Effective Strategies for Using Web 2

8/4/2019 Effective Strategies for Using Web 2

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Effective Strategies for Using Web 2.0 in Collaboration

with Content Areas in Secondary Schools

Bobbie B. Keenan

Gainesville, Georgia 30506

An Annotated Bibliography Submitted to:

Dr. D.A. Battle of Georgia Southern University

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for

EDUF 7130 Y01

July 17, 2010

Statesboro, Georgia


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Effective Strategies for Using Web 2.0 Tools in Collaboration

with Content Areas in Secondary Schools

After introducing several Web 2.0 tools to students at my school this past year, I

witnessed how powerful and motivating the collaborative process can be when technology is

used. The days of dreading group projects appeared to be over from my perspective, because

everybody wanted to participate. However, the teachers werent as convinced. In light of the fact,

that we are starting our first high school classes this year at my school, I feel it is imperative that

all the teachers at our school get on board and overcome their fear of change.

I would like to research the Web 2.0/Collaboration phenomenon and how other educators

in various subject areas are using it to motivate and inspire their students. I plan to share what I

learn with my colleagues to inspire them to use more collaborative Web 2.0 activities in their

content areas. I used the Academic Search Complete database to locate the articles relating to my

topic. The articles that I chose provide information that is not only relevant to my topic but

provides evidence that will help me pursue similar strategies to help the students and teachers I

work with become more open to working collaboratively with Web 2.0 tools inside as well as

outside the classroom.

Batane, T. (2002). Technology and student collaboration. T H E Journal, 30(3), 16.

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This article focused on a study conducted on secondary school students in Botswana to

determine whether or not integrating technology into the existing curriculum had any effect on
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the students ability to learn. The students were receptive to the use of computers and particularly

Web 2.0 tools that enabled them to communicate with other students from other countries. The

students became more enthusiastic about what they were learning, and there was a marked

increase in daily attendance as well. The integration of computers and Web 2.0 tools allowed

students to work collaboratively with teacher assisted instruction for guidance. Having the

ability to communicate as well as work with others outside their classroom to solve problems,

provided the students with a sense of control over their own learning and helped them feel more

confident about their futures.

Brown, C., & Dotson, K. (2007). Using digital primary sources: a success story in collaboration.

Teacher Librarian, 35(2), 29-33.



This article focused on teaching information literacy skills to twelfth graders through a

collaborative effort between students, their teacher and the school librarian. The goals of the

assignment were to enable the students to refine research questions, recognize facts, points of

view, opinion, and be able to collaborate with others by technological means to finalize the

assignment. The teacher and librarian were available to assist students by giving them feedback

that allowed them to refine their work as well as intervene when technological glitches would

arise. Overall, this activity proved successful. The collaborative approach of the teacher and

librarian proved informative as to how to approach similar assignments in the future.


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Davis, V. (2009). Influencing positive change: the vital behaviors to turn schools toward success.

Teacher Librarian, 37(2), 8-12.



This article defined behaviors that todays schools need to adopt to be successful. Success was

defined by providing students with a world class education that would be beneficial to them in

throughout their lives. At the core of these behaviors were technology and collaboration. The

article stated that while technology is a vital part of a todays education, its not so much about

the tools, but how the tools were used in the classroom. In addition, schools must allow teachers

the freedom to make choices as to how lessons were to be taught. This included being able to

teach beyond the classroom walls and collaborating with students and teachers in other schools

all over the world via Web 2.0 tools. Teachers must also keep themselves aware of the ever

evolving landscape of the Internet, and how to incorporate their knowledge into their curriculum,

as well as be flexible enough to allow the students to teach them on occasion.

David, C. (2007). Working the web. University Business, 10(4), 64-68.



This article discussed how Web 2.0 technology was designed to promote collaborative activities

for its users. Various Web 2.0 tools were discussed such as YouTube, social bookmarking tools,

and Wikis. The author pointed out that since the global workforce is seeking potential employees

that are capable of collaborating via numerous Web 2.0 technologies, it would be wise for

schools to integrate these skills into their curriculums. The article also mentioned numerous
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universities that have not only embraced the collaborative nature of Web 2.0 technologies

theyve also used these technologies to educate their student bodies as well as the Internet

community at large. Website links were provided for each of the universities mentioned to allow

the reader to further explore the possibilities of Web 2.0 collaboration.

Fontkhiaro, K. (2009). More than friendship.Knowledge Quest, 37(4), 64-67.



This article discussed how collaboration was a skill that needed to be learned. People are social

by nature, but that doesnt mean that they could successfully work together, in any medium,

without learning how to do so effectively. Sometimes the best collaborations resulted from

people working together who didnt know each other personally. As a result, they were able to

focus on the work, rather than being side tracked by social distractions. Collaborative lessons

could be designed that are structured so each member of a group had a specific role to play. This

balanced the workload of a larger project, but also allowed students to work independently.

AASL Standards for the 21stCentury Learnerwas also referenced as a way for educators to

integrate lessons of a collaborative nature into their curriculum, so collaboration wasnt the

exception but the norm for their students.

