aspects: a) the sharing of experiences and continual learning; b) deliberate investigation and reflection; c) collaborating in the development of research‐based scholarship and co‐ created designs, instructional approaches or learning opportunities for students (see also Greenhow et al., 2009b). Our aim in this review was to draw on the existing body of literature from the international terrain; it synthesises some empirical evidence on the patterns of use of Web 2.0 tools and social media in higher education and structures findings in themes relevant to communities of educators. Although evidence exists regarding the benefits in informal learning environments, and within administrative contexts, results from longitudinal studies showing the depth of change in pedagogical practice in either tertiary or post‐tertiary education are either scarce or far from consensual. And while an emerging body of literature focuses on experiences of learners, structured evidence regarding the issues surrounding integration in formal education, such as those outlined above is slowly emerging. The focus of the ‘Pearls in the Clouds’ project is to explore to what extent Web 2.0 tools might be used to promote and support evidence‐based approaches in learning and teaching. This review has provided a detailed account of the nature of Web 2.0 tools and examples of how they are being to support learning and teaching. As discussed elsewhere in this report the boundaries between traditional roles (teacher and learner) and functions (teaching and learning) are blurring. ‘Teachers’ need to be learners in order to make sense of and take account of new technologies in their practices. Adopting an evidence‐based approach, through scholarly practice and reflection harnessing the powerful affordances of the technologies themselves seems a logical means of achieving this. The in‐depth case studies that follow within this project will provide more specific evidence of the extent to which this is true.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the Higher Education Academy for funding to support this work. This work sits alongside an existing body of research within the Open University, notably the OU Learning Design Initiative and OLnet.
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