Week 1 - Blog Posting #1 - Web 2.0

It is the goal of this post to highlight the relevance of Web2.0 in a collaborative environment. I have many different points to bring up and I hope this blog brings some of these items to the forefront.

Facelift/ Upgrade:
Web 2.0 has changed the way we perceive the internet. Now, the internet is truly so; an interconnected community that is no longer restricted to links. Now, lay people as well as professionals are able to utilize the technologies that are available today in order to share ideas. No longer are we limited to the type of information we have access to. We too can be co-creators of many forms of information created by all sorts of technologies. So in essence the internet from its inception, really tried to be interconnected, but on a very restrictive level. This once very sophisticated concept…this internet, now is available to all.

3.0 Segue:
As I was reading Schrum's Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools I pondered:
“If Web 2.0 is supposed to represent an upgrade from one type of internet experience to another improved experience, then could there conceivably be a future Web 3.0? If so, what will Web 3.0 look like? How will it be experienced?
What technologies will be implemented?

I imagined Web 3.0 as visually, being a virtual upgrade from flat webpages to ones that utilize more of the Z axis in its structural composition. And in my search, I’ve come across the following sites that are already using the existing technologies of 3D and Flash to push the envelope in terms of user experience and interactivity.

1. http://anthemgamegroup.com/
2. http://ecodazoo.com/ select the 3rd link and after viewing the popup book, you can click and drag your mouse in order to change views.
3. http://www.mcbd.co.uk/
4. http://www.whitevoid.com/portfolio.html Simplistically Amazing!

Here is a video that has some Jetson-like, grand ideas as to what Web 3.0 will bring:
http://uadmin.blogspot.com/2006/10/real-web-30-example.html
One blogger’s view of Web 3.0: http://net-ctcc.blogspot.com/2007/08/what-is-travel-30.html

We are not that far from Web 3.0 In Web 2.0, we are already immersed in knowledge and experiences shared by millions of people everywhere. As I understand it so far (and I’m ever learning) Web 3.0 is a development where the user will be completely immersed in an experience by means of portability.
For instance, I saw a Facebook Group that described a portable CPR guide. It’s called ICPR. It’s an I Phone application that you can keep on your phone just in case you’ll ever need to use it in an emergency. Many people don’t have the time to go for a CPR course, and I know of acquaintances who merely acquired the CPR certification as admittedly, I did myself, as a job requisite. With this application, anyone, anywhere has the opportunity to acquire knowledge…Web 2.0 collaborative, sharing feature with a Web 3.0 immersive quality.

Back to Web 2.0; Some reflections and perspectives
When I see all the advances that are being made in technology, I am overwhelmed by a sense of being behind the times. I’ve always seen technology as something that is important in teaching and training, but unfortunately, due to budget constraints, significant advances cannot be made…or can they?
With many of the Web 2.0 technologies, they are free, which is great in any budget.
Teachers and students can be collaborators in their learning experiences. This indeed creates a shift from the web being a platform for distribution as Solomon & Schrum explain to one where people are participants in a collaborative experience.

Children who are stimulated by the latest gadgets and new toys are bored out of their minds in classrooms where there is not enough stimulation for them. Some children can adjust themselves to the humdrum routine of sitting at a desk and transferring information from a black board into their notebook. Others can’t.
I think that there is a need to incorporate more engaging ways to teach and learn through the use of Web2.0 collaborative technologies such as game based learning and Digital Story Telling. I am beginning to see concrete connections between the courses I ‘ve taken here at FSO as each one builds upon another. How will all this materialize? I’ve found that many of my cohorts have great ideas, and it’s my hope to learn from them different ways of doing things.

Interestingly, FSO provides such a collaborative, sharing venue in part with their WIMBA sessions. Here students can chat, and ask each other questions, send links and conference through voice and video. Professors can transfer knowledge to students through the whiteboard application as well, which by the way is a great feature that WIMBA has.
It was a refreshing twist to be allowed access to scribble as we discussed the class last Tuesday. I hope we can scribble our ideas in different ways..I am excited to learn how I can translate my love of teaching into a format that is engaging and relevant to learners.
Thanks to last month’s course, I was introduced to Blip.tv. Blip has tools in which anyone can create videos and upload to share with the world. I am in the process of creating tutorials on how to teach yourself the basics of graphics software. Maybe this could be something I use in the classroom. I hope Websense doesn’t block Blip! It is, after all a video sharing site like Youtube, which is also blocked by Websense.



