Web 2.0 Implications: Personalized and Learner-Centred Experiences

Photo from morguefile.com

Two terms that have been churning in my head recently have been "personalized learning" and "learner-centred environments." The article "Web 2.0 Tools for Learning in Higher Education: The Presence of Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, Microblogs, Facebook and Ning" (Shih & Waugh, 2011) explores these terms and the article's discussion on Web 2.0 tools has lead me to consider how I could be using Web 2.0 tools differently in some of my courses, particularly Broad-Based Technology 9 (BBT 9).

The BBT 9 class I teach explores various Web 2.0 tools. There has been a move away from using software that is isolated in an individual computer to
introducing students to a range of Web 2.0 applications for collaboration and online publishing. Additionally, the cost factor has also played a part, since most Web 2.0 tools have little to no cost associated with them. For example, students can now explore photo editing and manipulation without schools needing to invest in a large number of licences for specialized software. In fact, the problem now is trying to determine which Web 2.0 application would be most effective for the learning objectives, since there is such a wide variety of choices.