I think that the use of Web 2.0 applications in my teaching would add a level of richness to the modules and to the experience of the students (and me!). The use of a blog or social bookmarking would enable students to keep each other up to date with developments in subject-related material (the two main courses on which I teach relate to Organised Crime and Terrorism, both of which are extremely fast-moving), and also allow them to develop their own ideas in a fluid and (in some cases) familiar environment.
The drawback could be that as a WP institution, we have a significant number of students who do not fit into the "digital native" / millenial / homo zappiens model, and do not necessarily have as highly developed a set of e-skills as some other students. I also agree with the comment on the VLE about students from areas where openness and visibility are not necessarily a good thing.
For my purposes though, as long as the online offering complements rather than replaces the offline(?) work, and is relevant, it cannot help but to add value.
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Hi,
ReplyDeleteYour comments about 'digital natives' helped me wonder about the pitfalls of making assumptions about students being 'digital savvy', etc.
Also, in your added value comments and the use of blogs, do you foresee these activities being connected with assessments?
Cheers
I think that they would generally relate to the preparation for assessments rather than forming the basis of the assessment itself.
ReplyDeleteThat said, in my Environmental Law module the students are required to do a 2-person presentation, and part of the criteria is based on how they have worked as a team, so a blog might prove useful in adding to that.
This is all very interesting, and opening up new ideas to me.