Web 2.0 applications as alternative environments for informal learning - a critical review

di  Neil Selwyn Institute of Education, University of London, UK, expert meeting. Session, 2007

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ABSTRACT Enthusiastic educational commentators are casting the internet in a new light through the emergence of so-called ‘Web 2.0’ technologies, which place learners at the centre of online activities and facilitate supposedly new forms of creation, collaboration, and consumption. Proponents anticipate a host of new pedagogical challenges posed by a ‘Facebook generation’ of ‘wiki kids,’ whilst schools and colleges are delivering courses in ‘Second Life’ rather than real-life environments. An impassioned minority of educationalists has even heralded a ‘Web 2.0 transformation of learning’ with “potentially groundbreaking implications for the field of education” (Thomas 2008). Yet such enthusiasm has been tempered by a more sceptical reaction throughout other sectors of the educational and technology communities. Mindful of these debates, this presentation will overview briefly the emerging research literature in the area of Web 2.0 enhanced learning (specifically the Facebook and Second Life applications) and focus on the following issues: • what evidence is there for informal learning taking place within Web 2.0 applications, and if so, in what ways? Can Web 2.0 applications be designed to facilitate informal learning? • What potential benefits and risks do Web 2.0 applications pose for formal learning in educational institutions such as schools? Does Web 2.0 herald the increased individualization and personalization of informal online learning at the expense of learning in more formal offline settings?..........................

CONCLUSIONS

We conclude by addressing two key questions, i.e. i) what is the educational importance of these Web 2.0 applications; and ii) what is the potential for “scaling up learners’ informal uses of Web 2.0 application into formal education settings such as schools? What is the educational importance of these Web 2.0 applications? Despite the immediate appeal of applications such as Facebook and Second Life it is necessary for educators to take time to reflect carefully upon the nature of these Web 2.0 applications as online learning environments and question the learning affordances they offer in practice. Above all it is clear that more rigorous and carefully conducted research is required in this area. There are clear limitations in terms of quantity and quality of the research conducted to date on educative uses of Web 2.0 applications and, indeed, the research conducted on their general use of such technologies. Whilst insightful the studies reported on in this paper nearly all relied upon small-scale case-study research designs. The data collected were often limited in scope and studies could be criticised as lacking the rigour and robustness associated with good social science research. In contrast, there is a relatively more rigorous (although by no means comprehensive) empirical base with regards to young people’s engagement with online resources (i.e. Pew, Mediappro, UK Children Go Online). Some of this research is characterised by largescale data sets, often based on randomised samples and complemented by in-depth exploratory qualitative data. Lack of evidence aside, sensible discussions should be conducted concerning the prevalence of these new forms of online activity in the everyday digital lives of learners. As we have discussed these new ICT applications certainly reflect a significant shift in the nature of young people’s engagement with digital media. For example, in terms of the use of digital media to create information there are signs that young people are taking the opportunities to engage with the creation of information in a variety of ways. A recent Pew report (2005c) found that more than half of young internet users in the US had created some kind of online content, be it a blog, personal webpage or sharing original content in the form of artwork, photographs, music or videos). As such there is growing reason to believe that ICTs are altering fundamentally many young people’s relationships with information. Nevertheless, the potentially empowering nature of these changes in media practice is tempered by the limited penetration of these Web 2.0 practices throughout the general populations of different countries around the world. Even in technology-rich European countries the recent Mediappro (2006) study of EU youth found that passive retrieval of information remains the most popular internet-based activity amongst young people, with content creation a less widely practiced activity. It is important to retain a balanced perspective on the ubiquity of applications such as Facebook and Second Life. Indeed, although Second Life boasts over one and half million unique people who have used it at least once, of that number only 250,000 people could be classed as active users (i.e. using Second Life more than 30 days after their account creation date). Despite its connotations of a virtual world unhindered by physical barriers, issues of between-country disparities are prevalent with the US providing the largest constituency of Second Life users, with Japan, Brazil and the UK users also predominant (Reuters 2007). Amidst the excitement over applications such as Facebook and Second Life we should not overlook issues of digital exclusion and even digital apathy. A further limitation to younger learners’ educative uses of Web 2.0 applications is that of the increased salience of ‘e-safety’ - i.e. the increased potential for young people to be ‘at risk’ when using ICTs, not least by exhibiting a range of ‘risky’ behaviours themselves via ‘inappropriate’ and ‘challenging’ uses of the internet. These behaviours are seen to include interpersonal victimization, disclosure of personal information, aggressive behaviour, talking with people met online, sexual behaviour, and downloading images using file-sharing programs (Ybarra et al. 2007). Questions have also been raised over young people’s ability to use emerging web applications carefully, appropriately and safely. For instance, a recent Pew (2005d) study found   79 percent of young internet users to concur that they are not careful enough when sharing information online with others. Similarly, in terms of young people’s own challenging online behaviours Berson and Berson (2005) found a significant number of adolescent girls to report engaging in risky activities including disclosing personal information, sending personal photos to online acquaintances, and arranging face-to-face meetings. That said there is a considerable body of counter-evidence that young people are not wholly at risk when using ICTs. The Europewide Mediappro project, for example, reported “wide evidence of self-regulation by young people” (Mediappro 2006, p.14), suggesting that young people are more considered and empowered users of online contexts than is sometimes assumed.......................  orso castano : lo studio andrebbe letto integralmente , anche per le citazioni di altri studi in merito. Invita alla prudenza nell'uso di ionternet come mezzo di apprendimento, pur sottolineandone le potenzialita0 e sgombrando il campo da inconsistenti preoccupazioni. L'uso non informato del mezzo , certo , rischia di incentivare comportamenti inadeguati. Si rafforza l'idea che usare internet per la "conoscenza" non e' un gioco , va incentivato  ma anche ben "spiegato"