Final Report-21st Century Curriculum Content

© Copyright 2010 University of Southern Queensland

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Introduction 

Collaborative web technologies, particularly so-called "Web 2.0" technologies enable new approaches to learning and engagement for learners. The promise of Web 2.0 for education is the potential to create dynamic, interactive, communities of learners, hosting content and systems in the "cloud", available anywhere.

To fully realise such goals, a number of technical and cultural challenges need to be addressed including for example improving digital literacy of learners and teachers, addressing duty of care obligations, integrating collaborative web based functionality into learning and teaching practice, and providing suitable hardware and software and infrastructure. In Australia, as in the rest of the world, these issues are being grappled with in schools, jurisdictions and nationally.

This report is focused on two specific aspects of incorporating Web 2.0 technologies into learning and teaching; the nexus between Web 2.0 collaborative functionality and the e-learning content that is already widely used in Australian schools, and the issue of safe use of Web 2.0 functionality. This focus is based on the priorities set out in the National Interoperability and Digital Architecture Advisory Group's (NIDAAG) 21 Century Learning work plan.

Activity scope 

The original scope of this activity, as defined in the Technical Standards for Digital Education work plan was as follows:

Support schools sector use of "safe" Web 2.0 content

This is a broad topic and requires some further unpacking, as Web 2.0 is a term that can be broadly interpreted. From an Australian schools perspective and with the assistance of a national focus group, we have focused on the relationship between e-learning content, and Web 2.0 functionality that enables learners and teachers to interact and collaborate with others.

The term "safe" also requires further elaboration. In general, the focus group determined that this meant a reasonable level of safety, which addressed duty of care obligations and concerns around young learners online. Variances in the interpretation of what this means in practice reflect the diversity of approaches to technology in schools between and within jurisdictions.

Methodology

The following activities were undertaken while investigating this topic:

Gather requirements for Web 2.0 curriculum content

A survey of the focus group members was undertaken to identify trends, applications and approaches for using Web 2.0 collaborative functionality.

Identify standards for Web 2.0 curriculum content 

The project team participated in international standards forums, particularly IMS Global to identify current and emerging practice in this space.

Survey of focus group members

A survey of focus group members was undertaken to identify current trends in Web 2.0 usage in jurisdictions and to provide a starting point for subsequent focus group discussions.

Develop a demonstrator showing how standards based Web 2.0 curriculum content can be embedded within a learning environment   

Demonstrator content was developed which specifically considered how Web 2.0 collaborative functionality could be embedded into curriculum content, and deployed in a learning environment.

Document outcomes and make recommendations

The outcomes of this activity are outlined in this report.

Challenges

There are a number of challenges to incorporating Web 2.0 collaborative functionality into learning and teaching processes. A number of common themes became apparent from the focus group survey and subsequent discussions:

Networks and firewalls

During the initial research and survey of focus group members, computer network restrictions, lack of permissions to install required software or plug-ins, and firewalls present a significant barrier to the uptake of Web 2.0 functionality, particularly for services that are provided on the open web. Implementations of firewalls or website/service blocking (particularly inconsistent or ad hoc approaches) reduces uptake of web-based technologies, services and applications. Some jurisdictions are attempting to address these issues by hosting and providing collaborative tools that are accessible to teachers and learners from within school/jurisdiction networks.

Professional development

Although teacher professional development is not a focus of this piece of work, our investigation indicates that it can be a significant barrier to the use of technology in education generally, and for the integration of Web 2.0 collaborative tools specifically. Cultural change can be difficult to facilitate because of a range of complex factors including for example busy schedules, lack of confidence or knowledge using technology, or a lack of suitable support ¹.

Selection of appropriate tools

There is an explosive range of tools and services on the web that are of potential value to learners and teachers. There are also numerous guides and recommendations that are published to help teachers select tools that might be appropriate for their pedagogical aims. In the UK, BECTA also publishes guidelines on utilising Web 2.0 tools specifically from a schools perspective, which discusses issues such as duty of care and appropriate use. Given the recent demise of BECTA, these resources may not continue to be maintained, however they are valuable resources that could potentially be repurposed for Australian schools. The Focus Group looking at 21stC Learning Environments also make recommendations on accessing Web2.0 resources and functionality while being cognisant of duty of care issues.

Security and duty of care

Closely related to selecting appropriate tools for use with learners, duty of care for learners, and therefore security of web-based collaborative functionality remains a concern for many key stakeholders including teachers, parents, government and learners themselves.

Access and identity management

Discussions in the focus groups again indicated diversity in approaches to access and authentication between jurisdictions, and sometimes also at the school level. As recommended to DEEWR previously ², a trust federation approach in the schools sector would offer improved opportunities for sharing services and facilitating teachers and learners to collaborate online across schools/jurisdictions.

Research and investigation

The focus group discussions and group survey provided a glimpse of current trends and practice in utilising Web 2.0 collaborative functionality. In some jurisdictions, Web 2.0 collaborative functionality available to teachers is hosted by the jurisdiction (notably Queensland, the forthcoming Ultranet in Victoria, and the NSW DET Connected Classrooms program) whereas in other cases, hosting of such services (often via an LMS) would happen at the local school level, or perhaps not at all.

A wide range of Web 2.0 style tools are being used in schools, with commonly mentioned approaches including podcasting, forums, blogs, wikis, chat, twitter, Flickr, video (YouTube/TeacherTube) and Facebook.

IP and copyright was clearly flagged by focus group participants as being a perennial issue in the digital domain. This work is not yet published. Possible reasons given include lack of teacher awareness or understanding of IP/copyright good practice, enforcement of IP/copyright policies that were developed for hardcopy content. IPPTAG, Intellectual Property and Privacy in Technology Advisory Group have commissioned work to address these issues including a project in 2009 to simplify copyright for teachers using an educational copyright matrix.

