Literature review for the use of Web 2.0 tools in Education

Whilst education is different from both healthcare and private organisations, there is a lot in this literature review to get you thinking.  I was wowed by the comprehensive coverage of the technologies and the analysis of what might best be used when and where and by whom.  I started reading from the back - with the Appendices!



Introduction
Methodology
Changing
 technologies
The 
emergence 
of
 Web
2.0 
tools
A 
typology 
of 
Web
2.0 
tools
Changing
 learning 
and 
learners
Theories
 of 
learning
New 
forms 
of 
learning
Patterns
 of
 technology 
use
and 
the
 characteristics
 o f
learners
The
 changing
 role
 of
 teaching 
and 
teachers
Strategies 
for 
supporting 
the
 use 
of 
technologies
Barriers
 to 
uptake 
and 
lack 
of 
impact
Digital,
 networked
 and
 multi­literacies
Success
 factors 
and 
strategies 
for 
change
Contextual 
examples
Blogs,
 wikis 
and
 social
 tagging
Twitter.
Social 
networking.
Immersive 
environments 
and
 virtual
 worlds.
Summing
 up.
Conclusions
Appendices

Web 2.0 not role modelled is inauthentic

Anyone or any organisation that flies the flag of change management and improvement always has the difficult task of acting what they say, namely being a role model for what they espouse.  It is difficult to get right all the time and I certainly don't.

One positive example I have experienced is the Institute for Healthcare Improvement who, a while back, took on the challenge of improving their invoicing and payment system on the basis they couldn't teach others to do it unless they (a) were a good role model and (b) learnt from their own experience.

The worst of management consultancy is when concepts and theories from books are copied onto PowerPoint slides and then used to train others. Where the trainers have no experience of the content their audience will soon figure out the dissonance and leave the session - either physically or mentally.

In England we have a rash of NHS Improvement related organisations trying to get onto the social media bandwagon. I am all for it as I believe it is an essential tool for communicating and engaging with others. However, when the organisations involved have no official and monitored Facebook page, do not use blogs (as in few is any of their Executive Teams or Senior Staff use them), have never used a wiki, do not use RSS feeds themselves as part of their own learning, or never used a discussion forum in-house etc - then the exhortations and training comes across as inauthentic.

There are one or two NHS Improvement groups, like NHS Improvement, who are using Web 2.0 techniques to their advantage and I like the way they are starting with themselves and learning how to use them in-house, before going outside.  I am sure they will be excellent role models for the future.

New Tools Wiki - a stunning set of resources

The newtools workshop wiki is the most amazing set of resources I have come across for months - and those of you who know me well know that I don't use "most amazing" very often. I'm at a loss for words on how to describe it so you need to go and have a look for yourself.

Be prepared to spend some time exploring it...

Examples of social media to spread good practice in healthcare

I often get asked for real examples of what some people feel is theory only - basically, how are healthcare organisations using the variety fo social media possibilities to help creat/capture knowledge as well as transfer it / enable change. There are many of these - you can do your own searches and find things specific to you. I have listed below a few interesting ones:

a) Facebook: South Central Health Authority in England has an organisational profile on Facebook. Anyone can become a fan of the organisation (a novel thought in itself!) and then through Facebook - as a fan - I receive details of its public health campaigns (photos etc) and I have also been targetted through Facebook to answer a survey (which I then passed on to some of my Facebook friends).

b) at http://www.trainingpod.co.uk/ is an example of a hospital using audio podcasts to reduce training costs

c) Derby hospital in the England is handing out iPods preloaded with video instructions to their Radiology students as a means of enhancing the textbooks and the learning process http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7780647.stm

d) A good example of a wiki is one supported by the National Library for Health (UK) which is focused on developing support materials for the commissioning process http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7780647.stm ANyone can log in and add their twopennyworth and experience.

Social media is a practice not a theory...

Contributors, consumers and conduits of information

In the past few weeks I have been involved in a number of different virtual, web teaming activities most of which involve one or more of the following activities: the use of chat groups, uploading of documents to share, editing of a shared document using collaborative software, creation and editing of a wiki, telephone conference calling and webinars. It struck me through this process that the virtual world is no different to the face-to-face world. Some people are contributors, some are consumers and some are conduits.

There is a rule of thumb (rough, as I haven't found any research evidence to prove it) that for online chat groups you can expect around 1% of the signups to be active contributors in the sense they provide information, resources and editing effort, 10% to be participants in that they will discuss and use what is made available to them, while the rest, if they engage at all, will be passive. A small number of those who engage may also act as conduits of information for those outside of the participating system.

For online groups there are a number of techniques to improve and increase the rates of participation and good virtual facilitators and moderators will use these. Similarly in conference calls and other virtual web teaming tools there needs to be guidance and leadership to help those who may be unfamiliar with the techniques.

However, let's look at regular communication.

To spread good practice we need people who will contribute to the generation of new ideas, who will help adapt existing practices to new contexts. This takes effort. We also need conduits who pass information along. Then there needs to be willing consumers of the messages sent out. I'm not sure what to call those who are not contributors, conduits or comsumers - I know some people will fall into that category!

For the next project I'm working on in spreading good practice and encouraging others to adopt better ideas I'll do some analysis on how many and who we think in the specific system are contributors, conduits and consumers of the ideas. And then develop communication and action plans accordingly.

Creative Commons 2008 Sarah Fraser Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derviative