Scaffolding strategies and Web 2.0 technologies in personalized learning

Future of education needs to be guided by goals and objectives that align advances in technology with the unique and varied needs of students. By doing this, each student will have the opportunity to make the most of their unique talents and abilities. When technologies are selectively applied to learning strategies, students have the potential to find their innate talents faster than if they had gone through a more manually-based learning process (Papadopoulos, Demetriadis, Stamelos, Tsoukalas, 2010). The most important goals in the education field need to center on how to selectively use technologies to give students and opportunity to make the most of their talents. By doing this, learning institutions across the spectrum of ages and grades can over time cultivate and grow expert learners (Rahman, Mahmud, Yassin, Amir, Ilias, 2010).

Real-Time Learning Support and Scaffolding

The goal of selectively using technologies to bolster and strengthen learning effectiveness needs to have students in the center. The role of teaching needs to become that of coach and mentor rather than just a lecturer or deliverer of content. When students are put at the center of technology use, and each components or system of technology is aligned to their individual skill sets, scaffolding strategies can be achieved (Lutz, Guthrie, Davis, 2006). Scaffolding is the development of individualized learning programs depending on each student's level of knowledge, skill set, and innate abilities in different subject areas. A primary goal for the future of education is the development of individualized scaffolding strategies based on student's innate strengths and weaknesses, supported and augmented by technology.

This is a critically important primary goal for the future of education as it places the student and their innate strengths and weaknesses at the center of all technology enablement and process changes. Using scaffolding to create more effective learning strategies on an individual level will also increase the likelihood of a student finding their innate, stronger abilities earlier in their academic lives (Lutz, Guthrie, Davis, 2006). This translates into a major source of confidence and sense of mastery in students, which can fuel future learning growth and has been shown to contribute to students becoming expert learners (Rahman, Mahmud, Yassin, Amir, Ilias, 2010)

Conclusion

The future objectives of learning need to embrace technologies that allow for individualized and augmented learning experiences. Never before, have technologies been so relevant to the needs of students for a personalized, highly focused learning experience. The use of scaffolding (Lutz, Guthrie, Davis, 2006) as a teaching strategy has been in existence decades, yet with social networking technologies, the effectiveness of these strategies can be vastly improved. Ultimately, the ability to create autonomy, mastery and purpose in a student will ensure they become life-long learners and compete effectively in an increasingly turbulent world (Stern, 2010).

Appendix A

Web 2.0 Ecosystem or Meme Map

Source: (O'Reilly, 2006) based on http://oreilly.com/web2/archive/what-is-web-20.html