantee they will collaborate with others.   The author contends that many instructors just naturally assume interaction will occur.   Somewhat akin to thinking, “We built the virtual coffee house.   So interact already!”

The authors cite work by Rourke (2000) in which he summarized students must feel part of a group in order to truly collaborate.   Supported by that sense of belonging, students feel more open to taking the necessary risks needed for true collaboration.   Students who feel comfortable with one another, are more likely to present tentative ideas, ask for help, critique others, and accept other’s criticisms without feeling threatened.   Once students feel connected to one another they are able to engage in active collaboration and see that working together is valuable.   The authors note that studies by Wegreg (1998) showed that a sense of community allows for people to feel like their concerns or opinions will be treated with empathy and respect.   Therefore, they need not be anxious or defensive in their communications.   In order to build community people should be allowed to chat, discuss, argue, and confide.   In doing so they will find others with common interests €“ and will learn from them.   Opportunities should be allowed for impromptu encounters, social, and off-task communication

Reactions
This is an interesting and useful position.   Social interaction does indeed create stronger collaboration.   One feels a sense of affiliation, as group members are “real people” who are identified with, cared about and supported.   By allowing students to create a social presence, content learning moves to a new level through more lively discussions and sustained interest.  

It is not clear how individuals on tight schedules, and no-nonsense attitudes to getting work done, could ever be truly “super sociable” in an online learning environment.   Nor would a school probably enjoy their class being turned into a sort of friendship love-fest.   But providing opportunities for students to be seen as real social beings and not just a login name is a good step forward.   Understanding where a person is coming from, their interests, and motivations can be helpful.   It would be particularly useful in developing stronger alliances, richer collaborative experiences and longer more sustained relationships for networking purposes.

References for Future Research

Gilbert L. & Moore, D.R. (1998). Building interactivity into web courses: tools for social and instructional interaction. Educational Technology 38, 29 €“35.

Gunawardena , C.N. (1995). Social presence theory and implications for interaction and collaborative learning in computer conferences. International Journal of Educational Telecommunications 1, 147 €“166.

Johnson, D.W. & Johnson, R.T. (1999). Learning together and alone: cooperative, competitive, and individualistic learning. Allyn & Bacon: Boston.

Rourke, L. (2000). Operationalizing social interaction in computer conferencing. In Proceedings of the 16th Annual conference of the Canadian Association for Distance Education. Quebec City.

Rourke, L., Anderson, T, Archer, W., Garrison, D.R., (1999), Assessing social presence in asynchronous text-based, computer conferencing. Journal of Distance Education, 14,   51 €“70.

Rovai , A.P. (2001). Classroom community at a distance: a comparative analysis of two ALN-based university programs. Internet and Higher Education, 4, 105 €“118.

The Role of Instructional Design
Instructional design is a synergy of disciplines that create a systematic process for the development of instruction. This process combines best practices in instruction with proven learning theories and often uses technology as its delivery mechanism. Instructional design takes strategies and theories out of the research world and utilizes them in direct and practical ways.

Instructional design focuses its primary attention on the learner. This is distinctly different from traditional classroom teaching and learning of the past, which tended to concentrate on covering content alone. Objectives are built based on the level of the intended target audience. Strategies are designed around the students and what is considered most appropriate for them.

Fundamental Elements of ID
Within a comprehensive and effective instructional design plan, there is a core of elements that should always be found. The following are those elements:

1. Designing for the Learner
For effective teaching, one must specifically design the instruction for the target audience. The instructional designer seeks to understand their students’ individual differences and current level of understanding. They must also understand in what context should the learning take place. Instruction is tailored in such a way that the students will be able to understand the new material and be able to link it with their existing cognitive structures.

2. Instructional Objectives
A list of clear and definable objectives is written. Objectives describe what a student must be able to do or demonstrate in order to show that learning has been accomplished. In order to be effective, objectives must not be general statements but be as exact and specific as possible.

3. Instructional Strategies
An instructional designer selects a set of strategies that will be utilized to teach the subject. The goal is to select those that will be best for the specific learners in order to meet the course objectives.

4. Evaluation Instruments
Precise ways to evaluate the student’s progress are developed. These evaluative tools measure if the teaching objectives have been met and to what degree the student has mastered the material.

5. Instructional Problems and Goals
The designer defines the knowledge gaps to be solved and specifies learning goals.

6. Subject Content
The course content is written and defined specifically listing those components of instruction that will be necessary to meet the learning goals.

7. Create Units and Sequence Content
The designer must chunk the course material into logical, sequential groups. This structure provides a progression for learning in discrete units that help to aid understanding without overwhelming the student.

8. Instructional Message and Development of Instruction
The instructional message is the actual design of the instructional material. It is the physical teaching product.

9. Resources
A listing is made of the types of resources that will be used to help supplement the instruction. Varied resources are considered optimal to maintain attention and interest.

Premises Underlying the Instructional Design Process
Premise 1
Utilize systematic procedures and specificity in creating details for the plan.
One must be precise and systematic in creating the design. The instructional designer gathers the essential nine elements (discussed above) and defines their strategies in an organized fashion with exacting detail.

Premise 2
The ID process starts not at the curriculum development level, but rather at the course development level.

