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A broad range of tools with common characteristics that are conveniently lumped together as web 2.0 will fundamentally change the design of online learning and even more significantly, the relationship between post-secondary instructor and student. … The general characteristics of web 2.0 are as follows:
- End-user control/authoring
- Collaboration and sharing
- Collective intelligence
- Low-cost/free, adaptive software
- Rich media
- Portability/mobility
Via Peter B. Sloep
Tony Bates reports that he has "grown increasingly convinced that [web 2.0 tools] have the power to really revolutionize university teaching in particular". Unfortunately, he says, formal post-secondary education shows few signs of have understood this message. This is a pity, he continues, as web 2.0 tools i) can facilitate 21st century knowledge workers, ii) lend themselves to constructivist approaches, iii) are familiar to students, iv) are more engaging for student.
These are the reasons most people will mention for why we should invoke web 2.0 tools. However, Tony's fifth reason is not so familiar and arguably the most powerful one. Eventually, he claims, web 2.0 tools will radically change student assessment. No more paper and pencil or computer marked assignments, but assignment via portfolios and the use of multimedia. That of course requires us to rethink the idea of a course completely.
It also shows that MOOCs really are 'education as we know it' in an online mould. If Tony is right, then we may wonder if quality will prevail (that is redesign of education making full use of the affordances of web 2.0 tools) or if maximizing revenues will prevail (that is, sticking to existing models but broadcasting the content even more widely). Seen in this way, MOOCs really are web 1.0, the information web, rather than the social web that web 2.0 is. So, a step back rather than a step forward. (@pbsloep)