The blog 'Net Gen Nonsense' is committed to exposing the myths surrounding the Net Generation. The latest post by Iain reports on the use of Web 2.0 technologies by staff and students (presumably at the University of Auckland). The result: they "are not making use of the web 2.0 tools in any great way in their personal lives".
This is not to deny that such tools can make a contribution to e-learning, just that they should not be sold as inevitable or compatible with how students prefer to collaborate. Pedagogy should always be the guiding factor - pedagogy in terms of applying educational interventions based on their actual effectiveness for teaching and learning, rather than a notion of student preference or technological progress. As more and more actual research is conducted, more and more doubt is cast on the optimism surrounding the Net Generation and the application of Web 2.0 in education. The bubble is bursting.
This is not to deny that such tools can make a contribution to e-learning, just that they should not be sold as inevitable or compatible with how students prefer to collaborate. Pedagogy should always be the guiding factor - pedagogy in terms of applying educational interventions based on their actual effectiveness for teaching and learning, rather than a notion of student preference or technological progress. As more and more actual research is conducted, more and more doubt is cast on the optimism surrounding the Net Generation and the application of Web 2.0 in education. The bubble is bursting.
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