Web 2.0 in Peer Learning

項婷婷

Abstract：With the advent of Web 2.0 technology， people all over the world have the Internet at their finger tips， which can execute communicative acts with little or no difficulty. As the Internet is becoming extremely popular， students nowadays spend much longer time on the Internet， social media included. Since Web 2.0 is having profound influence on learning， and is yielding promising results， then there is a strong possibility that it will have a significant impact on peer learning. Bearing in mind the afore-mentioned， this paper is aiming to discuss the impact of Web 2.0 in peer learning.

Key Words：Web 2.0， peer learning， a collaborative medium， education strategy， computer-assisted language learning（CALL）

Introduction

As the development of web 2.0 technology， the use of computer and its tools has become a new means for shaping communication processes. Web 2.0 is about revolutionary new ways of creating， collaborating， editing and sharing user-generated content online. It is also about ease of use. With the help of social media， including Facebook， Twitter， My Space， Tagged， Google Plus， and Hi5， students can access the useful resources anytime and anywhere， at their own convenience.

Since web 2.0 tools are becoming more popular among the students， they write on blogs， upload photos and videos， build personal profiles and interact with each other everyday. They all have their My space and Facebook accounts and this makes it easier for the teachers to use this technology at schools because the students are also familiar through their own experiences and they are already motivated to use the.

There are many advantages of Web 2.0 in education. First of all， it is collaborative， which can allow students to create social networks and communities of interests. Whats more， it promote student-centered learning， which means the students would become the producer of the knowledge， letting the students to share their work with other audience. Additionally， it creates freedom and independence in learning which we cannot find in our traditional education systems. As Internet is available 24/7 and this encourages our students to share information to a greater extent. It also reminds us that learning is not only limited to school boundaries and teachers.

The challenge of web 2.0 is how to combine these new features with web 2.0 tools to make pedagogical practices more effective， which can promote peer learning.

What is Web 2.0？

As the World Wide Web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee said， Web was “a collaborative medium， a place where we could all meet and read and write”.（Berners-Lee， 2012， Richardson， 2009）

Web 2.0 describes World Wide Web sites that emphasize user-generated content， usability， and interoperability.

A Web 2.0 site may allow users to interact and collaborate with each other in a social media， including social networking sites， blogs， wikis， folksonomies， and video sharing sites and so on.

Unlike Web 1.0， which is a one-way medium， Web 2.0 is a two-way medium， representing the next phase of usage of the internet， and a change that has people making a comparison to the advent of the printing press--in Web 2.0 almost anyone can become a publisher， or a “content producer.” In Web 2.0 the creation of material or information on the Web is as much a part of our experience as the finding or reading of data has been in Web 1.0. And in Web 2.0 the content created by regular users can be much， and sometimes almost all， of the value from a website.

Web 2.0 is about revolutionary new ways of creating， collaborating， editing and sharing user-generated content online. Its also about ease of use. Theres no need to download， and teachers and students can master many of these tools in minutes. Technology has never been easier or more accessible to all.

Web 2.0 in education

Currently， Web 2.0 programs are rapidly becoming tools of choice for a growing body of educators， who are discovering that they provide compelling teaching and learning opportunities.

Web 2.0 could allow for more collaborative education. For example， blogs give students a public space to interact with one another and the content of the class. A lot of educators， in various fields， would like to share their research knowledge or their interests in social media， aiming to express their own ideas as well as communicate with the students.

Currently， youth depend on social networking sites like MySpace， Facebook， and Bebo for socializing--which are actually just frameworks filled almost completely with user-created content.

To be honest， in order to meet the youths need for grasping new knowledge， Web 2.0 is definitely a good way for education. There have already been a lot of youth or more experienced citizens joining in this new area to give the knowledge of the fields they are good at. They would write down their information on blog， sharing with the other people， friends or strangers. Plus， they would also shoot some videos， movies， as well as documentary to show their point of view， in a normal or critical way. For the audiences， they would grasp some latest information as well as comment on the social media， which would help people interact with the author （educator included）， thus all people can learn a lot from absorbing different ideas.

As Web 2.0 tools in education gain wider adoption， they look less and less like a passing fad. They are so popular because these programs encourage collaboration and engagement resonates so highly with the pedagogical aspirations of teachers who are trying to meaningfully involve every student in something that is personally engaging for him or for her.

There are truly many merits of Web 2.0 learning. Firstly， it can help educators discover the powerful learning potential they hold for themselves. Moreover， it can find examples of how other educators are using them in the teaching procedure. In addition， it can help people connect with other educators who provide a virtual support community as they begin to implement new practices.

