I use this Edublog as a way of testing a variety of web2.0 tools that could potentially make the blogs of teachers even more engaging than they already are. I intend to mash-up and test a range of these extensions as a way of taking Edublogs.org as an educational tool to its limit. In essence all of these tools are free services that depend on the small contributions of meta data by students and teachers to make them useful. This is a philosophical shift in terms of ownership and institutional dependence on insular service provision. It will take us a while to catch up with this concept while countries such as Russia and India embrace it with fervour.
I’m particularly interested in the question of how web2.0 tools can add value to the knowledge generated by the digital natives we have in our industrial age educational institutions.
I believe user engagement, connectivism and critical literacy are becoming central to the efficacy of curriculum ICT integration. And in 21C learning spaces, infrastructure simplicity and access to shared content production are essential to this aim.
I’m particularly interested in social software and the role technology can play in engaging the digital natives we have in our schools. Having led K-7 Curriculum based ICT at Paraburdoo Primary School and 3 years of CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) ESL in a Japanese High School, I now work as a Senior Curriculum Officer in the Curriculum Through ICT section of the West Australian Department of Education. Specifically I am interested in the benefits ICT can provide in an educational setting.
In my spare time I run a couple of educational group blogs called Digital Chalkie and AusMacEd as a means to link with fellow educators interested in empowering their students through the use of ICTs. I use this Tumblog a my way of collating web2.0 in education links and digital bitz as I navigate my way through information overload.
Please contact me here if you’d like to speak with me further about this exercise.
Paul Reid
September 11, 2007
