Supporting the use of Emerging Technologies in Education through Communities of Practice (CoP) Proposed presentation to the 2007 CEGSA conference - 19/20 July 2007 http://www.cegsa.sa.edu.au/ Before I start, let's look at a recent posting to YouTube which has had almost 2 million viewings in its short life.
This clip ends by suggesting that the use of Web2.0 is asking us to rethink everything. And I tend to agree. But let's start from the start and for us one possible starting point is finding ways to use technologies to support and further our educational aspirations. There is no shortage of emerging technologies which can be used in educational settings. Our student's backpacks or our own living rooms contain a plethora of tools. However, there is a shortage of ways for teachers to start to use these tools in his or her classroom. A shortage of time and space to learn about these tools and meld them into our existing educational practices; A shortage of infrastructure to support people doing new and innovative things A shortage of energy to explain once again what you are trying to achieve and why it might be better than the existing methods. This sounds like a very "bottom up" conception of educational and technological innovation. This should not be surprising given that emerging technology is exactly that--it is "emerging". If it was being "rolled out" it would be an "emerged" technology and not an "emerging" technology. The "bottom up" nature also reflects the ways in which many
technologies extend, amplify, and enhance the individual's ability to interact with others and the world. These tools are truly personal and wearable in a way that the personal computer of the 1980s was not. Thus far we have talked about "technology" as being "things" or "tools" (e.g. the PDA, mobile, laptop or MP3 player). But technology also encompasses the ways in which we use these tools, the techniques and expectations which pervade our lives. Biologically we are little advanced from humans of 200 years ago. But if we were to take a mariner or a convict out of Phillip's First Fleet, or a soon to be displaced aborigine from Sydney Cove, they would have great difficulties coping with the digital world in which we live. While oversimplified, Prensky's distinction between "digital natives" and "digital immigrants" presents a vivid image of the speed and pervasiveness of these differences. Perhaps the clearest expression of these new techniques and expectations is the move from the "read-only web" of last century to the "read-write" or Web2.0 of today. Web2.0 places the individual at the centre of their information and communication universe and allows people like you and I to build and participate in overlapping communities based on shared interests and mutual trust. The importance of the individual, and the communities to which they belong, is exemplified by Time's announcement that the 2006 person of the year was "You". The power of a community made up of overlapping groups of people is also highlighted by the astronomical popularity and monetary value of group forming networks such as MySpace, Facebook or YouTube. OK. It is now time to focus on how we can use emerging technologies (both the tools and the techniques) in educational situations. Emerging technologies are both the subject of what we want to do, as well as the way in which we can provide sustainable support these activities. This duality should not be surprising because if something is good for our students then it is likely that it will also be good for ourselves. I will now talk about the ways I have been able to use "community building" technologies and techniques to achieve educational environments that I could only have dreamt about last century. When I started work at Deakin University in the early 80s, the dominant model was what I like to call the "bicycle wheel" model of education, in which the teacher was at the center interacting with students via long, thin spokes of communication. I worked hard to build connections among my students by traveling to regional centers to conduct tutorials, by editing student generated journals, making conference telephone calls, and using email lists and bulletin boards. While each of these activities was individually significant, for the participants they were short lived and required much effort. Over the last couple of years my experience with the knowledgeGarden learning community has firmly convinced me of the value of Communities of Practice (CoP) built on both the tools and the techniques of Web2.0 for sustainable professional development. This presentation will continue by presenting evidence of the ways in which such ideas have energized both my own teaching and learning and also the learning and teaching of my students.
About Dr Peter Evans Email: evansp@usq.edu.au Skype: evans-pj Web: http://www.usq.edu.au/users/evansp/ Baker-Evans Consultancy Services ABN: 26 116 784 348 Peter Evans has over 20 years experience in universities and private enterprise developing and promoting ways in which ICT can empower educational work and scholarship. He has done this in a variety of ways including: his own teaching, mentoring others, hands on development, managing multimedia and web development, and developing and operating quality systems in a transnational education centre network. His current work focuses on teaching within the Faculty of Education at the University of Southern Queensland USQ and consultancy work in the area of online communities. In the mid 1980's he worked to establish a culture of "computing use and competency" within the School of Education at Deakin University. The centre piece was a computing laboratory complete with pillows, plants and fish, which was reported at a keynote presentation to the NZ Computer Eduction Society Conference in 1987. In the early 1990's he completed a PhD researching the enabling and disabling impacts of a CDROM on university teaching and learning. This research underpinned the development of the "Hathaway Primary School Multimedia Case Study" CDROM which was one of 5 finalists in the "Best tertiary multimedia applications" category at the 1996 Australasian Interactive Multimedia Industry Awards. At USQ he led development of the Midwifery CDROMs which were awarded the USQ award for Excellence in the Development of Teaching Materials. His is currently an education consultant and teaches several Masters courses in the Faculty of Education at the University of Southern Queensland. In 2006, he founded the knowledgeGarden learning community which has proven to be a valuable way for Masters students within the Faculty of Education to interact with each other and the university.