“Studying alone but not studying alone” — Isolated but connected in collaborative construction of knowledge

Abstract

The aim and objective of this paper is to find out the Web 2.0 learning experiences of tertiary students; polytechnic students who have better autonomy of time, choice of what to learn, how to learn, when to learn with the large depositories of information and data around them. This paper is interested in appropriating the benefits of leveraging on Web 2.0 applications like Weblogs and Facebook postings for students towards learning. This paper also seeks to find out the possible problems and issues with using Weblogs and Facebook postings for learning. There seems to be a gap regarding the students' opinions and experiences with the use of Weblogs and Facebook postings as educational and learning tools from the perspective of tertiary students; those aged between 18 to early 20s. Hence, this paper aims to seek a better understanding of the tertiary students' opinions of using Weblogs and Facebook postings as learning tools through a qualitative method of semi-structured and informal interviews. The purpose of this paper is not the shifting ground in relation to definitional aspects of Web 2.0 but how the term is defined for the purposes of this exploration of its use within education and pedagogic possibilities. From the data, the students indicated that although they were studying alone physically they were, in fact, connected with one another in collaborative construction of knowledge with the use of Weblogs and Facebook postings for informal learning.