27.2: Going or Gone Mainstream

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“He that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils; for time is the greatest innovator”. – Francis Bacon

Blogs or the concept of blogging has been around for some time, with Sir Tim Berners Lee creating the first website in 1991, Dave Winer blogging in 1996, and John Barger coining the term ‘weblog’ in 1997. Since its first appearance, the blog or weblog has come a long way, not only being considered today as a creative medium to publish personal thoughts and observations, but as a means to fulfill other purposes for the users. It is now mainstream, used by many to replace Web pages, content management systems, and learning management systems.

Editable web spaces, free or at low cost, with no programming or design issues, are now enabling the educator to integrate technology into the learning experience without relying on the institution or company to decide to purchase, install and monitor systems. Blogs, together with wikis, are tools where student-directed learning can happen with students and educators sharing their learning responsibility. Blogs are relatively easy to use where the author can write the content, personalize the ‘look and feel’ of the blog and carry out constant updates with minimum hassle and knowledge of webbased applications.

The wiki coding was developed by Ward Cunningham in 1994 and he produced the first wiki in the following year. The word ‘wiki’ was inspired from “wikiwiki”, the Hawaiian word for quick. A wiki is a website which enables approved users to edit the content and lends itself perfectly to collaborative online learning, especially with geographically dispersed users. Another great advantage of wikis is the ability to revert back to previous versions of pages, as they are never lost but ‘stored’. Wikis are therefore ideal for workplace and learning cultures which encourage collaborative work but may not be appropriate for all learning environments. Again, the educator or trainer should assess the learning context and the learners’ needs first before choosing a technology or technologies to support the online learning.

The deployment of social media rich features in an online learning event implies not only a paradigm shift between the teacher and learner but also in the consequential control and usage of the features available within these social softwares.

As an educator, are you ready for the learners to take control and become co-teachers? Are you ready to be a co-learner in the learning process?