Sprenger, M. (2009). Focusing the Digital Brain.Educational Leadership, 67(1), 34-39.


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The article discussed the down side to students (digital natives) being overly technologically

connected, and how teachers could help them find a balance that would keep them connected

without leaving them isolated. While digital natives are experts at multitasking they run the risk

of losing the ability, or not even knowing, how to connect with people without a personal mobile

device or a Web 2.0 tool being involved. The article discussed seven strategies that teachers can

use to keep balance between their students cyber-life and their real life, without compromising

either, and even combining the two with effective learning results.

Vogel, C. (2009). A call for collaboration.District Administration, 45(5), 22-25.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_6938/is_5_45/ai_n31849206/

The article discussed how classroom learning was rapidly evolving from isolated activities that

required students to work alone, to collaborative assignments that allowed students to discover

their own strengths while learning from their peers. Much of this was due to the availability of

Web 2.0 tools. The ability to collaborate with others was a highly valued skill that will be

required for all members of the global workforce. The article cited several examples of how

collaboration in different content areas, via Web 2.0 tools, made learning more enjoyable and

effective. The article reinforced the theory that if students played an active role in the learning

process, they were more likely to retain information being taught.

Wang, Y. (2008). Collaborate to learn: a case study of technology-enhanced, collaborative

language learning.AIP Conference Proceedings, 1007(1), 189-198.

doi:10.1063/1.2937605.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_6938/is_5_45/ai_n31849206/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_6938/is_5_45/ai_n31849206/


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The focus of this article revolved around a case study that investigated how students responded

to a collaborative technology enhanced means of studying language. The point of the study was

to determine whether or not students could improve their learning abilities through the use of

collaborative and technological strategies. While the study was not conclusive due to the limited

amount of respondents, the data that was collected concluded that the students that participated

in the study were very enthusiastic about working collaborative through the use of technology,

with only a few draw backs. The issues students had with these methods of learning were the

occasional technical difficulties and lack of computer literacy that left some students at a

disadvantage. Overall, collaborating through technology enabled students to be more in control

of their own learning and motivated them to want to learn more.

Waters, J. (2008). In the driver's seat. T H E Journal, 35(6), 43-50.



The primary focus of this article was how Web 2.0 tools have made education a more student

driven environment. While some educators have shied away from the ever transforming world of

Web 2.0, others have embraced it fully with the use of a new generation of e-portfolio. The e-

portfolios discussed in this article not only allowed students to keep track of their best work

effort as they progressed, they also allowed others to collaborate with the students in a way that

helped them continually modify and perfect their e-portfolio. This technology combination was

not just geared at students, but could be used by professionals as well. Several software

companies were taking it further by including software packages in addition to the Web 2.0

capabilities that made various e-portfolio systems more attractive to potential users. The different


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options available to students made the potential for learning on their own terms a real possibility

in the very near future.

Implications for Applications to Educational Settings

When I originally started doing research for my topic, I envisioned finding articles with

tons of ideas that would provide me with various strategies on how to integrate collaborative

activities that require Web 2.0 tools into content areas. I was going to take all these new ideas

back to the teachers at my school, and show them it wasnt going to be as difficult as they

thought. Instead, I found that despite the fact that technology is evolving at a dizzying pace and

global employers are clamoring for workers that possess these skills, many educators are trying

to find a way to simply understand how some of the Web 2.0 tools work themselves or simply

avoid them altogether, which is exactly what is going on at my school. There were also plenty of

articles that were just trying to convince educators that technology and collaboration are

necessary requirements for the future of education. Some of the articles that I chose for my

original three AB resource assignment, I abandoned in favor of other articles that I felt would

better help me illustrate the need for to move forward with what I have already established at my

school.

One article, (Fontkhiaro, 2009), that I found after I started this paper really got me to

think about the process of collaboration and how it needs to be taught and structured to achieve

the desired results. Its not as simple as sitting down and working together with friends. The

article even points out that working with friends might not be the path to take for optimal results.

Another article that I thought was very insightful was the Sprenger (2009) article. This

article illustrated exactly why we have to approach digital native learners from a different


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perspective. Because they were basically born with technology in their blood, they dont learn

the way we and generations before us did. It is us up to us, as educators, to adapt to their

educational needs instead of us trying to change them to fit teaching methods that are rapidly

becoming ineffective as well as irrelevant. I plan to make a copy of this particular article and put

it in every teachers mailbox when we go back in a few weeks.

I started this assignment with the hope that it would help me in my endeavor to bring the

teachers in my school around to being more open to technologically collaborative teaching

methods, especially since were starting our high school this year. I believe that I have found

evidence that will assist me in the process it just wont be as straightforward as I had initially

hoped. However, these articles did open my eyes to potential problematic issues I had not

considered. In addition, through the articles I read, I was also directed to several extremely

helpful websites designed to teach educators how to use Web 2.0 tools without overwhelming

them. These websites alone will make my life much easier, and hopefully will benefit the

students and teachers at my school in the long run.

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