Premise 3
The ID plan is produced as a planning guide for the instructional designer and team, and is usually not seen by the learners.

Premise 4
The plan should make it a priority that the students experience levels of satisfactory achievement.

Premise 5
The content must be accurate in order for the instruction to be successful.

Premise 6
The target audience is considered vitally important and the design plan works towards their individual improvement. The focus is on the learner more so than specific content.

Premise 7
There is no single right path for designing instruction.

Applying the Process to Academic and Training Programs
Instructional design for business tends to have precise requirements. The objective of instruction is to create a return on investment through improvement in job related performance.

Instructional design for the academic world utilizes the same processes but considers different priorities. It’s objective is to create tailored instruction for the individual. This provides stronger engagement of students and keeps their attention and motivation high. The instruction tends to be centered on project-based activities, which focus on active participation in the learning process through authentic environments. Students are encouraged to integrate and demonstrate learning from multiple subjects in order to complete their projects.

References

Morrison, G. R., Ross, S. M., & Kemp, J.E. (2004), Designing Effective Instruction. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.

Think New Ideas: A Collaborative Research Community

ThinkNewIdeas.com is a community of forward thinking individuals interested in learning how to facilitate global collaboration. The group will explore and share how Web 2.0 technologies can be successfully used to create and enhance collaborative intelligence.

Mission
We plan to create efficient systems that facilitate knowledge sharing. Our ultimate goal is to enable faster discoveries within mankind’s critical areas of concern. Those areas including medical research, and other fundamental domains. It is our hope by creating more useful knowledge sharing systems, key research data and patterns can be more quickly identified and put to good use.

Research Focus

Our first research phase will focus on the most respected and influential thinkers within the fields of collective intelligence and the semantic Web. We will carefully select and review the highest levels of research possible. Our mission is to discover and distill the essential essence of ideas being worked on at present. We will then provide that information in a clear and highly usable state, and identify those elements of a successful collaborative system. Once the information is distilled we will begin a system prototype for our knowledge sharing environment.

About ThinkNewIdeas.com

Think New Ideas will be powered entirely by Web 2.0 technologies. In order to provide a comfortable and efficient working environment, we will always opt for those applications that are mainstream, and familiar to the majority of users.

Wikipedia: A case study in global collective intelligence

In order to understand collective intelligence more clearly, we need to study one of the strongest and prime examples of collective knowledge building on the Web.That is Wikipedia.Despite earlier questions regarding it’s usability, and overall accuracy, it is indeed an amazing accomplishment. The knowledge base of Wikipedia is growing exponentially.Itis a rich and exciting case study on anenormous scale.Within it lies a trove of information regarding howcollective intelligence is formed and valued by the community that creates it.

According to Wilkinson & Huberman, (2007):

“The online encyclopedia Wikipedia is an impressive example of a global collective intelligence at work. Since its inception in January 2001, Wikipedia has grown to encompass 6.40 million articles (by April 2007) in 250 languages generated from 236 million edits by 5.77 million contributors.

Both Bernardo A. Huberman, and Dennis Wilkinson are with HP and the reknown PARC (Palo Alto Research Center). They havereported substantial findings regarding Wikipedia in theApril 2007 issue of First Monday.

The content of Wikipedia is deemed useful and relevant by the user community at large is confirmed by its current position as11th most visited site on the Internet, serving an average of 16,536 requests per second.

The authors studied a correlation between the number of edits and article quality within 1,211 featured articles. Theresearchers concluded:

“We have shown that although Wikipedia is a complex system in which of millions of diverse editors collaborate in an unscheduled and virtually uncontrolled fashion, editing follows a very simple overall pattern. This pattern implies that a small number of articles, corresponding to topics of high relevance or visibility, accrete a disproportionately large number of edits. And, while large collaborations have been shown to fail in many contexts, Wikipedia article quality continues to increase, on average, as the number of collaborators and the number of edits increases. Thus, topics of high interest or relevance are naturally brought to the forefront of visibility and quality.”

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References

Wilkinson, D. & Huberman, B.A. (April 2007). Assessing the value of cooperation in Wikipedia. Retrieved January 8, 2007, from http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue12_4/wilkinson/#w1

Collective Intelligence

Collective intelligencecan be defined as an organically grown bank of knowlege, which providesthe group with a totalsum of knowledge that is fargreater than what each individual member could produce or realize on their own. Information within collective intelligenceis organizednaturally according to each member’s interest and intention. Members of the group become smarter by collaboratively definingand organizing information to aid in each other’sunderstanding.Collective intelligence isone of thecornerstone concepts of Web 2.0 technologies.

PARC research is nowresearching and developing concepts related toaugmented social cognition. They define augmented social cognition as being:

Supported by systems, the enhancement of the ability of a group to remember, think, and reason; the system-supported construction of knowledge structures by a group. (Chi, 2007)

When PARC becomes focused on a particular dimension of research it behooves us to take notice. PARC has continually produced revolutionary technologies over the years that have completely changed the way we live and work. They created the ability for us tonetwork computers using the Ethernet, created graphical user interfaces (GUI), object oriented programming, and laser printing to name just a few of their breakthroughs. (PARC, 2007) PARC at this time has over “170 researchers from the physical, computer, biological, and social sciences (80% of whom hold doctoral degrees). “Employees come from 46 different countries, and include native speakers of virtually every major language. This diversity contributes to an environment in which collaboration is multi-dimensional, cutting across cultures, laboratories, and scientific disciplines.

