Case+2

=Case title - Web 2.0: Creating a classroom without walls = This case involved a teacher by the name of Tim Barlow in 2007. He teaches at St. Leonard's College in Melbourne, Australia. It details his quest to intrinsically motivate his students through the use of technology. He desired to jump into their world and reach them through the place where they spent an ample amount of time outside of school...the Internet. Tim knew the Internet was a bountiful resource and felt that its power should be tapped, essentially creating a classroom unbound with walls.
 * Case description : **

Tim's first attempt in this endeavor employed the use of a blog. He was excited and was certain that his students would take advantage of the opportunity to interact in this new setting. He posted traditional information, such as course content, on the blog and anticipated discussions. However, he later realized that there was no aspect of his blog that enticed students to become motivated learners. Students were still spending time on the Internet, but his blog could not compete with the social networking the students were drawn to. Tim describes this first attempt as a "failure."

Tim's second attempt involved the development on a unit called "Life Long Learning" which he posted to his blog. He made visiting the web page a part of their assessment, yet gave them freedom of choice once they got there. Through this "choice," students were able to become more responsible for their learning. They were motivated by the fact that they seemed to be in charge and could make decisions regarding //what// they learned. Since the unit was posted to the blog, students were able to comment on and share what they were currently learning. There was still an extrinsic factor at work here, as the student work was assessable. Intrinsic motivation was Tim's goal, and he strove to build a site that took students beyond the walls of the traditional classroom. He began regularly uploading new information of things going on around the world, things that he hoped would peak student interest. Using the links Barlow posted, students were able to move about with ease, exploring topics of interest to them. He states there was "plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest that my web site was intrinsically motivating students to learn more about science." Examples he gave included overhearing and engaging in student conversations involving the material and the fact that students would come ask him questions about the material. Gradually, the number of hits on the blog increased and grew to impressive numbers.

Tim also incorporated podcasting into his Web 2.0 quest. He noticed that students spent a lot of time listening to iPods, and felt that he could tap that resource as well. He began recording blips about the "bunch of interesting stuff" he had on his blog. As with the blog, he began to notice a buzz within the student population. He considered this to be positive results when evaluating the validity of the podcasts.

In conclusion, Tim felt that his efforts produced stimulating and creative employment of Web 2.0 technologies. Student engagement was sparked by the real-world, relevant, current, ever-changing content of his blog and podcasts. This strategy built Tim's dream of a classroom without walls.

This case could prove useful for teachers because it relates a teacher's actual experience in the classroom using a blog and podcast. A strength of this case was providing the information about the unsuccessful use of a classroom blog, then comparing it to a successful blog with the necessary changes, thus helping teachers to identify real life problems. We are led to try changing what does not work into something that does work. A weakness in this case is it lacks measurements that would validate the use of such tools. Did test grades improve along with participation? We suggest evaluating students' learning along with participation and reporting those results.
 * Case Evaluation:**


 * References: **Barlow, Tim (2008). Web 2.0: Creating a classroom without walls. Teaching Science - The Journal of the Australian Science Teachers Association, 54, 46-48.