Blog Summary and Review

I found the opportunity to read other people’s reflections on their learning interesting and stimulating. The process of collaborating with others through making comments and reviewing blogs made me think more deeply about the concepts I was engaging with.
I have made comments on the following blogs:
Higher Education in Web 2.0 World - http://ed6114charlenesblog.blogspot.com
Digital Natives Debate - http://annesictblog.blogspot.com
Analysis of Learning Styles - http://ejournalbyroselynn.blogspot.com/
ICT current trends - http://ictteachinglearning.blogspot.com/ (Lea)

I have chosen to review Salima and Roselynn’s blogs.
Roselynn’s blog about Higher Education in a Web 2.0 world identified the challenges facing lecturers including developing new technological skills, ensuring that learning is collaborative and understanding the students who are our target audience. Salima too identified these challenges and also reflected on the importance of using technology meaningfully and ensuring that the necessary skills are taught and practiced.
Roselynn challenged the idea that the was such a thing as a digital native but still agreed that the characteristics of 21st century learners and 21st employability skills both require a more collaborative style of teaching and learning. Salima also identified these skills and, like Roselynn, emphasised that students are not simply born with technological and collaborative skills but must be explicitly taught them with opportunities given for scaffolded practice.
Both Roselynn and Salima identified many strategies that could be used to ensure that learning was delivered in the preferred mode of the students. Both discussed how these different strategies could be employed through the learning process so all students were catered to in some way.
In the discussion about current trends in ICT Salima reflected on an interesting dilemma she faced. In one group of students she planned a collaborative approach but her students actually preferred a more didactic approach. To overcome this she skilled up her students in more collaborative approaches but also developed her confidence as a lecturer so she was more comfortable delivering the information they needed. Roselynn discussed an interesting article titled “Coping with a Revolution: Will the Internet Change Learning?" by Neil D Fleming from Lincoln University. She discussed his contention that there has always been more information than an individual could handle and therefore the information skills a learner needs have not changed. His other contention is that the primary role of universities is that of a producer of knowledge and ICT does not change that role.
Both Salima and Roselynn identified a number of challenges impacting on learning delivery in a Web 2.0 world. They also provided a number of teaching strategies that will hopefully overcome these challenges.

http://elearningbysalima.blogspot.com/
http://ejournalbyroselynn.blogspot.com/