Title: Building students' habits of mind: a 4-layer model using Web 2.0 tools

Authors: Jing Zhu, Richard A. Smith

Addresses: Scent of Black Consulting Firm, 468 George Street, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia. ' Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Education, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, QLD 4702, Australia

Abstract: The overall purpose of this article is to describe a strategy of how to use Web 2.0 tools meaningfully to build students| habits of mind and improve their learning outcomes. This approach is based on a distribution of Web 2.0 tools (such as: QQ, Windows Live Messenger, MySpace, Blog, Forum, YouTube, Podcasting) across what we refer to as four |layers|: awareness, exploration, commitment and word-of-mouth. The argument is that interactivity, individualisation and a systematic pedagogy are fundamental for achieving transnational and international learning outcomes if students are to become global practitioners capable of living in and making use of a changing global environment. This argument is illustrated in a case study showing the effectiveness and efficiency of Web 2.0 tools locally and globally.

Keywords: blog; weblogs; forum; habits of mind; podcasts; QQ; Windows Live Messenger; WLM; YouTube; learning outcomes; MySpace; web 2.0; e-learning; electronic learning; online learning.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCEELL.2009.025030

International Journal of Continuing Engineering Education and Life-Long Learning, 2009 Vol.19 No.2/3, pp.232 - 246

Published online: 10 May 2009 *

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