First Came the Wiki...
The Wiki: As an Early Player in the Personal Learning Network (my personal use)
As a member of over forty professional-oriented wikis groups including Web 2.0 (there's an awful lot of those) to librarianship, to reading and literacy, and even specific book-oriented wikis (Fahrenheit 451, for example) there is no shortage of collaborative opportunities. Upon reflection, however, I rarely (if ever) edit and/or actively participate in these professionally collaborative environments. Hey, why the reluctance to get involved?
Not exactly the best sort of modeling for students and teacher colleagues, is it?
As the evolution of my personal learning network (PLN) continues at a frenetic pace, I have recognized the conversations that professional social networking tools like Nings and Facebook offer seem to hold a greater appeal to many educators. So, what has begun the shift to a more 'social-type' collaborative platform?
The answer appears to be multi-dimensional in nature. Like many of my colleagues, I recognize a personal lack of time, increased responsibilities at school, and other competing professional learning endeavours like master's in education programs are forcing professionals to be very selective about where and how much they become involved in various collaborative environs. I also believe that the sheer number of wikis, their associated members and multitude of resources/links/websites are, again, very overwhelming to most busy teaching professionals. And indeed, the hipper, more relaxed appeal of social networks like Facebook (which integrates both professional and personal identities) has attracted a new and younger type of professional educator.
Not exactly the best sort of modeling for students and teacher colleagues, is it?
As the evolution of my personal learning network (PLN) continues at a frenetic pace, I have recognized the conversations that professional social networking tools like Nings and Facebook offer seem to hold a greater appeal to many educators. So, what has begun the shift to a more 'social-type' collaborative platform?
The answer appears to be multi-dimensional in nature. Like many of my colleagues, I recognize a personal lack of time, increased responsibilities at school, and other competing professional learning endeavours like master's in education programs are forcing professionals to be very selective about where and how much they become involved in various collaborative environs. I also believe that the sheer number of wikis, their associated members and multitude of resources/links/websites are, again, very overwhelming to most busy teaching professionals. And indeed, the hipper, more relaxed appeal of social networks like Facebook (which integrates both professional and personal identities) has attracted a new and younger type of professional educator.
On a personal level, I have created (or have been asked to create) numerous wikis using wikispaces and pbworks, respectively. I have left many wiki-based professional learning network to become consumed by Twitter, Facebookhttp://www.facebook.com, and other 'sexier' social networking applications. After a great deal of research into the Learning Commons by Lorestcher, Zwaan, and Koechlin (2008) and others, I created our own school learning commons wiki in support of the various reconfiguration of our school library. After a great deal of effort towards its creation, the learning commons wiki as an effective change agent in our school, was short lived (although it did get to over 100 views!). Unfortunately, I could not afford the time to adequately maintain the wiki, promote its utility among staff, and with very little interest by administration and teacher-colleagues the wiki languishes in cyberspace with its future uncertain.
My first foray into wikis as a teacher...upfront, it wasn't an easy sell to my students, and it was even a harder one to make to fellow teaching colleagues. My original science wiki used as a repository for handouts and review sheets; the wiki as a place for students to see a week by week review of class activities. Recently, we created a wiki for an 'outside the timetable' film production class that is producing a full-length feature film written, filmed, and edited by faculty, students, and local community members.
In the era of the read/write web, the purpose of the wiki has evolved with students helping to create the information for specific courses (Richardson, 2010). Our computer technology teacher, Ms. Lori Jones, operates a paperless classroom with her ICTS wiki; she requires her students to maintain an active blog on which they commented about the thought of the day and engage in the weekly forum posts that she creates. With a 'resources page' that is student-generated Ms. Jones has begun to foster a team-learning approach in her classroom (Romeo et, al., 2010). The class then used the content they posted to the wiki to create the and present a thorough technology plan for the school. In the same regard, Ms. Jones uses the information from previous years to amass a growing body of information that is really a tailor-made resource. As a result, she does not utilize at textbook in any of her classes. The next step for her? Collaborating with students to create their own e-textbook for her courses!
Admittedly, it has been difficult for Ms. Jones to maintain a high level of participatory collaboration on both her science and ICTS wikis. It has required more and more effort for her to engage her students to readily involve themselves in the building of the wikis. Research on post-secondary students from Ebner, et. al, (2010) seems to support Ms. Jones observations. When students are neither enforced to contribute nor directly rewarded (similar to the principles of Wikipedia) in the creation of a wiki many are often doomed to failure. It would appear that the use of "wiki-systems" in educational settings is much more complicated, and it needs more time to develop a kind of “give-and-take” generation (Ebner, et. al, 2010).
Moodle? Wiki? So, What's the Difference Anyway?
Both platforms, however, attempt to service the pedagogical platform known as social constructionism. Based on the pedagogical theory of constructivism--that people actively construct new knowledge as they interact with their environment--constructionism asserts that authentic learning occurs only when we construct something for others to experience (Moodle, 2009). We all know that the best way to learn something and perhaps demonstrate mastery is to show (or teach) others. But when individuals in a group (or classroom) construct knowledge for one another, they are "collaboratively creating a small culture of shared artifacts with shared meanings" (Dougiamas, 2009).