Here is Ed Chi’s presentation on augmented social cognition within Google Talk. The video is entitled: “Social information foraging and collaboratve search: Augmented social cognition from social foraging to social sensemaking.” (Chi, 2007)

Additional Resources:
Social information foraging and collaborative search: PDF

Rememberance of things: Information foraging

References

Chi, Ed. (2007). Augmented social cognition. Retrieved December 31, 2007, from http://asc-parc.blogspot.com/2007/05/augmented-social-cognition.html

Chi, Ed. (2007). Social information foraging and collaborative search: Augmented social cognition from social foraging to social sensemaking. Retrieved December 31, 2007, from http://www.parc.com/research/projects/collaborativesystems/default.html

PARC Research. (2007). Retrieved December 31, 2007, from http://www.parc.com/research/projects/collaborativesystems/default.html

Wikis: Wikis are evolving into the perfect collaborative tool for business and education. By now, nearly everyone has heard of, or used the famous “Wikipedia” that was launchedin 2001. But what you might not realize is that the open source power behind Wikipedia,is available toanyone. Forward thinkingbusinesses and schools are increasinglyutilizing wikis to create theirvery own collaborative resource sites.

Why usewikis?

1. Wikis are adaptable, searchable and easy to use.
2. They handle and organize a growing base of knowledge in a veryefficient and usablemanner.
3. Wikis allow for individuals to rapidlyco-construct knowledge in a free-form manner.
4. Wikis remove the chronological sortingbarriers that blogs have. (Latest postings always being postedfirst might not always be ideal.)
5. They can be password protected.
6. Information is set free and “democratized.”
7. Open source wikis are free for your use.
8. Depending on the type of wiki, they can be easily installed without programming experience.
9. Wikis can be installed on your own computer as an organizational tool.
10. Wikis can even be installed on thumbUSB drives and passed amongst the collaborators.

Here are some creative ideas for using Wikis that may help you in your business or educational environment.

Ideas for usinga Wiki in Business
(Wiki.com, 2007)

1. Project collaboration and brainstorming
2. Building a community of practice
3. Creating knowledge bases on specific topics
4. Writing documentation or FAQ’s
5. Creating specifications and architecture documents for software or other projects
6. Creating “How to Step by Step Explanations”
7. Planning and documenting events
8. Real time reports of conferences
9. Information and policies about a project
10. Developing best practices or patterns
11. Software testing and development
12. Meeting agendas and notes for organizations
13. Developing software features and other inventions
14. Solidifying an existing community through collaboration and increased connections
15. Discussing theories
16. Creating an easily searched Website with hyperlinks.

Ideas for Using Wikis in Education

1. Websites can easily be created and maintained by students separated by distance.
2. Provides a sense of community and central meeting groundfor online students to collaborate ideas.
3. Collaboratively constructing knowledgein a way that isengaging and motivating.
4. Assignments can be peer reviewed, and critiqued. Particularly writing assignments.
5. Group assignments can be easily organized, andbe a central point for documents, photos, media, etc.
6. Information is searchable.
7. Encouraging Parent – Teacher – Child communication.

History of Wikis

According to Wikipedia.org (2007), the first wiki was called the WikiWikiWeb. It was produced by Ward Cunningham in 1995. It was first only open to invited programmers, and its original intent was “to facilitate communication between software developers, and also to experiment with the new hypertext capabilities”.

According to Darryl Taft in his article written for e-Week.com(2006), Mr. Cunninghamhas said: “The power of collaborative development has only just begun to be realized, and open-source software will continue to spur more collaboration and more innovation.”

“I’m betting on open source being a big trend,” Cunningham said, chuckling at his understatement. “And it’s not just because of cost, but because of end-user innovation. No end user wants to be a programmer; they just want to get their jobs done,” he said. But more and more people with powerful tools and powerful languages will be able to work together to build better systems, he said.

“I think of software being a work €”very much like a wiki being a work €”where people see an area that’s weak and they make it stronger.”

Mary Joe Foley (2004) also interviewed Cunningham in 2004 for e-Week.com. In the interview she reports: “Cunningham emphasized the need for programmers to abandon the lone-wolf approach and instead work more collaboratively. He said the WikiWikiWeb is all about nurturing collaboration by allowing developers to elaborate when writing patterns or other pieces of software.”

Interested in reading more about WardCunningham’s work in his own words? Here is an interesting page written by him about the history of his wiki development.

Features of Corporate Wikis
Features of wikis specifically helpful to a corporation include: (Wikipedia.org, 2007)

1. Allow to glue information via quick-and-easy-to-create pages containing links to other corporate information systems, like people directories, CMS, applications, and thus build up knowledge bases.




2. Avoiding e-mail overload. Wikis allow all relevant information to be shared by people working on a given project. Conversely, only the wiki users interested in a given project need look at its associated wiki pages, in contrast to high-traffic mailing lists which may burden many subscribers with many messages, regardless of relevance to particular subscribers.




3. Access rights, roles. Users can be forbidden from viewing and/or editing given pages, depending on their department or role within the organization.




