Linda's+Big+Shift

** Linda's Big Shift  [ **Back to Linda's Profile Home Page **] **

**Big Shift #10**  Big Shift #10, discussed in Will Richardson's Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms is called "Contribution, Not Completion, as the Ultimate Goal." This shift discusses the concept of how a student, teacher, or group of people's participation in academia (or any other social culture, for that matter) is not just an assignment meant to be turned in. It is not a task whose soul purpose is just to be completed. Ideally, it is meant to be a process that does not get completed but is continually organic, changing and evolving as people continue to contribute to its growth. This shift in how learning and tasks get tackled means a change in how people work in the world. In the global perspective, it means a new chapter in how people collaborate and share information. Communities get formed where people come together without having to be physically together. Globally, this shift can mean a lot of things for many different people in various fields of interests ranging from a regional photography club to a local basketball team to a big corporation such as Google.

A photography club can use Weblogs to update one another on various pictures taken, using free photo sharing sites such as Flickr and Picasa to host their pictures. The task doesn’t end there however. These online tools contain features that allow others to share, comment, and contribute to. Even though these photographers do not have to use these specific tools, its purpose and the features it provides would allow the same thing, a trend that is continually growing.

As for the basketball team, coaches can use Wikis to organize the team and resources such as game plays and uniform orders. Wikis can also embed pictures and videos, allowing for an easy access to a database of previous and opponents’ basketball games. Whatever the purpose, collaboration is made easier with the use of these tools.

Corporations such as Google are spear headers of this kind of collaboration. Not only are they leading developers in tools that allow for easy communication, but they lead by example. Google uses various online tools such as Google Docs, YouTube, and Blogger, to name a few, to share and contribute its information.

As demonstrated, regardless of what the interest is or at what level the collaboration is, technology has paved its way into our everyday lives by introducing effective means for communication and collaboration. It poses the same affect in the world of academia in both positive and challenging ways. Because of technology's gradual integration into the world of academics, learning is no longer restricted to the classroom. The classroom is obviously a place for growing where students gather to learn from a teacher. In this situation, learning is often times a one way street, where the teacher will provide information to the students, and rarely the other way around. This is because the teacher is the one who is equipped with the knowledge to teach. Although discussions in the classroom may exist, rarely will the students have a say in what should be taught. Our society is constructed this way. The apprentice will learn from the master. This makes sense because it is an effective method for producing educated adults, or modeled citizens nonetheless.

However, with the increasing presence of virtual communication and hi-tech devices, learning has taken a step into another chapter. People are turning to the internet, mobile devices, and other technologies to learn. No longer is information simply passed through teachers, books, the TV and the radio. Through the internet and other forms of virtual, wireless and mobile communication, information has become much more accessible and manageable. Weblogs, RSS feeds, Wikis, and more is making knowledge open, free, and easily accessible. While at home, a student can do extra research on a topic by searching online (grant it that the students would learn how to distinguish fact from fiction), or be able discuss a topic with fellow classmates. Teachers can write out lesson plans and post it online where it can be accessed by students, parents, and fellow teachers through sites such as Weblogs and Wikis.

The idea is that students and teachers can continue to learn outside of the classroom. The web has allowed them to become not just student or teacher, but to become virtually both, whether it be at the amateur level or the professional level. Knowledge on a specific topic is increasing, and coming together, as with the installment of tags. The internet, essentially has no borders for learning, allowing people who want to learn more, do so at the click of a mouse. And like the basketball team, photographer, or Google representatives, information can be shared such as with AwesomeHighlighter and RSS feeds, commented on through feedback features, and contributed to as with blogs and collaboration sites.

Personally, this shift gradually made its way into my life, easing many frustration I’ve had, allowing me to not only work with my classmates, but to also do so effectively. I was able to do so with online tools such as Wetpaint Wiki and Google Docs and Calendar. My classmates and I used Google Calendar to plan out our scheduled meeting times. Our work was done on Google Docs in both document and slide format, which allowed for real-time changes. For times when someone would miss the meeting, we used the instant messaging tools to communicate (this was when Google did not yet have on-site chatting). The information that we want published went on our class Wetpaint Wiki, where students from the other groups and our professors and TAs could view and critique. The point here is that even though I may be able to achieve all of these tasks without the tools, just by publishing it online and sharing it in a space for all to see, I was able to allow for instant and constant contribution and critique.

My experiences in using these tools have continued to expand as more and more tools are created for this soul purpose. I frequently use Wikis, Blogs, RSS feeds, Google applications, and more in my interaction for personal, academic, and job purposes. Not only are they free, but they make for organizing simple. Twitter, among many for instance, has become my one stop tool for following real-time updates regarding all things I care about including friends, financial advices, and news updates. I frequently share sites and web 2.0 tools I find interesting on twitter as well, hoping that my contribution to this site would make its way into the hands of those who might find it useful. It has allowed for me to share with others in a way I could not have in the past. This is only one of many examples that shows how this change has made its way into my life.

However, no matter how much more easier ways of collaborating are, the challenge of everyone being able to do it is still up in the air. Basketball Coaches would only be able to use these tools effectively if their team players have access to computers and are actively using the resources. Photographers would need to keep the discussion interesting enough to promote even more sharing and contribution. Google needs to come up with a way that will allow access to those who may not understand this cultural change, a challenge that some teachers will face. And I, who consider myself pretty aware and integrated into this shift, need to be patient and willing to teach my students, my peers, and mentors this new and exciting way of collaboration. Even so, technology is advancing evermore so. People are becoming more and more connected, where contribution is the ultimate goal.   [ Download DOC ]