Web 2.0 --- More Than a Definition

Our last class of the semester before final projects and a well-deserved break.

We took the time machine back to the first meeting of the class and came F2F with our initial concept of Web 2.0. Initially, it was all about the devices and software tools; but now, after researching and using the tools, it's:

• Not about the tools, but about what the tools afford us


• How social networking on the Internet has made the globe smaller


• About a mix of cultures and a diversity of opinions


• The creative use of everyday 2.0 tools for 21st Century education

Although we differ in our opinions and experiences, we did unanimously agree that our perception of Web 2.0 has changed and become personally meaningful. Web 2.0 has become more than a definition; it's now our experience.

Interface Design Critique

I missed this class and was unable to attend online; occasionally my personal and professional life overtake my life as a student, and this was one of those rare moments. Fortunately, Kim's 830 presence on iLearn and the footprints (Blogs and other posts) of my peers leaves an easily followed trail ... and unlike the one below it doesn't leave my shoes muddy.

Design Critique

Design of Everyday Things

This is a true story; this is what happened when my father got a new color TV as a Wedding Anniversary present.

Online for Group Presentations

This is the first time I've attended and participated in an ITEC class online while some classmates were in the classroom; for the most part, it proved to be both successful and a learning experience. My hat is off to Joshua---cheers! for your able control of Elluminate and leadership as moderator of the evening. We made good use of Elluminate tools prior to the presentations, especially the shared Whiteboard.

From an online perspective... The presentations were awkward compared to a F2F setting. The affordances of F2F contact such as signaling a question became mechanical rather than spontaneous. Viewing Wikis and, especially, videos was cumbersome, until we discovered that it was better for those online to link directly to those sites rather than view them through Elluminate. However, by no means was the experience a disaster; rather, in spite of the limitations of Elluminate we interacted just as we always do.

Having interacted with everyone F2F, I could mostly tell who was chatting without seeing their name. Personalities came through quite clear. Those who usually display a sense of humor did the same online. At the end of the class, I felt as though I had been present for the class. Regardless of the mechanical aspects of communicating via Elluminate, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

The presentations were great. Many presentations this evening and during our "expert" Web 2.0 tools presentations were presented from Wiki pages, mine included. What I find odd about this is that we all utilize a Wiki page as if it were a PPT deck. It's quite awkward, because as you present verbally, the Wiki page is behind you, commanding the audience's attention and urging everyone to read the page rather than focusing attention on what is being said. I wonder if anyone else has noticed this? I think it shows clearly that not all tools are equal: a PPT deck is controllable and as such makes a good background for emphasizing a presenter's verbal address; a Wiki page in form and substance is meant to be read (and viewed or listened to), and thus it does not make a good background against which to speak to a subject---unless the subject is an intro to Wikiis.

Mobile Tools For Education

Paul Kim, CTO of Stanford University School of Education, was a great guest; I wish he'd had more time that evening, but I'm grateful he was willing to step away from his guests as long as he did. As he led us to his Web site, I bookmarked it to return to the project on Mobile Learning Technology. When I returned to site later that evening, two additional projects caught my attention: Visual Mapping and Health Literacy. The truth is, my attention is being grabbed by a number of projects on a variety of topics combining technology and education, and there just isn't enough time in a day, week, month, and year to go into all of them with the depth I'd like to.

The Stanford Education Mobile Learning project has some similarities with the OU Africa Digital Education Enhancement Project (DEEP), which I'll link here for anyone who is interested. In Africa, Mobile Computing Devices are being used to teach literacy, numeracy, and professional development in disadvantaged areas, using content provided through the OU---the Open University which is based in the UK (chartered in 1969). Like the OU, DEEP provides education and training to teachers as well as students.

Mobile devices are in use by other educational programs in Africa too numerous to list here or speak about in detail. The knowledge disseminated by these programs is varied, including traditional primary and secondary education, agricultural information of benefit to farmers, information for herders raising livestock, and health and AIDS prevention information.
The point I'd like to make about all the programs using mobile technology is that these programs have eschewed the traditional computer-based classroom in favor of hand-held computing devices, which should be understood to include mobile phones. Did anyone foresee a time when cell phones would be a delivery mechanism for educational content?