4. Building consensus. Wikis provide a framework for collaborative writing. Particularly, they allow the structured expression of views disagreed upon by authors on a same page.




5. Organizing information. Wikis allow users to structure new and existing information. As with content, the structure of data is sometimes also editable by users; see structured wiki.




6. Saving time by: Making ideas available; Sharing Knowledge, Having a common glossary, and Managing Related Information. Sometimes used is “If you do not know where to put the information, put it in the wiki”.




7. Convert informational “noise” into corporate wisdom.

Corporate Wiki Solutions
Wikipedia.org (2007):

A large set of corporate wiki solutions are available; see list of wiki software and comparison of wiki software. Wikis with the required feature set include TWiki, MoinMoin, XWiki, TikiWiki, Confluence and Socialtext. Their aim is to provide all ranges of companies with ready-made wiki solutions that can be adapted to SMEs as well as multinational corporations. Amongst those companies, the competition lies as much in corporate philosophy as in what the products look like. For example, MoinMoin and Socialtext value simplicity, where TWiki puts an emphasis on structured wikis where users can create wiki applications. Most of them have adopted an Open-Source mindset and allow developers or even users to create purposed applications.

Wiki software packages not specifically built for corporations are also used at the workplace, such as MediaWiki or DokuWiki. Although they can be used to build simple knowledgebases and internal websites, they often lack enterprise features such as fine grained access control, per page name space for attachments, or integration with other enterprise tools.

Let’s finish this posting with a sort of “campy” video on wikis vs blogs. Kennedy taking the position of wikis, and Nixon on blogs. (Be patient, the beginning skips a bit, but then the film runs smoothly.

2. Another Wiki Comparison Guide.

3. List of wiki software.

4. List of wikis written in a variety of languages.

5. Download MediaWiki: The Free open source software that powers Wikipedia.

6. Open Source Collaborative Software

7. Richardson, W. (2006). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful tools. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

8. Educause: Use of wikis in education – Podcast

Wiki Tools: One Page

• JotSpot Live
• Writeboard
• Writely
• RallyPoint
• Zoho Writer
• StikiPad

Full Web Site

• Helping Students Education 501(c)(3)
• Wetpaint
• JotSpot
• Atlassian Confluence
• MediaWiki
• SocialText
• JotBox Wiki appliance for large enterprises
• EditMe
• Trac Project tracking wiki
• Wikispaces aimed at social groups
• PBwiki
• SeedWiki
• Schtuff
• Instiki
• Wetpaint
• LauLima
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References

Wikia.com. (2007). Uses of a Wiki. Retrieved December 12, 2007, from http://www.wikia.com/wiki/Uses_of_a_wiki.

Foley, M. (2004). Father of the wiki talks programming practices. Retrieved December 18, 2007, from http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1684470,00.asp

Taft, D. (2006). Father of wiki speaks out on community and collaborative development. Retrieved December 18, 2007, from http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1939982,00.asp

Wikipedia.org (2007). Corporatewiki. Retrieved December 18, 2007, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_wiki

What is Podcasting?
Podcasts are essentially episodes of programming delivered via the Internet. They can useaudio, video or PDFs or a combination of all three. Content publishers utilize RSS feeds which contain metadata, allowing for the broadcast to be catalogued and searched.The term “podcasting” according to Laurie Patterson of the IEEE, (2006) is essentially a combination of words referring to Apple’s portable MP3 player, theiPod and broadcasting. (However it is reallynot necessary to utilize an iPod to listen to podcasts. Any computer or MP3 player can play a podcast.)

When did Podcasting Begin?
The term “podcasting” is believed to have firstbeen coined by Ben Hammersley. On February 12, 2004, Mr. Hammersley wrote an article entitled “Audible Revolution“for the San Francisco Guardian:

With the benefit of hindsight, it all seems quite obvious. MP3 players, like Apple’s iPod, in many pockets, audio production software cheap or free, and weblogging an established part of the internet; all the ingredients are there for a new boom in amateur radio. But what to call it? Audioblogging? Podcasting? GuerillaMedia?

According to the IEEE’s Computer.org, in an article entitled: “The technology underlying podcasts“:

Tristan Louis, who was involved in developing W3C standards for the merger of TV with the WWW, first proposed the idea of podcasts in 2000. Dave Winer, a developer of XML dialects, along with other individuals, further developed RSS (Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary or RDF Site Summary)

The idea of downloading audio files to listen to at their convenience struck a chord with many computer users. Instead of downloading a podcast to an MP3 player or iPod, users could listen to the downloaded audio files on their PCs.

Interest in podcasts has increased exponentially. On 28 September 2004, there were 24 Google hits for “podcast.” Two days later, there were 526 hits, and three days after that, 2,750 hits were recorded. The number of hits reached 100,000 by mid-October of that year, and Google recorded more than 100 million hits a year later. At the end of May 2006, Google had more than 319 million hits.

Why use Podcasts?
Podcasts provide an entirely new and exciting path to reach your students.Barriers for learning such as distance, and time are erased; asteaching is nolonger constrained toa pureclassroom activity.Podcasts are a highly convenient medium, which is compatible across numerous hardware platforms. Podcasts can be downloaded from the Internet and listened to whenever students need to review or study. They provide flexible opportunities for study in a highlyportable format.Many learning styles are accomodated through podcasting, as the mediumcan include audio, video, powerpoints as video, or written PDFs. Podcasts can help students practice and review new knowledge, orand as a result improvetheir overall academic performance.

