Steve Hargadon's concept of "Web 2.0 as the Future of Education" presents the argument that the read/write, two-way nature of Web 2.0, characterized by contribution, creation, and collaboration, will have a greater cultural, social, intellectual, and political impact on education than the printing press. This framework emerged from what Hargadon describes as "a moment of extreme clarity" that became an obsession, leading to his bold conclusion about the transformative potential of Web 2.0 technologies for education and learning.
Core Thesis
Hargadon's central claim is that "the read/write Web, or what we are calling Web 2.0, will culturally, socially, intellectually, and politically have a greater impact than the advent of the printing press." He argues that the two-way nature of the Internet represents a fundamental shift from the traditional one-way Web, where users were passive recipients, to an interactive medium "based on contribution, creation, and collaboration--often requiring only access to the Web and a browser."
The Ten Educational Trends of Web 2.0
Hargadon identifies ten interconnected trends that demonstrate Web 2.0's revolutionary impact on education, drawing significantly from John Seely Brown's work while developing his own synthesis.
Trend #1: A New Publishing Revolution describes how the Internet has become "a platform for unparalleled creativity" where users create new Web content through blogs, wikis, podcasting, video/photo-sharing, and social networking tools.
Trend #2: A Tidal Wave of Information addresses the exponential increase in content volume, noting over 100,000 blogs created daily and MySpace's 375,000 new users per day. Hargadon proposes a counterintuitive solution to information overload: "produce more content," arguing that becoming a creator fundamentally changes one's relationship with content.
Trend #3: Everything Is Becoming Participative uses Amazon.com as a prime example, where user reviews and behavioral data tracking have transformed the book industry into a participatory ecosystem. Hargadon envisions future technologies like interactive electronic books that enable reader dialogue.
Trend #4: The New Pro-sumers introduces the concept of "pro-sumer" (producer + consumer), where customers participate in creating the products they purchase, from mountain bikes to talent shows like American Idol.
Trend #5: The Age of the Collaborator argues that historical eras favor certain personality types, and the current era favors collaboration over individual expertise. Hargadon contrasts "trusted authority" (like Time magazine) with "transparent and collaborative scholarship" (like Wikipedia), asserting that "1 + 1 truly equals 3 in this realm."
Trend #6: An Explosion of Innovation draws on Andrew Hargadon's research from "How Breakthroughs Happen," explaining that innovation results from applying knowledge across fields. The diversity and global reach of Web 2.0 collaborators should accelerate this cross-pollination.
Trend #7: The World Gets Even Flatter and Faster references the accessibility of educational resources, citing MIT's over 1800 open courses available to anyone worldwide.
Trend #8: Social Learning Moves Toward Center Stage heavily incorporates John Seely Brown's research showing that study groups are strong determinants of higher education success, with electronic collaborative methods achieving similar results to physical study groups. This trend emphasizes the shift from knowledge as a "substance" transferred from teacher to student toward social learning models.
Trend #9: The Long Tail applies Chris Anderson's concept to education, arguing that Web technologies make "differentiated instruction" a reality by enabling specialized learning opportunities and passionate pursuit of niche interests.
Trend #10: Social Networking Opens Up the Party identifies social networking as the catalyst that made Web 2.0 accessible to mainstream users, noting that if MySpace were a country, it would be the world's third most populous.
Paradigmatic Shifts in Education
Drawing on John Seely Brown's work, Hargadon articulates eleven fundamental shifts occurring in education:
- From consuming to producing
- From authority to transparency
- From the expert to the facilitator
- From the lecture to the hallway
- From "access to information" to "access to people"
- From "learning about" to "learning to be"
- From passive to passionate learning
- From presentation to participation
- From publication to conversation
- From formal schooling to lifelong learning
- From supply-push to demand-pull
These shifts reflect what Brown describes as moving from "I think, therefore I am" to "We participate, therefore we are."
Seven Action Steps for Educators
Hargadon provides practical guidance for educators navigating this transformation:
- Learn About Web 2.0
- Understanding these technologies as permanent fixtures rather than passing trends
- Lurk
- Observing online communities before participating to understand their dynamics
- Participate
- Moving from observation to active engagement through comments and contributions
- Digest This Thought: The Answer to Information Overload Is to Produce More Information
- Teach Content Production
- Helping students become creators rather than just consumers
- Make Education a Public Discussion
- Engaging broader society in educational conversations
- Help Build the New Playbook
- Providing essential guidance to "digital natives" who need adult mentorship in uncharted digital territories
Theoretical Foundation
While developing his own framework, Hargadon acknowledges significant influence from John Seely Brown's "Minds on Fire: Open Education, the Long Tail, and Learning 2.0" and related presentations. He describes his work as involving "a fair amount of 'remix'" while maintaining that "the conclusion is my own." The concept particularly emphasizes Brown's model of "students as contributors" and the apprenticeship model naturally manifesting in Internet communities like Open Source Software development.
Hargadon's framework ultimately argues that Web 2.0 represents not just technological change but a fundamental paradigm shift that will reshape educational institutions, learning methodologies, and the very nature of knowledge creation and transmission.