Learning, unlearning, and
relearning: Using Web 2.0 technologies to support the development of lifelong
learning skills
Joanna C. Dunlap
School of Education and Human Development/
Center for Faculty Development
University of Colorado Denver
Denver, CO, USA
Patrick R. Lowenthal
CU Online / School of Education and Human Development
University of Colorado Denver
P.O. Box 173364
Denver, CO USA
ABSTRACT
Given ever-changing societal and professional demands,
lifelong learning is recognized as a critical educational goal. With
postsecondary students' increased demand for online learning opportunities and programs,
postsecondary educators face the challenge of preparing students to be lifelong
contributing members of professional communities of practice online and at a
distance. The emergence of powerful web 2.0 technologies and tools have the
potential to support educators' instructional goals and objectives associated
with students' professional preparation and the development of lifelong
learning skills and dispositions. In this chapter, we explain how postsecondary
educators can use the Web 2.0 technologies associated with blogging, social
networking, document co-creation, and resource sharing to create intrinsically
motivating learning opportunities that have the potential to help students
develop the skills and dispositions needed to be effective lifelong learners.
KEYWORDS
Lifelong learning, self-directed learning, metacognition,
metacognitive awareness, Web 2.0, Twitter, Facebook, blogging, social networks,
social networking, document co-creation, resource sharing, postsecondary Preprint:
To appear in E-infrastructures and technologies for lifelong learning: Next
generation environments.
Dunlap, J. C., & Lowenthal, P. R. (in press).
Learning, unlearning, and relearning: Using Web 2.0 technologies to support the
development of lifelong learning skills. In G. D. Magoulas (Ed.), E-infrastructures
and technologies for lifelong learning: Next generation environments.
Hershey, PA: IGI Global.2
INTRODUCTION
The world we live in is changing right before our eyes,
as well-illustrated by Dr. Michael Wesch's thought-provoking YouTube video,
"A Vision of Students Today" (see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o
). One basic point made in this video is that information and communication
technologies are drastically changing the world we live in, and institutions of
higher education are now scrambling to attend to these changes. Specifically,
universities are trying to adequately respond to a trifecta of emerging trends:
• Today's economy depends increasingly on employees who
are quick and efficient lifelong learners (Hinrichs, 2004). Employers are now
looking for employees who can think critically and solve a range of problems,
move easily from one task to another, work efficiently and effectively in team
situations, and constantly adjust and enhance their knowledge and skills to
meet everchanging needs (Casner-Lotto & Barrington, 2006; Dunlap, 2005).
• Post secondary education has been involved in a paradigm
shift from teacher-centered learning to student-centered learning (Barr &
Tagg, 1995; Boggs, 1999; Harden, 2000). This shift substitutes teacher-centered
learning’s goal of providing instruction through transfer of knowledge with student-centered
learning’s goal of producing learning through student discovery and
construction of knowledge (Barr & Tagg, 1995). Universities have been
encouraged to focus their strategies and resources on this paradigm shift in an
effort to make learning more meaningful and lasting for students.
• The post secondary audience is demanding more distance
and online learning opportunities (Grabinger & Dunlap, 2004; Ludwig-Hardman
& Dunlap, 2003). This demand is no longer based solely on geographic
obstacles and schedule constraints; many students report a preference to the online
learning format for a variety of reasons. For example, some students perceive
on-campus course experiences as high-pressure, uncomfortable, and even exclusionary
because of cultural differences, social class background, lack of facility with
the English language, age, and so on (Burbules & Callister, 2000a).
Additionally, because these students typically have full lives and busy
schedules with which to contend, they want what they want, when they want it:
(1) students expect their learning opportunities to be available immediately,
and (2) students need learning experiences that are directly applicable to
their needs and immediately transferable to their professional setting
(Grabinger & Dunlap, 2004). Reflecting
and in response to these specific trends, lifelong learning is increasingly
recognized as a critical educational goal. Lifelong learning is intentional
learning that people engage in throughout their lives for personal and
professional fulfillment to improve the quality of their lives (Dunlap &
Grabinger, 2003). The emergence of Web 2.0 technologies, and the participatory
culture it engenders, has great potential to support lifelong learning endeavors,
allowing for informal, just-in-time, day-to-day learning. Unfortunately, people
are often ill-equipped to engage in lifelong learning (Dunlap, 2005), let alone
take full advantage of the abundance of resources available at their fingertips
via Web 2.0 technologies. We believe
that post secondary educators preparing students for professions in this day and
age are obligated to help students develop into competent lifelong learners. In
this chapter, we will describe and present examples of how online technologies
are making just-in-time, at-your-fingertips lifelong learning a possibility.
More specifically, we will focus on how Web 2.0 technologies such as blogging
(e.g., using tools like Blogger or WordPress), microblogging/microsharing
(e.g., Twitter), social networking (e.g., Facebook, MySpace, Ning), document
co-creation (e.g., Google Docs), and resource sharing (e.g., Flickr, slideshare,
Delicious) can be used by post secondary educators to help students develop as
lifelong learners.
See: http://www.patricklowenthal.com/publications/LLLandWeb20preprint.pdf
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