Web 2.0 Course Reflection

When Joannes Guttenberg invented the printing press around 1440 he began a revolution in European culture.  In much the same way the development of digital technology in our day has begun a similar revolution.  We live in a world that is far more conscious of change than at any other time in human history.  The term global village associated with the work of Marshall McLunan is grown from an academic theory in the 1960s to living fact in the early 21st century.  It would be naive in the extreme to imagine that education could in any way remain immune from what is reality for our students and most of their teachers.

E-learning is a tool I am now using in my classes.  For my students the greatest change is seeing their teacher using "things" he was not using last year, and the "things" work.  The series of "E" words were stimulating - engagement, evolving, enthusiasm, examining and emerging practice - all factors that have informed my teaching for years.  The difference is that I feel that I am more a part of the learning process now with my new-found familiarity with aspects of digital learning.  More importantly, I feel more competent in using and experimenting with aspects of e-learning that I did not know about until just recently.

The revised Blooms Taxonomy is another aspect of this exciting new development in my own learning process. 

It is a helpful tool in identifying ways of using material within a digital educational environment.  In terms of where I would place various digital media on the taxonomy (excluding Second Life because of my moral objections) I see places in every part for the use of Flickr and Bubbl, simply because of the array of skills involved in the digital processes.

And the whole process has been Catholic - universal and global, a means of incorporating and including all students in the learning process.  Technology is able to make the student an active and engaged collaborator in learning wherever they are and at any time.  Ultimately, e-learning renews the dictum that I am responsible for my learning.

My last pondering is this:  having introduced my Year 12 2 Unit SOR class to bubbl.us and Google.docs I received an email from one of the students.  He thanked me for taking the time to show him and the others these tools - they had never heard of them.  He added that many people presume that his generation are technologically savvy and sophisticated; and in many ways that is true, but there are many areas that are complete mysteries to him and his peers.  It made me think very clearly that Web 2.0's greatest gift is to help me as a teacher help and work with my students.  After all that is why I am a teacher and learner.

"Your Word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path"  Psalm 119.105

Module 10 A nong on nings

Module Ten - and it feels good! 

Less than ten weeks ago I sat in a staff meeting listening to our Deputy Headmaster extol the virtues of wikis, nings, blogs and pods.  As I left the meeting I asked the person beside me if they had any idea what he was talking about.  Their look of befuddlement mirrored mine.  Now ... ten weeks later, with a mental attitude on par with the weight loss on Biggest Loser, I think I have done some serious learning! 

Education derives from the Latin "in ducare" - to lead into.  It is a relational process that begins and journeys through a variety of experiences to end at a point where a discernible difference can be appreciated.  In other words, learning is a movement from one place to another.  We hope it is a better place.

Wikis are an opportunity for collaborative learning that allow participants a considerable degree of creativity in creating and sharing learning.  Their place in the classroom will grow.  I have experimented with Google.docs and discovered it a useful tool for putting a group document together on St Paul for 2 Unit SOR.  Nings provided teachers or like-minded individuals with a forum for sharing and working together on common interests. 

How would I use wikis in the classroom?  As I read the information on the wiki and had a look at several sites, I thought I could try using the wiki with my Year 12 SOR class for the topic "Religion and Peace".    I could give each student one of the Syllabus dot-points and ask him to begin gathering information on that point to be used by all members of the class.  At the end of the exercise the boys would have effectively created their own resources and notes, it would be online and immediately accessible.

I am won to the wiki!

Module 9 Colossians 4.6

Let me begin this post with the words of the Apostle:

"Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone."

Reading and listening to the different topics in this module on networking I was reminded of the power of speech, and the way speech leads and directs so much of human activity.  It was also a timely reminder of some elements of 21st technology about which I have some rather grave ethical reservations.

Before I get to those, let me make a few points about the learning experience of this module.

Scootle - I was introduced to Scootle via SPC and can see its great value in the classroom.  It's one great lacuna is the paucity, nay, non-existence, of tools for Religious Education.  As an REC this does pose a few problems for use.  Fortunately, there is an abundance of similar tools created for RE such as the Understanding Faith interactive series that has been posted on SOLE.

Professional Networking - Yes I see value in organised groupings along professional interests.  My perennial problem is time-management that would allow me to make effective use of such groups.  Most of my professional networking is still done via email and face-to-face, which IMHO is a far more genteel way of doing things.

Second Life - This is an area of technology I am not keen on.  I have read and listened to Dr Peter Vardy speak on Second Life at a number of conferences over the last 5 years and agree with him that one of the greatest challenges facing contemporary Western, and increasingly, global society is the social disconnection brought about by the loss of human to human contact and discourse.  What had been the usual means of regular and frequent communication, speaking to and with others face to face, has been, in many instances eroded through increased work commitments, geographical dislocation and a sharp increase in the prevalence of lonliness and depression. 

What is so greatly disturbing about Second Life is, I find, in the name itself - a second, alternative "life" - as though a computer program can "create" a "life" that could pose as a "virtual" or "viable" parallel  life to the flesh and blood reality.   Research into Second Life has shown it to be extremely addictive with all the psychological and physical symptoms and manifestations of other forms of artificial dependence.  I have serious reservations about using anything like Second Life in a classroom despite the YouTube clips that promoted its educational value.  I consider Second Life to be an experience that is inappropriate for adolescents - engagement with other Web based tools and with human beings is a healthier option.

