Introduction

The current education system is based on a centuries-old linear model where students are taught with three methods: pointing to written media (books, chalkboard), oral and auditory learning (lectures, face to face discussion), and the instructor’s evaluation of the student’s written and visual expression of their understanding (essays, artifacts). 21st century technology has made it possible for students to have unprecedented access to increasing and expanding ways of communication online. The method of connection between and among pieces of information is not linear, but reticular, or web-like, with bits of information inter-connecting in multiple ways. Students absorb these technologies and methods at an increasingly early age and alarming rate. An education system that neglects to make use of these is not just missing an opportunity to make an impact on these children’s education, but is risking complete irrelevancy.

Researchers suggest that there is a discrepancy between how student use of technology socially and how it is used in school (Clark, Logan, Lucking, Mee & Oliver 2009). The question then becomes, how can students’ use of technology in school be valuable while still engaging and proportional to their use outside of school? The focus should shift beyond regulating access to technology to modeling its effective and appropriate use. Our challenge is to guide learners towards a more critical, reflective appropriation of these technologies. Closing the gap between the learner’s level of performance and the level of personal potential can be achieved by harnessing the social aspect of web 2.0 tools (Rimor, Rosen & Naser 2010).

Current learning theory emphasizes the collaborative and social aspect of learning with an emphasis on individuals constructing meaning through creating content that builds upon all group members’ contributions. Heafner and Friedman believe that Web 2.0 sites and software can encourage this paradigm shift as students actively contribute to the knowledge base of the Internet rather than passively receive content that is created and shared by others (2008). This is supported by the fact that limited technical skills are necessary to contribute to content; yet that contribution is a driving force behind increased student enjoyment and interest (Heafner & Friedman 2008).

“If young people are acquiring new and valuable skill sets in and through their interactions with Web 2.0 technologies, how can these usefully be introduced to more specific settings such as formal education?” ask Clark et al (2009). Web 2.0, although consistently defies a single definition, is, in it’s simplest terms, the ability to find, produce, and evaluate content on the Internet. It is, literally, information at your fingertips. Clark et al suggest a “transferability of skills between informal and formal settings” (2009). Communication is nearly constant for today’s adolescent and within this ever present hum lays the heart of learning, collaboration. Rimor et al state that “in the online environment, text has greater significance than in the traditional classroom,” (2010) so because communication is happening both synchronously and asynchronously, scaffolding the social context of interactive learning through cooperation and collaboration among participants benefits all those involved (2010). Clark et al describe the sense of ‘digital dissonance’ in formal learning settings as the tension around learners’ use of particular technologies in formal educational contexts (2009). Web 2.0 tools like wikis and Diigo can enhance secondary student learning by providing a safe environment that models, scaffolds, and facilitates reflective collaboration for an authentic audience.