Creativity with Foksonomies (sidebar: Techno-Overload)

Some of the creative applications of folksonomies, as shown in yesterday's lecture really appeal to me as a further method for integrating learning areas. I think many students (and teachers) when they think of creativity don't immediately also think of technology. Granted there are visual art projects happening in schools, including photography production and editing, movie making, poster making. Using folksonomy providers such as Tagxedo and Word Mosaic can bridge the gap between literacy and visual art. Folksonomies also put an interesting spin on brainstorming or mind-mapping, with the added bonus of having web-content behind each key word/phrase.

In saying this I'm looking at the aesthetic applications of folksonomies, but there are also the broader need for simplifying or organising information found. The functions of Delicious, whereby you can post a description of your tag has fantastic benefits for working on annotation and note-taking skills and critical literacy skills. Likewise, using Instapaper to then go in and assess what has been written for each tag and give students constructive feedback. Instapaper could also be a good way for developing critical literacy skills and even have students review each other's online work (e.g. students use Instapaper to peer-review other people's blog postings or tag definitions). There are almost endless possibilities.

And that brings me to my next point and something I have been thinking of during the course. We've been talking about information-overload, but what about technology-overload - I feel overwhelmed by the number of tools I've been shown and their applications for classroom use. It's not that I don't want to use these tools in the classroom, it's just that I have one idea and then I find another tool that does something similiar, but takes it in a more interesting direction, then there's another tool that is more like the best of both worlds before I find yet another tool and another and another. I feel like the Ark of the Covenant has now been opened and whilst what's inside is wonderful and mesmerising, it's causing my mind to have a meltdown. I was never all that technically skilled with computer technology, so this is a major learning curb for me and I'm having to prevent myself from running away with these nifty integrated lesson ideas for fear of getting carried away with the technology.

So this again comes down to using the technology as a tool, but also knowing the limitations of my own knowledge and skills, the students' knowledge and skills, the schools resources, the context in which I'm teaching and being able to integrate the technology with a teaching style I'm comfortable with. I imagine getting this balancing act right will come with time and experience as I fiddle around with these new technologies in different contexts.

And finally, my own try at a Tagxedo cloud for my integrated unit:

Web 2.0 = Pedagogy 2.0

With the increasing interactivity available with Web 2.0, there is a greater need for teachers to be open to experimentation and inquiry-based learning within the classroom. A constructivist approach needs to be used, with ICTs used as a tool and integrated across all learning areas. For this to happen, teachers need to be aware of Web 2.0 functions and students are capable of achieving using the internet. From what I have seen in schools there is a shift taking place amongst students, where new technology is being brought in and teachers are using it in their lessons (sometimes against their will).

A lot of what I see is still very much Web 1.0 based and there seems to be resistance in allowing students to do more complex and interactive Web 2.0 activities. There is still an awe factor in classrooms that make using computers something special, instead of something normal - I've seen students in year 7 shout "Yes!!!" when they are allowed to use the internet for a project. I think teachers are beginning to understand the value of having ICTs in the classroom, but we're still a while away from total normalisation (depending on the school). To change the students' thinking we need to change our teaching, so I propose shifting to Pedagogy 2.0, with more interaction, more questioning, more social construction and more guided discovery. More on that in a later post.

And trust the British to come up with a comedy skit that perfectly demonstrates the "wow" factor of "The Internet" - this is how I currently see the internet being treated in schools and it needs to change. (Unfortunately I'm not able to embed the video, as the embedding has been disabled - but here's the link:)

"The Internet"