As Web 2.0 is brought into the teaching process， the very nature of studentS work changes. When a students work is seen， and commented on， and collaboratively enhanced by a larger participative audience， those students are drawn into extended educational “conversations.” In this way the relationship of the student to ideas and content are no longer constrained to the narrow avenue of interaction with their teachers， but they are suddenly interacting with their peers and others in the discovery， exploration， and clarification of knowledge. Sometimes that may appropriately just be with an audience of their immediate classmates. Sometimes it can appropriately be with students and others all over the world. But either way， it involves the students in a very proactive learning environment.

Whats Peer Learning？

Peer learning is an educational practice in which students interact with other students to attain educational goals.”（ODonnell， 1999）

Educational Psychology Professor Alison King explains in “Promoting Thinking Through Peer Learning”（Alison，2002） that peer learning exercises as simple as having students explain concepts to one another are proof of social constructivism theory at work； the act of teaching another individual demands that students “clarify， elaborate on， and otherwise reconceptualize material.” Joss Winn， Senior Lecturer in Educational Research at the University of Lincoln， proposes that schools radically redefine the teacher-student relationship to fit this constructivist theory of knowledge in his December 2011 paper， “Student as Producer” （Joss， 2011）.

Based on the work of Bandura and colleagues， social learning theory claims that modelling is an important component of the learning process. In the most basic sense， people observe behaviour taking place and then go on to adopt similar behaviour. Participants require the opportunity to practice modelled behavior and positive reinforcement if it is to be adopted successfully. （Bandura， 1977）

Integrating technology is not putting computers in the classroom without teacher training. Technology should be used effectively and efficiently to allow students to learn how to apply computer skills in meaningful ways.

Take Mainland China as an example， these 10-20 years， China has experienced a boom of study abroad. Students in Mainland China would like to pass the international exams， including IELTS， TOEFL， GRE， SAT. With the great help of Web 2.0 era， students and teachers nowadays can have easier assess to the updated information all over the world. Students in China who are preparing to take the test the study abroad can closely connected with the students who have already passed the exam and currently studying in top schools. They can share the precious and useful experiences in various social media， facebook， blog， wechat， online forum included. Learning is not always about students and teachers， but among the peers as well. We cannot deny the fact the education nowadays should not be teacher-oriented. Students-centered is the best way to stimulate and motivate students to learn. Peer education is in an upward trend.

How to apply Web 2.0 in Peer Learning

In order to make full use of Web 2.0 to contribute a lot to the peer learning， some related and useful technology tools should be invented， tested and applied to satisfy the students who can learn from each other with the help of Internet. For my part， nowadays， there are many ways that could really do good to the students or adults as well.

First， nowadays， in Shenzhen Middle School， a lot of English teachers would recommend students to practice Oral English online， and then the system would give the scores according to the students performance. Not only the teachers， the classmates at the same school can see others scores， which may to some extent motive students to take an active part in the practice exercise， and try to learn something from other students. For the teachers， it can also help release their pressure and increase the class efficiency. Also， with this system， the teacher is also able to differentiate for strengths and interests of students thus making work more engaging （Schrum & Solomon， 2007）.

Apart from academic learning， others skills learned among peers are also gaining the popularity. For instance， working out is another useful learning that happen among peers. People can learn from others through Internet， videos， apps and sharing sites included. It is not only time-saving， but also efficient and interesting to have so many people who have the same interest.

Plus， thanks to the Web 2.0， students can gain knowledge from all over the world in a minute， without traveling to the other countries to make friends and experience different cultures. By a lot the websites， they can make good friends and learn from each other conveniently and comfortably. For example， they can find a lot of peers who have the same interest， same troubles， same dreams to enrich our life.” We participate， therefore we are （Seely Brown， 2008）.” The open source community engenders a social learning infrastructure that promotes planning and problem solving by providing the framework for real-world practices and examples. The social view of learning follows the cycle of attention， retention， reproduction， and motivation. Web 2.0 applications enable a tutorial-based educational system that fosters motivation among cohorts through continuous editorial support and group critiques （Suresh， 1996）.

Challenges in Web 2.0 Peer Learning

As Web 2.0 learning environments progress， concerns regarding effects on literacy， the accuracy of web resources， and the synthesizing of definitions evolve. K-12 teachers question if this learning format allows for memorizing. Premature judgement due to lack of verbal discussions can emerge （Franklin， 2007）.

There are many demerits of Web 2.0 in peer learning. To begin with， cyber bullying （Shariff， 2008） is a drawback or Web 2.0 leaning. The statistics of cyber bullying show its significance in todays learning. According to iSAFE， 58% of kids admit someone has said mean or hurtful things to them online， and 40% of these had it happen more than once （i-SAFE， 2009）， which may require the parents and teachers to have adequate knowledge and awareness of the important of online security. For example， the students should not let everyone know their email accounts， school name， addresses， or any other information which could make them personally identifiable. Students must also obtain permission before using intellectual property （audio， text， video， images， etc.） of others， unless they can clearly explain and justify fair use under copyright laws. The importance of consent for recording others for use in online broadcasts must also be considered （Shamburg， 2009）.