How are podcasts delivered?
Podcasts are first downloaded to a computer via the Internet. Podcasts can be delivered by a simple click of a hyperlink, or automatically deliveredby the studentsubscribing to a RSS feed.The user can listen to the content immediately, or choose to copy it onto an MP3 player. Podcasts can also be automatically downloaded with Wifi connectivity for Palm handhelds and pocket PCs. In addition, podcasts can also be easily distributed through networking sites such as Podcastalley.

What formats are podcasts in?
The standard format for podcasts is usuallyMP3, which allows for easy transfer to a variety of equipment. Your audience already has all the tools necessary to hear, see and experience your message beyond the classroom. These days all school campuses are bustling with students carrying MP3 players, iPods and of course laptop computers.Podcasts can be played on PC’s, Mcintosh computers, palm computers.

Podcasting is Economical
There is good news for budget conscious teachers, podcasting is an extremely economical medium. First of all students can download your broadcast for free.Secondly, serving up podcastscan be accomplished with minimal costs.The reason being, MP3 recordings and the XML used to identify the recording can be placed on any Web server. As for the end user, it is possible to get a 1GB MP3 player for about $50.00. (It isn’t necessary to always go top dollar and purchase the latest Zune or Apple IPod, despite the cool blitz of advertising. For a review of MP3 players you might try checking out these PC Magazine’s reviews.)

Engaging students on their turf
Listening to a podcast isa natural for today’s technologically saavy student.Podcasts provide a way to enliven lessons using a medium that students are completely familiar and comfortable with.The small portable MP3 players are particularly useful for students with tight time constraints. Lessons can be listened to whenever and wherever the student sees fit. For example, time pressured adults will truly appreciate the opportunity to squeeze in some quality study time in rather unconventional ways. Clever multi-taskers can review the week’s lessons while at the gym, during the morning commute, cleaning up the house, or sipping coffee at the local coffee shop. One is only limited by their imagination thanks to the small, highly portable, and inexpensivequalities of MP3 players.

How do Podcasts work?
Podcasts utilize an XML protocol called RSS €“ which help to identify the author, title and content of the broadcast in metadata. The metadata helps people to understand if they want to subscribe to the broadcast or not. Podcasts are posted to a Web server along with the XML document.

How do I make XML for a Podcast?
The W3C provides clear specifications for RSS (real simple syndication). RSS is an XML application.

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Resources for Teachers

1. How Stuff Works: All about Podcasting
2. O’Reilly: What is Podcasting?
3. Podbean.com: Create a podcast and have it hosted in just a few minutes for free.
4. Podcasting Toolbox: 70+ Podcasting Tools and Resources
5. The Ultimate RSS Toolbox: 120+ RSS Resources
6. Apple.com: iPods in education -profiles of universities using the medium
7. PDF: Getting started with iPods in the classroom
8. Apple workshops on Podcasting in education
9. Apple’s distinguished educators’ series using iPods
10. Audacity: Free cross platform audio editor
11. Levilator: A free program that helps keep audio levels constant between speakers on your podcast.

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Universities Who Utilize Podcasts
The best way to learn is to be inspired by others. Perhaps listening to these free podcasts from some major universities can help start you on the right path!

1. Stanford University
2. John Hopkins University
3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
4. University of California, Los Angeles
5. Yale University
6. UC Berkley
7. UC San Diego
8. Vanderbilt
9. Caltech
10. University of Edinburgh
11. Oxford
12. Columbia University

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References
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Apple.com. (2007). iPod in Education: Learning to Go. Retrieved December 10, 2007, from Apple.com: http://www.apple.com/itunes/store/podcastsfaq.html

Apple.com. (2007). Making a podcast. Retrieved December 10, 2007, from Apple.com: http://www.apple.com/itunes/store/podcaststechspecs.html#metadata

FeedForAll.com. (n.d.). FeedForAll & FeedForAll Mac software. Retrieved December 11, 2007, from Feedforall.com: http://www.feedforall.com/

GigaVox Media. (n.d.). The Levelator. Retrieved December 11, 2007, from Conversationsnetwork.org: http://www.conversationsnetwork.org/levelator

Patterson, L. (2006, October). How things work: The technology underlying podcasts. Retrieved December 11, 2007, from IEEE.org: http://www.computer.org/portal/site/computer/
menuitem.5d61c1d591162e4b0ef1bd108bcd45f3/
index.jsp?&pName=computer_level1_article&The
Cat=1055&path=computer/homepage/
1006&file=howthings.xml&xsl=article.xsl

PCMag.com. (n.d.). MP3 players. Retrieved December 11, 2007, from PCMag.com: http://www.pcmag.com/category2/0,2705,2359,00.asp

RSSBoard.org. (n.d.). Really Simple Syndication best practices profile. Retrieved December 11, 2007, from RSSBoard.org: http://www.rssboard.org/rss-profile-1

RSSBoard.org. (n.d.). RSS Validator: Really simple syndication specifications, tutorials, and discussion. Retrieved December 11, 2007, from RSSBoard.org: http://www.rssboard.org/rss-validator

