Redefining research

I was interested to read in our local newspaper (hard copy!!) about Encyclopedia Britannica stopping printing their books and focusing on an online service.

Many years ago I remember some research where three groups of children were asked to find the answers to some research questions.

1. Group one used the Encyclopedia Britannica books
2. Group two used any site on the Internet
3. Group three used the Encyclopedia Britannica CD Rom 

Guess which group consistently got the answers first?

It was Group 1, followed by Group 2 and finally Group 3. - It would be interesting to see how the children would get on now.

I really like this graphic which shows how Wikipedia has developed over time and is now an acknowledged source of information.
Via: Open-Site.org

Web 2 research

BECTA have released a report about the use of Web 2. This includes such things as blogs, wikis, social networking with children between the ages of 11 to 16. This report looks at the use of these tools both in and out of the classroom.


The report found that these children used Web 2 a lot in their leisure time but a limited amount in the classroom environment.

The report found that teachers who are using Web 2 technologies found benefits such as:

• Web 2.0 helps to encourage student engagement and increase participation – particularly among quieter pupils, who can use it to work collaboratively online, without the anxiety of having to raise questions in front of peers in class – or by enabling expression through less traditional media such as video.
• Teachers have reported that the use of social networking technology can encourage online discussion amongst students outside school.
• Web 2.0 can be available anytime, anywhere, which encourages some individuals to extend their learning through further investigation into topics that interest them.
  Pupils feel a sense of ownership and engagement when they publish their work online and this can encourage attention to detail and an overall improved quality of work. Some teachers reported using publication of work to encourage peer assessment.
  

I use Web 2 tools with my students. There are so many with so many uses. Teachers need to think laterally to integrate these technologies in authentic and meaningful ways in their classrooms. We look at how a tool works and then use Mindmeister (another Web 2 tool) to do our mindmapping on how this can be integrated into the classroom.