Adrian Mee

Do Web 2.0 tools really open the door to learning? Practices, perceptions and profiles of 11–16‐year‐old students

In this paper, we report on survey and focus group data relating to the activities and perceptions of learning with Web 2.0 technologies of students aged between 11 and 16 years in 27 UK secondary schools. The study confirms that these learners had high levels of access to Web 2.0 technologies and that Web 2.0 activities were prolific. However, patterns of use were complex. The types of activity evidenced by the study suggest that learners can be categorised into four main groups: (1) researchers: mainly in terms of reading with little evidence of critical enquiry or analytical awareness; (2) collaborators: mainly with respect to file sharing, gaming and communicating; (3) producers and (4) publishers: mainly in terms of sharing experience through social networking sites. Whilst most expressed an interest in using online technologies to support familiar school activities, such as presentations or for communication, learners seemed cautious about other values associated with Web 2.0 tools, such as the shared construction of knowledge in a public format. Few learners were familiar with the complete spectrum of Web 2.0 activities and only a small number were engaging in more sophisticated activities, such as producing and publishing self‐created content for wider consumption. There was little evidence of groundbreaking activities and only a few embryonic signs of criticality, self‐management or metacognitive reflection. The paper concludes that these higher order thinking skills need to be encouraged and supported in any attempt to use Web 2.0 for learning in formal education.

The development of a system for supporting the lifelong learner

Given the rapidly changing skills needs of ‘post-industrial economies’, lifelong learning forms an integral part of government policy within the UK and abroad. However, like the UK, most economies are faced with the problem of how to reach those sections of the community that have traditionally not embraced learning and educational opportunities. In this paper, the development and evaluation of a system designed to address this problem is described. The Lifelong Learning in London for All (L4All) project has investigated the concept of ‘trails’ as a way of organising lifelong learning opportunities. The L4All pilot system combines a set of web services to provide the functionality needed to support this central idea. The development process was outlined, and the findings of an empirical study were used to confirm proof of concept.

E-learning funding for schools: a policy paradox?

The rise in UK government funding for information and communications technologies (ICTs) since 1997 has created a large capital infrastructure, which schools are required to support with their own funds. Simultaneously, both nationally and internationally, the model of self-managing schools gathers momentum. In the UK, the government supports the key principle of local management of schools, which points towards the leadership team and governors as the body best placed to make decisions on how funding will support school improvement. The complexity of policy formation with respect to e-learning funding in schools is further compounded by the requirement to address the needs of a range of stakeholders in the state and commercial sectors. This goal of this paper was to explore this potential paradox between centralised funding of school ICTs and local planning and decision-making. Five possible funding policy models were suggested and discussed, and key questions in relation to policy formation were identified.