Watson, S. (n.d.). How podcasting works. Retrieved December 10, 2007, from HowStuffWorks.com: http://computer.howstuffworks.com/podcasting.htm

Podcastalley.com. (n.d.). What is a podcast? Retrieved December 11, 2007, from Podcastalley.com: http://www.podcastalley.com/what_is_a_podcast.php

Rays of Collective Intelligence within the Web 2.0 environment:

Web 2.0 is aboutWeb usersconnecting together and collectively creating and sharing knowledge. It is an extremely powerful and exciting concept which I find particularly compelling.It is also the basic foundationofthe theory of constructivism. Driscoll (2000),stated that “Learners, are not empty vessels waiting to be filled, but rather active organisms seeking meaning. Knowledge is constructed by learners as they attempt to make sense of their experiences. Constructivists are interested in having learners identify and pursue their own learning goals.”

Ok, moving past the theory now. Tagging is an example of how individuals determine how their own content can be organized and found by others of like mind. There is a term for this called “folksonomy”. This term was apparently coined by Thomas Vander Wal (2005).His original definitionfor the term was that “Folksonomy is the result of personal free tagging of information and objects (anything with a URL) for one’s own retrieval. The tagging is done in a social environment (shared and open to others). The act of tagging is done by the person consuming the information.”

However much to the chagrin of the originator of the term… folksonomy seems to have morphed into a new meaning now days and is generally defined as: categorizing things through “collaborative, social tagging”.

Here is another definition from Wikipedia, which I generally try to shy away from as using a solid resource, but nevertheless here it is:Folksonomies are intended to make a body of information increasingly easy to search, discover, and navigate over time. A well-developed folksonomy is ideally accessible as a shared vocabulary that is both originated by, and familiar to, its primary users.

Examples of Tagging & OrganizingCollective Intelligence

43things.com for example, is a rather clever little Website which works by individual’s simply posting their goals they would like to accomplish and then adding their own keyword tags to those goals. Then individuals around the world interested in the same goals can therefore find one another and share their thoughts. This is an intriguing concept to be sure, and a terrific way to find and develop group support and a sense of belonging. Creating a sense of community and defining social presence, is by the way, key for eliminating isolation within online learning environments.

Del.icio.us is immensely popular social bookmarking Website. Basically it is a huge storehouse of all the member’s favorite bookmarks. Once you post your favorite bookmarks obviously they are accessible by any computer. One also utilizes tags to help organize and figure out that favorite bookmark you made last week.

Other examples of tagging sites which provide a new way for people to collectively share, and connect socially include Flickr. With no specific technical knowledge one can share their photographs of family, friends, adventures and projects. In doing so one can organize, search and share stories with others around the world. The best thing it is free and also doesn’t require specific technical knowledge. However there are upgrade packages available for power users.

Now to end our discussion, here is a clever video which helps to describe Web 2.0 by Mike Wesch. Dr. Wesch is a”cultural anthropologist and media ecologist exploring the impacts of new media on human interaction.”

References
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Driscoll. (2000). Psychology for learning for instruction. Allyn and Bacon: New York.

Del.icio.us. (2007) What is Del.icio.us? Retrieved November 25, 2007, from http://del.icio.us/about/43things.com

Flickr.com. (2007). About Flickr. Retrieved November 25, 2007, from
http://flickr.com/about/

43things.com. (2007) What do you want to do with your life? Retrieved November 25, 2007, from http://www.43things.com/about/view/learn_more

Wikipedia.com (2007). Folksonomy. Retrieved November 26, 2007 fromhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/folksonomy.

Vanderwal.net (2005). Folksonomy definition and Wikipedia. Retrieved November 27, 2007 from http://www.vanderwal.net/random/entrysel.php?blog=1750.

Wesch, M. (2007). Web 2.0: The machine is us/ing us. Retrieved December 2, 2007, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gmP4nk0EOE&feature=related

Comparative Organizer: Situated Cognition
Author:Diane Michel

Representative theorists

1. Jean Lave €” A social anthropologist whose studies focus on learning through social interaction and situated learning. Significant breakthroughs achieved by “reconceiving” ideas of “learning, learners, and educational institutions”. Doesn’t believe that learning only exists in a person’s mind but is a part of, and is transformed by one’s social interactions. Theories touch upon cognition and perceptions transforming as a result of every day life and one’s interactions within their community of practice. Working in conjunction with Etienne Wenger developed the ground breaking book entitled Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation (1991).

2. Etienne Wenger €” Primarily known for his work on communities of practice. Developed the concept along with Jean Lave while studying social apprenticeships and learning. Explores the ideas that human knowledge is fundamentally acquired by social interaction. Cognition, perception and action occur within a social context. Learning is not “just a one-to-one relationship with a master, but a relationship with a whole community of people with apprentices at different levels.”

3. Lev S. Vygotsky €“ Pioneered theories that social interaction was a critical part of cognitive development. Focused on development occurring as a result of the social and cultural context in which it is embedded.

4. Brown, Collins and Duguid €“ Theories focus on cognitive apprenticeships, and knowledge as “situated, being in part a product of the activity, context, and culture in which it is developed and used.” Real life situations in which knowledge is used cannot be separated from learning and cognition.

