Web 2.0 and Authentic Learning

With the advent of "Web 2.0" technologies like wikis, blogs and podcasts, the scope of our students' personal learning networks(PLNs) have extended far beyond those that were available to prior generations. These technologies enable students not only to find an unlimited wealth of information, but also collaborate with an unlimited number of peers. Through this collaboration they can produce a work that is of more substance and significance than any single author could produce. "Literacy 2.0 recognizes that although there will always be varying levels of innovation, producing something truly new or original is impossible; all our cultural resources build on what's gone before. The success of sites like Fanfiction.net speak directly to the pleasure that many people obtain from working collaboratively to produce written texts that build on or remix existing texts"(Knobel & Wilber, 2009, p. 21).

David Warlick (2009) identifies three main kinds of PLNs: Personally maintained synchronous connections, these include instant discussion tools such as telephone, Skype and instant messaging; personally and socially maintained semisynchronous connections including Twitter and cell phone text messaging; and dynamically maintained asynchronous connections such as blogs, wikis, discussions, and podcasts(Warlick, 2009, pp. 13-14). These tools are freely available to our students, many of who already use at least one or two of these tools for social networking.

As Will Richardson (2009) points out, one challenge that our students face is that since these technologies are barely five years old, students and teachers of this decade are charged with discovering meaningful ways of leveraging them for learning. "Students will be—and to some extent already are—living in a world of online interactions for which they currently have few learning contexts or models. Like it or not, we must begin to prepare them for their connected futures online. To do that, we must be willing to embrace these new technologies in our own practice and add an important expectation for learning to our curriculums and classrooms—namely, that by graduation, students will be able to create, navigate, and grow their own personal learning networks in safe, effective, and ethical ways"(Richardson, 2009, p. 29).

This is where authentic learning fits in. By providing meaningful learning experiences that enable students to ask rich, meaningful questions of their PLNs students are able to define the terms of their own learning. They are able to collaboratively build personal meaning with peers on a global scale. These transparent and global discussions ultimately contribute to the shared knowledge of the community making the learning purposeful far beyond the scope of the classroom.

Authentic learning requires access to personal learning networks (PLNs). An authentic experience is about asking questions. Our PLNs define who we ask those questions of. This is the paradigm shift of the 21^st century. The challenge is not technological but pedagogical. How do we structure our learning so that students can make the best use of their already familiar PLNs? "Literacy 2.0 is grounded in achieving authentic purposes and completing meaningful tasks. Unfortunately, it doesn't mesh well with such practices as book reports, comprehension questions, leveled reading tasks, and weekly spelling tests that students are asked to do in school"(Knobel & Wilber, 2009, p. 23).

Knobel, M., & Wilber, D. (2009). Literacy 2.0:Let's Talk 2.0. Educational Leadership, 66(6), 20-24.

Richardson, W. (2009). Becoming Network Wise. Educational Leadership, 66(6), 26-31.

Warlick, D. (2009). Grow Your Personal Learning Network. Learning & Leading with Technology, 36(6).