According to Stephen Downes e-learning 2.0 is all about the learners developing their own ideas from a variety of sources and sharing ideas in a community of learners. Learners will take charge of their own learning using such tools as blogs, wikis and podcasts. No longer will a tutor set up an e-learning course with a prescribed set of activities and a specific set of content. Learners will develop and find their own material, reshape it and share it with others. An essential technology to allow this is the RSS feed allowing learners to aggregate their information sources using a service like bloglines.
This is music to my ears as it is the approach I have been trying to develop on my web design module (COMP 3092) although I still have a long way to go. Some students are reluctant to “be set free” from fixed content and setting up a set of blogs takes time. Let’s see how it goes next semsester with a new group, each with their own blog.
