Edinburgh Napier University

  Digitally supported pedagogical approaches made possible by developments in technology, and in particular by Web 2.0, are continuing to create new opportunities for learning, teaching and assessment in Higher Education. The use of student-generated content is an approach to learning design which prioritises student contribution, cocreation and sharing while creating opportunities for students to take an increasing amount of control and autonomy
over their learning (Dale and Povey, 2009). This paper describes an example of practice from a Masters level module in which distance learning students work together to generate their own content which they share with others in the form of student-led seminars. The paper adopts Collis’ taxonomy of contribution-oriented learning activities (Collis, 2008) as the basis for describing the mapping of pedagogy to practice, providing examples of Web 2.0 tools deployed
and examples of student generated artifacts. We discuss challenges faced by students and tutors in embedding this approach. We also highlight the importance of clarity of instructions, student involvement in assessment and the allocation of sufficient resources of technical and tutor support. We conclude that the investment of tutor time yields rewards for student learning that makes contribution-oriented pedagogy a scalable prospect.

http://www.mruni.eu/mru_lt_dokumentai/humanitariniu_mokslu_institutas/Social_Media.pdf