Social Media
Some of the concepts that I found intriguing from the reading includes that of viewing the web as a platform for collaboration. This collaborative medium is cost effective. It is free. The open source nature of it allows for revisions and modifications; all the while remaining true to the heart of Web 2.0, which is sharing and collaborating. A programmer can build upon an existing framework. So no longer is a software proprietary. It is shared and enhanced by like-minded individuals with common goals. This modified software is now even more robust than if there were a smaller number of privileged programmers working on it.
I have found these videos to be quite useful in explaining in a clear and simplified form exactly what social media is. There are also examples of this social media, like RSS Feeds and Twitter explained in their own separate videos that I found on
Youtube:

Social Media in Plan English:

Retrieved Monday, September 7, 2009 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpIOClX1jPE


Social Networking in Plain English:

Retrieved Monday, September 7, 2009 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a_KF7TYKVc&NR=1

Twitter in Plain English:

Retrieved Monday, September 7, 2009 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddO9idmax0o


Benefits of Social Media within a Web 2.0 Age
Business and meetings can be conducted remotely and still have far reaching effects thanks to VOIP services such as Skype, WIMBA and other conferencing technologies. All of these advancements beg the question: How can education keep up? How can educators use these technologies to address education?
Quite a few of the Action Research blogs I have read have touched upon the same issue. How technology can be embraced in an arena that is fueled by tradition.
The saying “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” appears to be the mantra for many in school administration. These people in power either don’t think anything is wrong with the way children are learning, and therefore don’t see the need to become technologically progressive or because of a shoestring budget are forced to make due with what they already have. Still some take making advancements in collaborative, technology-driven environments to the extreme as is evident in a story provided by one of my critical friends, Laura Rebecca: http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/05/boston-prep-school-nixes-all-the-books-in-its-library-replaces/
In the attempt to integrate collaborative technology, it’s imperative that we can find that happy medium, one where there is a healthy balance of meeting a need and doing it with enthusiasm. In a web 2.0 environment, some of the greatest features are that of being cost effective. These tools are free! This has certainly leveled out the playing field of accessibility. There does not need to be a time where price is a concern or issue.


Web 2.0 Collaborative Technologies
One technology that I have found recently is Linkd In. This free service is a social networking service that connects professionals. This is a totally different paradigm from that of other social networks whose purpose is mostly for connecting through an informal way based upon mutual interests and hobbies. Sites like Friendster, Myspace and Hi5 are a few of the sites I am referring to. Although these sites could be used as a means to sell one’s talents to a potential employer, its main goal is for informal casual networking. Sites like Link’d In and Facebook are more professional avenues for social networking in the business and education community.
For instance, during the course of the last few months, FSO teachers have been able to exchange and transfer information to the students through these social networking vehicles.
Through Twitter, important class updates can be noted. Netvibes offers a way to remix the web, true to the Web 2.0 form. Now the Web does not have to be what your browser serves you as a default setting that Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and other browsers define. Netvibe takes the concept of creating a homepage a step further. Its free service allows one to integrate live feeds from other websites.
I think a really interesting and engaging assignment could be the use of Netvibes to create a science report. With engaging videos, a student could readily incorporate other aspects such as RSS feeds, HTML code, widgets and such the link for a really interesting delivery method. Taking a look at some of the websites from Go2Web20.net has really opened my eyes to the applications of free collaborative features accessible to educators.


Increasing numbers of college students are seeing the need to create multiple profiles on social networks. Potential employers have been searching the internet for the social profiles of potential candidates. They see the usefulness of these social networks in being able to bring a candidate/applicant to life. What they see on a resume does not paint a clear picture as to the character, integrity or “realness” of a person. In a related article, there is proof that employers do use social networking sites to check people, and consequently sum them up.
http://mashable.com/2009/08/10/social-media-misuse/

Perhaps, in the future, it would be interesting to see where resume development services lead. Perhaps high school beacon programs that have resume preparedness workshops, could teach students how to set up virtual profiles that supplement online resumes. I believe this would build practical real world experience in a vital Web 2.0 technology.