Key-factors that influence learning

1. Learning is a result of social interaction, collaboration and situated practice within an authentic context.

2. Critical to the learning process is the need for connecting to the “real world “. Knowledge taught in an abstract fashion and out of context may create learning that is merely symbolic and inert. Students may be unable to utilize the new knowledge because they lack the understanding of how it pertains to solving real life problems. They may know “what” but they don’t know “how”.

3. By showing and demonstrating the practical, useful qualities of new knowledge, it is therefore given relevance and meaning. It will then have a stronger chance of being used and remembered by the student.

4. Learning is accomplished by doing. Students must be given a chance to participate in relevant activities pertaining to the new material. By being given a chance to practice and do what “experts in a subject matter do”, successful learning of knowledge and its application to the real world is demonstrated.

5. Knowledge is transferred as teachers model behavior and articulate what they are thinking as they perform a specific task. This is intended to reveal their cognitive processes for solving the problem at hand. This helps the student to understand the steps involved, the sequence in which they are performed, and why they are performed.

6. Cognitive apprenticeship €“ learning occurs as an active participant in an authentic community. The community acts as a real world classroom for the learner. Success results from interaction within the group, acceptance and subsequent sharing of meaning & knowledge.

7. Learning cultural processes of problem solving within a community of practice is also an integral part of successful situational learning.

Communities of Practice

1. A community of practice is a group of people that are organized informally or formally that socially interact with each other and engage in common activities or pursuits. They collectively learn from one another as they work in their shared endeavor.

2. The community of practice focuses on a shared mutual goal. Through association and collaboration they develop shared meanings, ideas, resources and tools. Through their sharing of knowledge & problem solving techniques they collectively increase their expertise within their field of practice.

3. Legitimate peripheral participants (accepted members of the group) are allowed to share within the resources of knowledge. Membership implies a shared competence that distinguishes and creates autonomy within the group.

4. Eventually the newer participants of the group progress and evolve into mentors themselves. This process insures the continual renewal and growth of the organization and community at large.

5. Participating within the actual lived practices of a culture leads to stronger understanding of the group and it complexities.

6. Communities of practice lead to the fruitful expansion of knowledge, as true practitioners share, inspire, and solve problems jointly. The unique aspects of an informal culture encourage growth to occur at a faster rate, as traditional boundaries are crossed and former barriers to expertise are removed.

Role of the teacher/instructor in the learning process:
Instructors should…

1. Act as a coach who leads the student to understanding and greater awareness. The teacher is not a dictator of rote information. Provides strategies for the student to solve problems.

2. Create real life situations or scenarios that demonstrate how knowledge can be effectively applied. Learning tasks should be embedded within context and teachers should encourage the type of thinking that would actually be used in the real world.

3. Focus on realistic approaches to problem solving and approaching problems from multiple perspectives. Create activities that reflect the complexities that are present in the real world. Not everything is black and white.

4. Demonstrate and model correct behaviors for performing a task. Articulate the cognitive processes that occur as the problem is being solved. Explain the thought processes, reasoning, and problem solving strategy. Explain how and why they are doing something.

5. Once the student is ready to put into practice their new knowledge, the instructor monitors and acts as coach that assists them with problem solving.

6. Support students through the concept of scaffolding. As they attempt more difficult tasks then they are accustomed to, they will need support, encouragement and guidance. As the learner become more proficient, utilize fading by taking away cues slowly.

7. Encourage experimentation so that the student can try their own methods and strategies. The student should begin to form their own unique mental model to solve problems and thus make their own discoveries.

8. Empower the students to assess the situation, think and work independently. Self sufficiency is the ultimate goal. Encourage them to think and act like they would in a real world situation.

9. For those students involved within a community of practice outside of the school: encourage active participation, social interaction with members, seek out mentors, share group knowledge & resources, and engage in the actual cultural practices and problem solving tasks of the group.

10. Assessment of progress through questioning & review of experience, summary statistics for online learning environments, and completed student portfolios.

Types of learning

1. Collaborative learning through the social construction of knowledge

2. Learning correct processes by example. Learning occurs through situated modeling of expert behaviors and accepted practices.

3. Problem based learning

4. Can be unintentional rather than deliberate

5. Learning “how” in addition to learning “what”

6. Knowledge construction rather than reproduction

7. Learning is co-produced by the active engagement of the learner and the situation they find themselves in.

8. Incidental learning (spontaneous, learning from mistakes, networking, experimental)

9. Cognitive apprenticeship €“ acquiring, developing, and using cognitive tools in an authentic domain

10. Exploration and independent discovery – students try out their own ideas and in the process discover new methods and processes

Basic strategies

1. Show how newly acquired knowledge can be directly applied to the real world.

2. Embed learning opportunities within authentic problem solving environments.

3. Provide a mental model for students to understand cognitive processes and strategies.

4. Verbalize and reveal the exact thinking that is occurring as a sample problem is being solved.

5. Encourage students to think and act in practice situations just as they would in the real world.

6. Support collaborative efforts and social interaction as a means to discover and create knowledge.

7. Articulation & reflection €“ Foster reflective practice. Have students articulate their cognitive processes as they work through a situation. Have them reflect upon their successes and also on how they might improve in the future. Use
   “mistakes” as a way to provide constructive feedback and increase understanding.

