Apr 24 2008
Risk vs. Reward in Web 2.0 teaching
After observing what is happening around the world with educators utilizing blogs and other digital media, I am eager to get started. I recently mentioned this to a colleague I work with who teaches writing. My friend is using “blogging” in a writing course with our Axio Learning course management software in a password protected environment. When discussing the possibilities of having student write in blogs that are publicly accessible, this teacher whose opinion I greatly value, was adamant that students be offered a choice to go live to the Internet or to remain in a protected environment. Her position is that students should not be required to put their thoughts into the public domain, which is in essence what happens when you post to the web.
I countered that students knowing that a global audience can access their work, might actually put in a greater effort than they do currently in a private setting. She agreed, but is concerned that once you put something out there, it is out there forever. In her opinion, requiring students to give away their intellectual property without their consent is not the thing to do.
So I put the question to my visitors from hither and yon– By requiring our students to blog in the publicly accessible web, are we violating their rights to their own intellectual property? Are we setting up a learning environment that to some might be intimidating and even down right scary, thereby inhibiting the very learning we are hoping to instill? Or are we simply creating a unique learning experience that documents progress in thinking and learning that can always be referred back to at a later time?
One unique perspective comes from my colleague at Kansas State University, Dr. Michael Wesch. You may know Dr. Wesch from his YouTube video The Machine is Us/ing Us. He recently published an article entitled Anti-Teaching: Confronting the Crisis of Significance. (Links to PDF).
I realize that the Edublogging community is very pro-technology biased. But I am very eager to explore this issue from every angle, because my friend’s concerns are valid. What are your thoughts? How are you creating a safe learning environment, but at the same time using the power of Web 2.0 in your classes? Have you thought about the concerns raised in this post? (Thanks to Sue Waters for encouraging me to start this discussion.)
One response so far
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Although, my students have only been blogging on their own blog sites since the beginning of this year, I have found that they love to share and write for the world. (I teach ICT in Australia.) They want to share with their families, friends and anyone who cares to read. Although, they have started out with very basic posts, the quality of their work, I feel, has improved. They want their work to spelt correctly and by sharing their posts with other schools, they can compare the depth of their content with fellow global students, which has forced them to extend their writings.
Blogging has been a wonderful experience for us with many powerful learning outcomes and I encourage you to continue on and develop some social networks for your students, as the authentic audience is the key motivator.