Secondly， Web 2.0 in peer learning may result in a waste of time for students who are addicted to the comments and too many conversations with other people. It is understandable that people like interaction， but it should be the excuse for some students who just chat or express their negative points of view on the Internet， which may exert a bad influence on the students who are not mature enough. Telling students time management and self-control is another concerning question.

Additionally， Web 2.0 in peer learning is likely to expose the students to the real world， which means some students would have access to much information， negative or positive. Some students who are lack of self-control may go astray easily. For those who can be distracted by the other information ， it is hard for them to focus on the study， which is a waste of time. In order to take full advantage of the technology， some decent and useful apps or software should be produced. Whats more important， nowadays， the software are always very commercial， with a lot of various advertisement on it， which may give a clue to the students that we are living in a commercial city. Some students may gain negative influence from it. Consequently， the government as well as the social media should make a joint effort together to provide a better learning for the students.

Conclusion

With the arrival of Web 2.0 tools and course management systems， educators have been provided with endless opportunities to integrate easy-to-use technology into the classroom. Students can have many ways to grasp knowledge from the Internet， which is beneficial for peer learning.

These Web 2.0 tools cultivate students critical thinking and problem solving skills， allowing students to collaborate with their fellow classmates or students around the world and offer students a better way to engage in their learning.

However， determining whether or not technology has clear benefits and positively impacts the learning environment remains a debatable question. There are still some challenges of Web 2.0 in peer learning. （下轉頁）

（上接頁） For me， I deem that there are many ways to make the web 2.0 tool more effective in leaning. Firstly， more useful web 2.0 tools should be designed individually to meet students need at any age. If the tools are not designed perfectly and effectively， they may do harm to the students leaning process. In addition， the teachers should be trained regularly to accept the innovative learning methods. If the teacher can not improve their teaching styles， the students would be less likely to engage in the class， let alone study outside the classroom. More importantly， more researches and reflections should be made to help make this creative learning method get better.

What is apparent is that Web 2.0 tools are a trend in the educational world that will be around for a long time and will play an increasingly significant role in the future.

References：

[1] Alison King， Promoting Thinking Through Peer Learning，2002

[2] Bandura， A. （1977） Social Learning Theory. Prentice-Hall， Englewood Cliffs， NJ.Main， D. S. （2002）. Commentary：Understanding the effects of peer education as a health promotion strategy. Health Education and Behaviour， 29（4）， 424-426. doi：10.1177/109019810202900403

[3] ”Berners-Lee on the read/write web”. BBC News. 2005-08-09. Retrieved 2012-08-05.

[4] Franklin， Tom and van Harmelen， Mark. “Web 2.0 for Content for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education.” 28 May 2007. http：//staff.blog.ui.ac.id/harrybs/files/2008/10/web-2- for-content-for-learning-and-teaching-in-higher-education.pdf.

[4] Joss Winn， Student as ProducerAlison King， Promoting Thinking Through Peer Learning

[5] ODonnell， A. M.； A. King （1999）. Cognitive perspectives on peer learning. Lawrence Erlbaum. ISBN 0805824480.

[6] Richardson， Will （2009）. Blogs， Wikis， Podcasts， and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms （2nd ed.）. California：Corwin Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-1-4129-5972-8.

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[8] Seely Brown， John ， and Richard Adler. “Minds on Fire：Open Education， the Long Tail， and Learning 2.0 （EDUCAUSE Review） | EDUCAUSE.”EDUCAUSE Review. Version vol. 43. no 1. pg 16-32. EDUCAUSE， 1 Jan. 2008. Web. 7 Dec. 2009.

[9] Shamburg， Christopher. Student-Powered Podcasting. Eugene， OR：International Society for Technology in Education， 2009. Print

[10] Shariff. （2008）. Cyber-Bullying：Issues and Solutions for the School， the Classroom and the Home （1 ed.）. New York：Routledge. Style guide - Wikipedia， the free encyclopedia. （n.d.）. Wikipedia， the free encyclopedia. Retrieved December 9， 2009， from http：//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Style_guide

[11] Suresh Kumar ， Vivekanandan. “ Why Collaborative Learning？.” Department of Computer Science. University of Saskatchewan ， 2 Apr. 1996. Web. 9 Dec. 2009.

（作者單位：深圳市佩吉教育咨詢有限公司）