Wednesday, October 19, 2005
E-Learning 2.0
E-Learning has changed significantly over the last few years and is set to change even more in the next five. Just since I've been here (3 years now), blogging has exploded, more and more apps are available on the web, and the students have incorporated technology into their lives more and more, thus expecting it to be incorporated into their education. Stephen Downes provides a good overview of where e-learning has been, where it is, and where it's going in this article in Elearn magazine.
He elucidates what's happening on the web in general and how that's changing how we think about technology in education. "In a nutshell," he says, "what was happening was that the Web was shifting from being a medium, in which information was transmitted and consumed, into being a platform, in which content was created, shared, remixed, repurposed, and passed along." No longer do people not interact with the information on the screen; they are active participators. They comment, expand, and truly participate in what is really a conversation.
The evolution of the Web does not have to do so much with the technology as one might think. As Downes says, "The emergence of the Web 2.0 is not a technological revolution, it is a social revolution." People want to interact with information and create their own. They are no longer content with being passive receptors of it. The same holds true for our students.
His article is worth a read. I think it will be enlightening for many people to think about the directions in which education and technology can go.
elearning 2.0
He elucidates what's happening on the web in general and how that's changing how we think about technology in education. "In a nutshell," he says, "what was happening was that the Web was shifting from being a medium, in which information was transmitted and consumed, into being a platform, in which content was created, shared, remixed, repurposed, and passed along." No longer do people not interact with the information on the screen; they are active participators. They comment, expand, and truly participate in what is really a conversation.
The evolution of the Web does not have to do so much with the technology as one might think. As Downes says, "The emergence of the Web 2.0 is not a technological revolution, it is a social revolution." People want to interact with information and create their own. They are no longer content with being passive receptors of it. The same holds true for our students.
His article is worth a read. I think it will be enlightening for many people to think about the directions in which education and technology can go.
elearning 2.0