Approaches to security and duty of care issues

There is a massive and often bewildering range of web based tools, functionality and services available to teachers for use with learners. Selecting appropriate tools can be a difficult task. Addressing security and duty of care obligations can be a significant barrier to adoption of Web 2.0 tools. The types of risks from using web-based resources, services and collaborative environments can vary from relatively minor annoyances to serious risks. Table 1 is reproduced from the EU Kids Online report ³, which provides a useful framework for considering risks and opportunities for young learners online. This approach categorises cases where the learner is the recipient, participant and actor (or initiator).

Table 1: A classification of online opportunities and risks for children

From: Livingstone, S, and Haddon, L (2009) EU Kids Online: Final report. LSE, London: EU Kids Online. (EC Safer Internet Plus Programme Deliverable D6.5)

So-called Cyberbullying can be a serious issue, and jurisdictions, schools and teachers need to have strategies to address and deal with bullying behaviour online.

In considering potential risks, a further distinction can be drawn between using web-based services that are hosted by a trusted source (such as a school or jurisdiction government), and those available on the web, as described in Table 2.

Table 2: Web-based and hosted Web 2.0 tools

* Hosted by a trusted organisation eg. Federal/jurisdiction government, or school

Integrating e-learning content with Web 2.0 functionality

A key focus of this activity was to identify ways of utilising Web 2.0 collaborative functionality with e-learning content. As such, this activity evaluated an emerging technical specification that enables e-learning content and collaborative Web 2.0 functionality and services to be more closely integrated.

The specification, called IMS Common Cartridge (IMS CC), was developed by IMS Global as a way of packaging and deploying e-learning content and was developed with input from commercial publishers. An IMS CC cartridge is a portable package of content that can be imported and deployed into software such as a Learning Management System (LMS). It is similar in nature to the technical specifications used to describe and package e-learning content used by The Learning Federation project in the schools sector and the Toolbox project in VET, but promises more functionality.

To investigate the potential benefits of this specification for integrating Web 2.0 collaborative functionality with e-learning content, we took a number of existing schools-focused e-learning resources and redeveloped them using the IMS CC specification. Related lesson plans identified numerous opportunities for collaboration, however the original content did not supply such functionality, and the implicit assumption was that collaboration would happen off-line.

The IMS CC specification enabled us to integrate Web 2.0 functionality more easily into the learning content, however there were a number of barriers to wider adoption of the specification. At this stage, the most significant barrier to wider implementation of this approach in schools is the current lack of software tool support for teachers and developers, although this situation seems to be improving.

Although not directly related to the IMS CC specification itself, the issue of longevity of links to web-based services needs further consideration. The access control functionality in the specification may be useful for supporting teachers to control learner access to web based content and services when using a LMS, however, it does not protect the content or services themselves, and access and authorisation concerns would still need to be addressed separately.

Conclusions 

The Digital Education Revolution aims to fundamentally change learning and teaching practice in schools. To fully realise this aim, coordinated national approaches to utilising technology in learning and teaching practices would be of benefit. Such work is already happening in jurisdictions, however from a national perspective these approaches are diverse. It is clear that collaborative Web 2.0 technologies have the potential to enable new ways of learning, teaching and collaboration across schools, jurisdictions and beyond.

A number of barriers to implementing web-based collaborative approaches were identified in this report:

• Networks and firewalls
• Professional development
• Selection of appropriate tools
• Security and duty of care
• Access and identity management

This report focused on two specific aspects of incorporating Web 2.0 technologies into learning and teaching; the nexus between Web 2.0 collaborative functionality and the e-learning content that is already widely used in Australian schools, and the issue of safe use of Web 2.0 functionality.

Recommendations

1. Coordinating approaches to Web 2.0 technologies in Australian schools nationally

If a more coordinated national approach to encourage the use of Web 2.0 technologies is sought by jurisdiction and Federal governments, a national group with jurisdictional representation should be tasked with the responsibility for addressing and resolving barriers to the use of Web 2.0 technologies in schools. It is recommended that a suitable existing group be given this responsibility, rather than establishment of a new group. This group should address these initial tasks:

• Review existing resources and advice provided by jurisdictions
• Existing information on using Web 2.0 technologies is provided by jurisdiction governments and local schools to teachers and learners. This information should be reviewed for consistency and consolidated.

• Review international published good practice guidance
• A concurrent and related review of good practice guidance, particularly the resources developed by the European Union and BECTA referenced in this document should be undertaken. Contextualisation for the Australian schools sector should be considered.

• Identify opportunities for coordinating access and identity management approaches nationally
• Collaboration between learners, teachers and schools across jurisdictions could be better enabled if jurisdiction-based access and identity management approaches were better coordinated. Enabling learners and teachers trusted access to services and functionality hosted nationally or by other jurisdictions would facilitate greater web-based collaboration opportunities in schools.

2. Disseminating trial outcomes to e-learning content collection managers

The outcomes of the IMS Common Cartridge trial conducted as part of this activity to explore approaches for integrating e-learning content and Web 2.0 collaborative functionality should be disseminated to key school sector stakeholders for noting, particularly:

• National content
• Education Service Australia maintains The Learning Federation collection of schools-focused e-learning content

• Jurisdiction content
• Those responsible for jurisdiction-owned collections of e-learning content

• VET in schools content
• The VET sector’s Toolbox repository (which is of relevance for VET in schools in learners)

The Technical Standards for Digital Education project is funded by the Australian Government's Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR).

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