Teen Introduction to Web 2.0 Syllabus

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Permalink Reply by Anne Mirtschin on June 8, 2008 at 3:17pm

Usually it is the 15 year old teen who would be introducing web2.0 to seniors with all their social networking online and use of many technologies. So I think it is great that it goes in reverse at times. I teach IT and we use blogging with all of our students in the middle school. This is a wonderful platform which we are developing into digital learning portfolios, now that many of our staff are coming on board as well. So, at grade 6 level, students are using their blogs for IT, LOTE, maths, english and art. All students have a delicious account and some are exposed to wikis where collaboration and teamwork can take place, as well as being a repository for resources.
Voicethread and podcasting are used at times and skype is used for videoconferencing and live blogging for chatting with a school in the USA (I am in Australia) We are looking at the use of cell phones for photos, videos and podcasting as well. What do you hope to use?

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Permalink Reply by Ellen on June 8, 2008 at 4:41pm

I'd build the syllabus around Professional Presence. Fifteen is the perfect age to start building an online presence that is both reflective of who we are as well as sets a foundation for who we are yet to become.

This said, an essential understanding includes the magnitude of the web and the associated risks and opportunities.

What's in your syllabus?

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Permalink Reply by Ann Bell on June 9, 2008 at 9:12am

An online professional development course, Implementing Instructional Technology Innovations, covering Web 2.0 tools is offered through the University of Wisconsin-Stout.

This course is designed to help educators apply the current trends, research, and best practices for supporting instruction with appropriate application of recent and innovative educational technologies. It is for both experienced professionals and newcomers interested in incorporating the latest technology into existing curricular units to help students achieve their educational standards and objectives.

The course Implementing Instructional Technology Innovations will help educators develop effective teaching methods and instructional strategies that capitalize on students’ interest in technology and use that familiarity to improve students’ academic performance.

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Permalink Reply by Dennis Richards on June 10, 2008 at 3:50am

Interesting comments. I appreciate you thoughts about a 2.0 syllabus for John.

What’s my syllabus? Fair question. It will be driven by the following workshop proposal I developed with my 15 year old grandson John for a conference in November 2008.

Pygmalion ~ Breathing Life into Learning or 21st Century Pedagogies

In the original Greek version of the story, Pygmalion is a sculptor who creates a statue into which Aphrodite breathes life. Every day students in schools throughout our country are learning without the benefit of 21st Century Web 2.0 pedagogies. What would happen if someone tried to add those pedagogies from outside the system? Google applications, digital story telling tools, blogs, wikis, and RSS feeds and aggregators are some of the tools teachers are using to help students become self-directed learners. If a high school student is not asked by teachers to use those tools, is it possible for a student to learn how to apply those tools to complete his assignments and breathe live into his own learning? In this session John, a Massachusetts public high school student who once told me he did not mind learning, it was the homework he could not stand, will join me to report on our efforts to add Web 2.0 pedagogies into his learning environment. Which tools help John with assignments? Which carry him beyond the assignments into new learning? We will report on what happened and speculate about the implications for John’s future learning and schooling in general.


Here’s my evolving list of what I have or shortly will include, but the foundation of it all is helping him develop his 21st Century Literacies. I just posted about this topic on my blog. You can read it by clicking here.

Draft June 10, 2008

Syllabus Suggestions from Educators and Parents as of June 10, 2008

• Blogging
• Digital Learning Portfolio
• delicious
• wiki
• VoiceThread
• Podcasting
• Videoconferencing
• Live blogging
• Cell phone for photos, videos and podcasting
• Online presence – reflect who you are and who you will become
• Magnitude of the web
• Web Risks and Opportunities

My Draft Syllabus for John as of June 10, 2008

• 21st Century Literacies
• Conference Presentation ~ November 2008 - Authentic Assessment
• Wikis
• Skype
• Buzzword
• Negotiating a Web 2.0 Agreement with his Parents
• Computer selection and a rationale for use
• RSS
• Wikipedia
• Email
• Embedded links
• Images for illustration and illumination
• Digital Citizenship, safety and success see ad4dcss http://ad4dcss.wikispaces.com/

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Permalink Reply by Carolyn Foote on June 10, 2008 at 6:30am

What a great idea to include a student in your planning/discussions.

Your syllabus looks excellent. One other thing I was thinking about is presentation design or the idea of design reflecting student uniqueness. I think you are getting at that in the "online presence" section. But it seems that talking with students about design as a reflection of their ideas and who they are is sometimes overlooked in the "communication package."

It'll be intriguing to follow this as you develop the presentation.

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Permalink Reply by Dennis Richards on June 11, 2008 at 4:39am

As you know, planning and design are important features of creativity that leads to innovation. At the moment they are topics I happen to be thinking about. I am familiar with these concepts as they apply to textual creation, but not so much as they apply to the multi-media potential of the web. As a newbee to the world of 2.0, I sometimes feel like I'm backpacking with the wild things, motivated, disoriented, enriched, challenged. I must press on down the path of befriendling this 2.0 world for me, my grandson John, my colleagues and friends. Right now it's the place I want and need to be.

I'll add your suggestions to the syllabus and eventually create a Teen Web 2.0 Syllabus file I can upload to CR 2.0, revising it over time to reflect new learning from my conversations and interactions with John during this project. I hope to hear from you again, Carolyn. Thank you.

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Permalink Reply by mr. f on October 5, 2008 at 6:20pm

Hi.

I have been teaching a web 2.0/21st century skills class and have a public document with a rough course outline and some good lessons I have done. I would love to talk with anyone doing something similar.

Here is my outline for learning.21st.

Thanks. Ben

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Permalink Reply by Dennis Richards on October 6, 2008 at 4:50am

Hi Ben,

I am working with my grandson on these topics. He is in 10th grade at a public high school in Massachusetts. We are presenting together at a MassCue (MA Computer Using Educators) conference in November.

Breathing Life into Learning or 21st Century Pedagogies

If you want, let's talk later in the week when we are both online.

Skype ID: drichards1

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