1. The role of new web technologies in supporting the emerging educational paradigm. General Overview 2008 Presentation to the Department of Physiology Russell Butson Higher Education Development Centre

2. What are these New Web technologies

3. New Web Technologies – The Services

4. New Web Technologies – The Language

5. What the emerging technologies offer is not simply new software but a new perspective, a new way of thinking about the way we use Information Communication Technology. Traditionally the WWW was about connecting computers and making technology more efficient for computers – Web1.0 . Today the focus is on connecting people , and making technology more efficient for people – Web2.0. New Web Technologies – The Shift

6. What is the Emerging Educational Paradigm

7. Emerging Educational Paradigm Instructional Paradigm Traditional Self-Directed Paradigm Emerging Knowledge Transfer from faculty to students Jointly constructed by students and faculty Students Passive vessel to be filled by faculty’s knowledge Active constructor, discoverer, transformer of own knowledge Faculty Purpose Classify and sort students Develop students competencies and talents Relationships Impersonal relationships among students and between faculty and students Personal transactions among students and between faculty and students Context Competitive and individualistic Collaborative learning involving teams and faculty Assumptions Any expert can teach Teaching is complex and requires considerable training

9. Instructional Paradigm

11. In higher education the focus has been on content and the delivery of this content to the student. Adopting this new paradigm would see us harnessing the collective intelligence of our students to continually improve the student experience through a more intensive interaction in the educational process. This represents a far more complex environment than is presently in place. Students would be viewed not as receptacles for information but as an integral element of the educational process. In fact, to adopt this approach is to make students an essential part of the educational process in ways that blur the boundaries between our traditional conceptions of teaching and learning. The Potential of the Emerging Model

12. How can these new technologies support this emerging educational paradigm - social networking -

13. Social networking represents a shift from top-down classroom technologies like Blackboard to what are being termed social learning environments. These are networked spaces comprising of technologies such as - personal profiles, blogs forums, wikis, podcasts, documents, presentations, video, news feeds – in fact whatever resources students need to document, consume or communicate their learning with peers and teaching staff across disciplines. What is Social Networking

22. Key Findings... Did they use the site more as the course progressed? Yes – students felt their use increased over the course as they became more familiar with the site and got to know other students Did they feel the site had an influence on their degree of involvement in this course? Yes – definitely. Most were on the sites daily. Did they feel the site encouraged interactions, collaborations, friendships? Yes – definitely. The photos of others were very important. The site allowed interactions between students who said they wouldn’t have connected without the site. Who controlled the site?

23. Group projects start Exam Prep – study groups start Due! System Data

24. System Data System Data

25. System Data

26. The Potential of the Emerging Model In higher education the focus has been on content and the delivery of this content to the student. Adopting this new paradigm would see us harnessing the collective intelligence of our students to continually improve the student experience through a more intensive interaction in the educational process. This represents a far more complex environment than is presently in place. Students would be viewed not as receptacles for information but as an integral element of the educational process. In fact, to adopt this approach is to make students an essential part of the educational process in ways that blur the boundaries between our traditional conceptions of teaching and learning. The students experience 3 rd year microbiology students

27. Comments from Students... This site is much more user friendly than Blackboard and is actually enjoyable to use. I only use Blackboard because I have to. This site I use because I enjoy it. I think this site has been very successful. The best part is that we can post information and set up study groups very easily. It has been an excellent way to communicate and has enabled the class to get to know each other well.

29. I now know a lot about this subject and about science generally. I would like to be able to have access to the site to help new students next year. End of the course ? Hey! In the ultimate form of procrastination Lisa and I have made a bebo page for the micro department. It is by no means as serious (or useful!) as the v-net but is just a bit of fun and a good way to keep in contact for everyone that’s leaving at the end of this year. You can find it www.bebo.com/otagomicro :) Everyone join! Its heaps of fun!