And Then Along Comes Moodle...
While completing his PhD in the late 1990s, Moodle creator, Martin Dougiamas
[T]his single essay is a very poor vehicle, no matter how clear I try and make it. Here I am, late at night, stringing together words about constructivism in my word processor, and there you are, reading these words using your own cognitive framework, developed via your own unique background and frameworks of language and meaning. I am translating a variety of texts, using them to build an understanding on my own background, then translating my new understandings into building my own text, which you are deconstructing to reconstruct your own understanding. Like Chinese whispers, all these translations are introducing unknowns. I don't know, and can never know if I am reaching you. In attempting to teach through this medium, all I can hope to do is to stimulate a curiosity in you to read further on these subjects, to write about them, to talk to people about them, and to apply them wherever possible in your own situations. (1998)
Based on Dougiamas' (1998) own conclusions that successful learning involves a post-epistemological perspective--one that is not another epistemology, or way of knowing--but only the next step in the learning continuum. Constructivism is a way of thinking about knowing; it is a model that should be considered in teaching, learning, and curriculum development (Dougiamas, 1998). With this understanding and the need for what it means to 'learn' Dougiamas created the open-source, constructivist-based Moodle platform. In the early years of the Internet, even before the advent of the term Web 2.0, and ahead of Richardson's (2010) read/write web, Dougiamas (1998) recognized that "simply presenting material, giving out problems, and accepting answers back is not a refined enough process of communication for efficient learning." And still, the basic tenets of constructivist theory languish on the vine never really fulfilling their actual potential that the twenty-first century learner craves...
From the Wiki to Moodle: A R/Evolution?
After three years of utilizing a wiki for her classes, Ms. Jones has, ironically, become the most active teacher to lobby for and now to utilize our School Moodle for all of her courses. Currently, we have over fifteen different faculty members using the Moodle platform for over 40 different courses ranging from science to languages to socials. In fact, we are proud to boast that the Moodle now offers a teacher component that has a 'hot topics' discussion forum, a professional development shared resource page, a professional reading club and discussion forum, and links to other teacher and educational resources. We can even access our professional development accounts through the Moodle website.
[T]his single essay is a very poor vehicle, no matter how clear I try and make it. Here I am, late at night, stringing together words about constructivism in my word processor, and there you are, reading these words using your own cognitive framework, developed via your own unique background and frameworks of language and meaning. I am translating a variety of texts, using them to build an understanding on my own background, then translating my new understandings into building my own text, which you are deconstructing to reconstruct your own understanding. Like Chinese whispers, all these translations are introducing unknowns. I don't know, and can never know if I am reaching you. In attempting to teach through this medium, all I can hope to do is to stimulate a curiosity in you to read further on these subjects, to write about them, to talk to people about them, and to apply them wherever possible in your own situations. (1998)
Based on Dougiamas' (1998) own conclusions that successful learning involves a post-epistemological perspective--one that is not another epistemology, or way of knowing--but only the next step in the learning continuum. Constructivism is a way of thinking about knowing; it is a model that should be considered in teaching, learning, and curriculum development (Dougiamas, 1998). With this understanding and the need for what it means to 'learn' Dougiamas created the open-source, constructivist-based Moodle platform. In the early years of the Internet, even before the advent of the term Web 2.0, and ahead of Richardson's (2010) read/write web, Dougiamas (1998) recognized that "simply presenting material, giving out problems, and accepting answers back is not a refined enough process of communication for efficient learning." And still, the basic tenets of constructivist theory languish on the vine never really fulfilling their actual potential that the twenty-first century learner craves...
From the Wiki to Moodle: A R/Evolution?
After three years of utilizing a wiki for her classes, Ms. Jones has, ironically, become the most active teacher to lobby for and now to utilize our School Moodle for all of her courses. Currently, we have over fifteen different faculty members using the Moodle platform for over 40 different courses ranging from science to languages to socials. In fact, we are proud to boast that the Moodle now offers a teacher component that has a 'hot topics' discussion forum, a professional development shared resource page, a professional reading club and discussion forum, and links to other teacher and educational resources. We can even access our professional development accounts through the Moodle website.
For our needs, Moodle offers our teachers and students the ability to create and administer their own courses. It gives students access to all their courses with one simple URL and login information. And while the content varies from course to course, the ability to navigate and effectively utilize the platform is only limited by computer access--something that our school (like many others in BC) continues to struggle with.
Indeed, school use of the Moodle is in its relative infancy, but with more and more courses going on to Moodle it will be only a matter of time before most teachers recognize the value that Moodle offers: students that are absent or traveling with school-related activities and teams can access reading, assignments, and maintain participation on discussion forums and write to their blog. The asynchronous feature that allows for discussion appeals to many of our English and socials teachers.