Social Networking.  I read the material about a reality with which I have some familiarity.  I bowed to peer pressure and created a Facebook account.  The thrill lasted a few weeks and I only log on every couple of weeks or so.  I must confess I really don't see the need for Twitter - I do not want to know that much about people. I hope they enjoy whatever it is they are doing; just keep the joy to yourself!  I am sure my tea drinking and trashy novel reading are hardly newsworthy!

I began with St Paul and now I close with St Paul, whose words written centuries ago point to the heart of what Christians regard as The Life, and which informs all authentic teaching.

"If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal."

Module 8 RSS - Cardinal Pell is going to Rome - from one of my RSS feeds!

Tonight the news broke on Whispers in the Loggia, a blog I follow, that Cardinal Pell has been appointed the new Prefect of the Congregation of Bishops in Rome. 

How did I get the news so quickly? 

I subscribe to the blog via RSS (Rich Site Summary). 

I have used RSS feeds for several years now and find them the easiest way to keep up to date with about a dozen or so fairly intensive news sites.  The great value of feeds is ease of access.  The great problem is the time consumption they can demand.  Over the last two years I have subscribed and then deleted over several dozens feeds for the simple reason that I just did not have the time to sit and scroll through the hundreds of entries.  Every day I make my way through several news sites such as Catholica Australia, Clerical Whispers, VIS (Vatican Information Service) and History News Network.

I created a Google Reader account, but to be honest, I like my established feed network.  The google reader tool may well be helpful with students as it does add that useful distinction between my personal and professional space.

Module 7 It's de-lightful, it's de-licious, it's de-lovely

I must confess, social bookmarking gets me a little nervous. Then I started thinking about just how simpler life can be if I could access other people's bookmarked and tagged sites.  Even with my particular interests in deceased pontiffs, wars, genocides and other ugly moments in human history the amount of time I spend hunting for material for my other blog Paul on Pius, would probably be significantly reduced.  And, of course, watching the clip from Palm Breeze Cafe with Lee and Lee, made me think, yet again, "Oh ye of little faith, why do you doubt?"  I find I listen more attentively when other teachers are teaching me about teaching ... it must be a credibility thing.

So what did I learn?  From a technical aspect it was a minimal learning experience - I have a huge favourites collection in multiple folders classified to my rather idiosyncratic system.  However, from the perspective of gathering and using material for the classroom etc, Delicious will be a great help.  Sharing resources with colleagues and students will speed up research time and reduce the "oh I know I had that really good site here somewhere" feeling.

And as invited by the "S/He who must be Obeyed" I have been busy corresponding with fellow bloggers, but I shan't say with whom.  Let the reader seek and find.

Module 6 Getting glogged on glogs.

Blogging ... now bubbling and glogging ... my head is swimming with a new language! How much I will remember is hard to say. So I better start blogging before my brain starts blubbing.

Blubbr.us is easy to use and I can see an immediate role in my classes, especially in Years 11 and 12. In fact I created a mind-mapping tool for use with my 2 Unit SOR class. We've started working on St Paul as our Significant Person in Christianity and the bubbl (I want to put an"e" on the end of that word - but I am resisting ...) will be quite helpful. Imaging a mind-map with the tools bubbl has should make life a lot easier - for me as well as for my students.

And here is what it looks like:

Glogging.  I'll be honest.  I don't see much use in my classes. It was amusing and time consuming!  I spent at least an hour or so on the Glog (before I realised I hadn't followed the instructions properly.  Well I did make a clever collage of some travel photos and included a YouTube clip).  It might have a practical use for junior years - for poster presentations, especially with the sound and visual applications.  Did I enjoy myself?  Not really.  Feel free to have a look and let me know what you think.

Module 5 A sod with a pod

I have been familiar with Podcasts and Vodcasts for some time.  They are handy resources for my areas of teaching - Religious Education and History.  I have used YouTube in the classroom on more than a few occasions and found it an excellent way of stimulating discussions, helping to concretise book-text learning through the visual and aural media.  My only reservation about pod and vodcasts lies in creating an over dependence on them rather than integrating them into the repertoire of teaching resources and skills.

What follows are two examples of vod and podcasts that could be used in the classroom.

Studies of Religion - Preliminary Course - Topic 1: Nature of Religion and Belief - stimulus from YouTube:



I used this in my Year 11 class to do several things. 
1.  Shock - here we are in a RE class and he's showing stuff about an atheist!
2.  Is religion reasonable?  Does Richard Dawkins have a case?
3.  Can we examine the subject of religion objectively?
4.  Whether you are a believer or not, you can study religion and make reasonable and intelligent statements about it.  And you can argue, using logic, against the position of someone like Dawkins.

It was an interesting exercise - responses ran hot!  There were no passive observers.

Studies of Religion - HSC Course - Topic 1 Religion and Belief in Australia post-1945 - significance of ANZAC Day in Australian life under the point of contemporary expressions of religion; secularism.

Different Voices - Four Reflections for Anzac Day - Encounter on the ABC broadcast on ANZAC Day 2010.

The discussion from this broadcast raises the issue of the cross-overs between religion and religious expression in Australia and secular / civil culture.