An evidence based assessment of the effectiveness of Web 2.0 technologies on student learning

During the past two academic years in University College Cork I have worked closely with four distince groups of learners with a view to collecting a body of data on which to base definite conclusions on the effectiveness of the web 2.0 technologies within a social constructivist approach to learning in a third level institution and how best to deploy these technologies. All were learners of Irish language at various levels, motivations and learning modes.In the first year the learners were encouraged to contribute to Wikis and Blogs which were pitched at their level of learning and populated with appropriate learning material. However there was no compulsion or incentive beyond the enhancement of their learning experience. In the second year the law students had marks allocated to a reflective online journal. Specifically I wanted to gather data which would inform me on three critical questions: roups engage with the online environment given their various experience and motivation? 2. How the learners felt the activity had affected their learning experience? 3. How would the inclusion of their online activities in summative assessment affect both their engagement with the work and the effectiveness of the learning environment? In this presentation I will report the findings of this research and draw definite conclusions based on the evidence. The first year of this research formed the basis of the Masters in Teaching and Learning I successfully completed in 2008.