Many argue that Moodle eliminates (or at best, reduces) the collaborative approach that wikis offer. Our experience has led us to the conclusion that unless our teachers actively utilize, promote, and expect their students to take ownership by "giving students editorial control [and] imbue in them a sense of responsibility and ownership for the site" class wikis are no more different than any other form of one-way communication. And the appearance of democracy to students (as in the case of Ms. Jones) does not always guarantee the "process of knowledge creation" (Richardson, 2010). Does it really 'take a class to raise a wiki'?
Moodle: A Tool for All School Community Stakeholders
With the explosive use of the Moodle by faculty, we have made plans to migrate all the information that is currently contained on the school website over to the Moodle platform. Since the school website is administered by one individual (in our case, me) the strength, interactivity, and utilitarianism of the information is only contingent on my ability to regularly add content and update specific subject pages on behalf of most of the teacher. Recognizing that the Moodle platform allows teachers the ability to create their own forums, chats, and encourage student blogging and collaboration, the capabilities of Moodle has effectively turned the school website a one-dimensional tool: an avenue for information dissemination and school promotion.
We envision not only classroom teachers effectively and efficiently moderating their class forums on Moodle, we recognize the full school-wide potential it holds: non-enrolling teachers (such as counsellors) maintaining an active online student counseling services; school administrators sharing school growth plans and goal setting protocol; and even parents actively editing, creating, moderating their PAC pages. Even student based-groups like government, dance, and teams can be afforded an opportunity to plan and discuss in an asynchronous fashion.
Moodle: A Tool for All School Community Stakeholders
With the explosive use of the Moodle by faculty, we have made plans to migrate all the information that is currently contained on the school website over to the Moodle platform. Since the school website is administered by one individual (in our case, me) the strength, interactivity, and utilitarianism of the information is only contingent on my ability to regularly add content and update specific subject pages on behalf of most of the teacher. Recognizing that the Moodle platform allows teachers the ability to create their own forums, chats, and encourage student blogging and collaboration, the capabilities of Moodle has effectively turned the school website a one-dimensional tool: an avenue for information dissemination and school promotion.
We envision not only classroom teachers effectively and efficiently moderating their class forums on Moodle, we recognize the full school-wide potential it holds: non-enrolling teachers (such as counsellors) maintaining an active online student counseling services; school administrators sharing school growth plans and goal setting protocol; and even parents actively editing, creating, moderating their PAC pages. Even student based-groups like government, dance, and teams can be afforded an opportunity to plan and discuss in an asynchronous fashion.
Technology Along is not the Key: Keeping Some Perspective
Before jumping whole hog into and embracing the merits of Moodle, we first need to recognize the limitations that technology imposes on our school community of learners. Research has shown time and time again that technology itself is only as powerful as those that use it effectively, model its use constantly, and encourage its use in the creation of knowledge. Current research supports the supposition that exists in the twenty-first century: no single technology itself can impact learning outcomes (Hazari, et. al., 2009). Others have found that variables such as course content, instructional pedagogy, and technology influence classroom learning; and sound instructional practices are also important components in the learning process. Instructors can explore the potential offered by Wikis and realize its benefits if used correctly (Mishra & Koehler, 2006).
Before jumping whole hog into and embracing the merits of Moodle, we first need to recognize the limitations that technology imposes on our school community of learners. Research has shown time and time again that technology itself is only as powerful as those that use it effectively, model its use constantly, and encourage its use in the creation of knowledge. Current research supports the supposition that exists in the twenty-first century: no single technology itself can impact learning outcomes (Hazari, et. al., 2009). Others have found that variables such as course content, instructional pedagogy, and technology influence classroom learning; and sound instructional practices are also important components in the learning process. Instructors can explore the potential offered by Wikis and realize its benefits if used correctly (Mishra & Koehler, 2006).
With a supportive administration and a handful of teachers daring to challenge their professional and personal comfort levels, our move to the Moodle platform looks to be a very promising endeavour.
REFERENCES
Dougiamas, M. (1998). A Journey Into Constructivism. Retrieved October 25, 2010 from http://dougiamas.com/writing/constructivism.html.
Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. (2006), Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge: A Framework For Integrating Technology In Teacher Knowledge. Teachers College Record, Vol. 108, No. 6, pp. 1017-1054.
Philosophy of Moodle. Retrieved October 26, 2010 from http://docs.moodle.org/en/philosophy.
Ebner, M., Kickmeier-Rust, M., & Holzinger, A. (2008). Utilizing Wiki-Systems in higher education classes: a chance for universal access?. Universal Access in the Information Society, 7(4), 199-207.
Hazari, S., North, A., & Moreland, D. (2009). Investigating Pedagogical Value of Wiki Technology. Journal of Information Systems Education, 20(2), 187-198. Retrieved from Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts.
Jones, L. (2010). Personal correspondence. October 21, 2010.Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. (2006), Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge: A Framework For Integrating Technology In Teacher Knowledge. Teachers College Record, Vol. 108, No. 6, pp. 1017-1054.
Philosophy of Moodle. Retrieved October 26, 2010 from http://docs.moodle.org/en/philosophy.
Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Publishing.
Romeo, L., Brennan, M., Rothman, T., & Mitchell, D. (2009). Innovative Cooperative Learning. Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin, 76(2), 22-28.