8. Gently coach providing feedback, hints and encouragement. The teacher then gradually scales back with hints and advice as the student becomes more independent in their problem solving capabilities. Utilize scaffolding to
   guide the learner from what is currently known to what will be known.

9. Finally, allow students to test out and practice their new knowledge in authenticsituations through lab work, field work, work placements, or membership in a community of practice. Let the student take an active roll in their progress.

10. Students who join within a community of practice should be encouraged to fullyengage themselves, by participating and sharing the knowledge of the group, taking advantage of the resources made available to them: the tools, symbols, and
    expert problem solving processes.

11. Create methods to assess competencies and measure the success and effectiveness of learning.

Major Strengths

1. Anchored instruction within authentic, realistic context.

2. Thinking and doing brings about solidified knowledge that can be actively demonstrated.

3. “Knowing that”and “knowing how” are together within one framework. Thus, knowledge is no longer decentralized and abstracted.

4. Opportunity to actually practice skills and knowledge without the pressures of being expected to have fully mastered the skill set.

5. Learner is more engaged as an active participant in the learning task as opposed to being a passive receiver of knowledge.

6. Introduction to the nuances of a culture within a community of practice.

7. Creates a sense of belonging and identity for the student as they are accepted into a community of practice.

8. Teacher no longer an omniscient authority in the classroom, but rather serves as a guide to knowledge.

9. Ability to assess the student’s successful implementation of knowledge into the real world, by seeing firsthand their actions in performing specific tasks.

10. Providing internships creates a variety of experiences that a school may not be able to provide within the financial, and time constraints of the institution.

11. The opportunities to learn from real world subject matter experts provides deep connections to knowledge and connects the student with reality not abstract notions.

12. By tapping into the idea of learning from communities of practice, students understand that life long learning is achievable from other than the traditional classroom.

13. Weaknesses

14. Financial costs can be significant to find or develop authentic situations for students.

15. Constant monitoring, diagnosis of external situations is time consuming for the instructor especially in dealing with a large group of students.

16. Assessment of progress may be difficult. Traditional paper and pencil tests no longer appropriate to assess learning. Difficult to ascertain exactly what constitutes valid evidence of successful learning within a community of practice.

17. Apprenticeships must be well planned with goals for learning specifically outlined. Achievable goals must be defined and agreed to by all concerned. External apprenticeship experiences can be difficult to monitor.

18. If utilizing a community of practice approach, learning is highly dependent upon the quality of the group, the immediate learning environment, and members’ willingness to share information freely.

19. Apprenticeships/internships can turn negative if allowed to turn into a type of servitude that is solely centered on tedious tasks.

20. The roll of problem solving as in life, may not have clear cut absolute answers.

21. Learning is dependent upon the quality of the supervisor and dedication to the true growth of the apprentice. Can be difficult to tell if the supervisor will indeed provide quality guidance or is just looking for a source of labor.

22. Theoretical “big picture” perspectives and guidance may be left out of the learning process.

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References

• Abdullah, Mardziah Hayati (1999). Problem-Based Learning in Language Instruction: A Constructivist Model. Eric Digest. Retrieved November 14, 2004 from http://www.ericdigests.org/1999-2/problem.htm

• Benson, Alexis (2004). Review and Analysis of Vygotsky’s Thought and Language. Retrieved November 14, 2004 from http://web.archive.org/web/20010209010341/129.7.160.115/INST5931/Vygotsky.html

• Brown, Collins, and Duguid. (1989). Situated Cognition and the Culture of Learning. Retrieved November 14, 2004 from http://www.exploratorium.edu/IFI?resources/
  museumeducation/situated.html

• Cutshall, Tom (2002). Cognitive Apprenticeship Lesson Plan. Retrieved November 14, 2004, from http://www.arches.uga.edu/~cutshall/edit6400/
  cognitiveapprentlessonplan.html

• Driscoll, Marcy P. (1994), Psychology of Learning for Instruction. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

• Lankard, Bettina A. (1995), New Ways of Learning in the Workplace. ERIC Digest No. 161. Retrieved November 13, 2004, from

http://www.ericfacility.net/ericdigests/ed385778.html

• Lave, Jean. (1999). Chapter 8. Everyday Life. Retrieved November 13, 2004, from http://www.si.umich.edu/ICOS/Presentations/041699

• Murphy, Elizabeth (1997). Characteristics of Constructivist Learning & Teaching. Retrieved November 14, 2004, from http://www.cdli.ca/~elmurphy/emurphy/cle3.html

• University of Western Australia (2000). Alternative Modes of Teaching and Learning. Alternative modes to delivery. Retrieved November 14, 2004 from http://www.csd.uwa.edu.au/altmodes/to_delivery/apprenticeship.html

• Unknown (2004). Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934). Retrieved November 13, 2004 from http://web.archive.org/web/20010802101038/

http://www.bestpraceduc.org/people/LevVygotsky.html

• Unknown (2004). Social Development Theory (L. Vygotsky). Retrieved November 13, 2004 from http://tip.psychology.org/vygotsky.html

• Wenger, Etienne, (2004). Interview with Etienne Wenger on Communities of Practice. Retrieved November 14, 2004, from http://www.knowledgeboard.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=119473