The good, the blog, and the wiki

From WikiEducator
Jump to: navigation, search

The good, the blog and the wiki

Steve Wheeler Plymouth University, UK

In this presentation I will critically evaluate the associations between pedagogy and assessment, and explore some of the issues surrounding learning in the digital age. The adoption and rapid proliferation of social media in all sectors of education has prompted some changes in the way teaching is being conducted. Students are now creating, organising and sharing their own content as an extension to that which they are offered in traditional programmes of study. User generated content of all types and in all modes is being developed and shared across many open platforms, and this phenomenon is changing the landscape of traditional forms of education, extending learning beyond the classroom in new and creative ways. Whilst such practices are creative and enable students to engage more deeply, this new liberty may also create new tensions between teaching and learning. The title of this presentation then, exposes some of the good, the bad and the ugly elements of these social media practices and asks how we can evaluate and value such student generated contributions to education.