Unit+Plan

=Web 2.0 Consortium - Instructional Design Unit Plan=

by Anna Baralt and Wendy Drexler ESE 6939

__Educational Goals for Web 2.0 Consortium:__
The purpose of this project is to create a consortium of teachers and administrators who will research new Web 2.0 resources, evaluate their appropriateness at different levels, and collaborate on innovative curriculum design. The project is taking place at a K12 independent school in St. Petersburg, Florida. The project seeks to provide a resource of information about social networking for classroom teachers and administrators. It will also create a more democratic process for evaluating social networking sites and their potential use.

__**Rationale:**__
Web 2.0 represents a more collaborative, interactive Internet where individuals can easily share and contribute to global conversations. This new web offers so many opportunities for educational applications, but schools are challenged by resistance to change, the rate at which new tools are emerging, network security issues, and Internet safety concerns. Despite this challenges, research indicates that K12 students have embraced Web 2.0 and are active using these tools in their private lives.

It would be impossible for just one or two teachers to stay abreast and evalute all of these resources alone. By establishing a consortium, more individuals are available to assess these tools, examine options, and consider their potential use in the classroom. In addition, the consortium will provide a relatively safe and non-threatening learning environment where teachers and administrators can work collaboratively. Consideration of potential threats to network security and Internet safety is built into the evaluation process.

__Description of Learners:__
The primary target learner will be K12 teachers and administrators who volunteer to participate in the consortium. The audience will consist of learners with varying levels of experience using technology. Most have not had experience with Web 2.0 tools.

Primary Audience
• K12 Teachers • Instructional Technologists • Administrators

Secondary Audience
• Systems Administrators • Media Specialist • Guidance Counselors • Pre-K Teachers


 * **Experiential Background:** || * K12 teachers have between 1 and 25 years of teaching experience.
 * Administrators include a lower division, middle division, and upper division head, curriculum deans in each division, and a headmaster
 * System administrators keep the infrastructure running ||
 * **Knowledge Level:** || * Level A: Early Web 2.0 adopters
 * Level B: Uses technology regularly in the classroom and/or for professional use
 * Level C: Minimal experience with technology ||
 * **Possible Audience Perceptions:** || * Lack of recognition that education must change.
 * Fear of learning about and applying new technologies.
 * Too time consuming. ||
 * **Motivation:** || * Professional developmnet
 * Self-improvement
 * Florida Council of Independent School (FCIS) accreditation points
 * School leadership
 * Participation on school-wide initiative for additional compensation ||

__**Instructional Objectives:**__
Given a social networking resource, the consortium participant will: 1. Use web search strategies to locate at least two related resources relevant to K12 applications of the tool or site. 2. Post two relevant K12 resources to the Resource Links section of the Teach Web 2.0 Wiki.
 * Objective 1:**

Given a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis table, the consortium participant will: 1. Evaluate resource links for the social networking resource to identify strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats. 2. Post individual results of the SWOT analysis to the table on the Teach Web 2.0 Wiki. 3. Conduct periodic review of SWOT analysis table to view other participant input. 4. Post additional comments or questions to discussion tab on the Teach Web 2.0 Wiki.
 * Objective 2:**

Upon completion of SWOT analysis by all participants, the consortium will discuss the strengths and risks of the social networking resource. a. If the strengths outweigh the risks, further consideration will be given to educational applications. b. If the risks outweigh the strengths, the social networking resource will be tabled for future discussion.
 * Objective 3:**

Given a list of reference links, strengths and opportunities formally collected by the group, the participants will brainstorm potential classroom application of the social networking resource.
 * Objective 4:**

Post brainstorm ideas and additional references to existing teacher application to the Teach Web 2.0 Wiki and share with faculty.
 * Objective 5:**

__**Performance Measures:**__
Performance will be measured based on participation in the consortium via posts to each of the wiki categories for each new social networking resource. Participation will be tracked via the history tab on the wiki. The ultimate performance goal would be for a participant to bring on additional members, mentor colleagues, and/or apply Web 2.0 resources in the classroom.

__**Strategies and Materials:**__

 * The first consortium face-to-face meeting will include instruction related to the general functionality and usability of the wiki. This instruction will include editing tips, conversion to Firefox if needed, and wiki tabs.

Objective 1:** As part of the first face-to-face meeting of the consortium, participants will be instructed on how to search for references related to Web 2.0 resources. The wiki will be used as an example. The group will brainstorm tag words for searching and identify reference links. Instruction will be given on how to use the editing tools on the wiki to upload reference URLs and other materials.


 * Objective 2:** The wiki SWOT analysis will be used as an example and presented as part of the initial consortium meeting. The consortium will work as a group to populate each section of the SWOT with at least one strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat.


 * Objective 3:** The instruction strategy will focus on a group discussion to democratically determine the feasablity of implementing the social networking resource in the classroom. This decision can be broken down by lower, middle, or upper division as necessary.


 * Objective 4:** After discussion of strengths and opportunities, a facilitator will document discussion notes and post to the wiki. Additional posts will be encouraged between face-to-face meetings.


 * Objective 5:** Consortium participants will be encouraged to share wiki content, discussions, and decisions with team members and other faculty to promote their involvement.