Exploring Web 2.0: Second Generation Interactive Tools – Blogs, Podcasts, Wikis, Networking, Virtual Worlds, and More.

In recent months exciting changes began happening on the World Wide Web. More services and features were becoming available, but most Internet users were unaware of this new potential until the “Net Generation” began embracing thesee new Web-based tools. Within months, the business community, educators, authors, and casual internet users found these tools invaluable to communication, collaboration, and research.

This vital resource is available in both paperback and kindle edition from Amazon.com or directly from the publisher at Katy Crossing Press.

Why Should We Blog in Education?

Publishing and sharing content regularly through blogging keeps readers in touch with current ideas, news, and information. It allows educators to discuss relevant professional issues and then share that conversation with those who are interested.

The primary value of blogging isn’t just the networking with peers, it is also a tool that helps students express their knowledge and insights. Another important benefit of blogging is communicating and interacting with members of the community who they may traditionally have had a tougher time reaching such as parents, voters, and anyone in the community who is concerned about education.

School administrators have an ever-increasing motivation to encourage communication with the community due to the pressure of developing and implementing policy, as well as defining the direction and purpose of their school. In order to lead an educational institution effectively it is essential administrators know what their constituents think. If their leadership and ideas are to be productive, school administrators need educators to help disseminate information and evidence freely.

Blogging has numerous advantages for administrators, teachers, and students alike. Blog content can be timelier, easier to create, more interesting to the audience, and more available than traditional communication tools. Unlike unidirectional print or online newsletters or web pages, blogs are archived automatically. Blogs are searchable, and encourage feedback through their ability to handle comments.

Administrators are discovering that blogs are extraordinary vehicles for school publicity, public relations, and community building. Teachers are using them for collaboration, professional development, and student instruction. Students are finding blogs an excellent tool for exploring their thoughts and expanding their ideas. Whatever level of education one is at; there are numerous advantages to blogging and the tools to do so are readily available. It only takes a few minutes to develop a blog and the benefits are unending.

EDUCATIONAL USES OF SOCIAL BOOKMARKS

Educators are discovering innumerable ways to use social bookmarking to help students meet their educational standards and goals. Small groups and entire classes use bookmarking services for collaboration and sharing common information. At most social bookmarking sites, a group account can be established, with the password shared among the participants or, in what is probably a safer and more useful version; a group can establish a unique tag and tag all group-related links with it.

For individual projects, teachers can save the URLs of pages for students to read. To access their reading assignments, students can use a news aggregator to view their new postings automatically from school, home, or wherever they may have an Internet connection.

Using social bookmarking sites, students can take control of selecting and archiving their own resources on a given topic and sharing those links with their classmates.

Many bookmarking sites allow teachers to review and comment on resources the students have bookmarked. This collaboration feature is the strength of social bookmarking as it permits both teachers and students to collaborate with web resources. Everyone can contribute to a project as well as reap the benefits of teamwork.

Using a bookmarking site, such as Diigo that allows users to post notes directly on the web page, teachers can set up a group account per each class. They are then able to verify if a student has read an online article or if they have understood what they have read by the notes they have posted on the web page.

Some schools have expanded the usefulness of the school web page by placing web links of a bookmarking site directly onto their school web page. The visitors to their site are then alerted to any updates of news that is relevant to the school’s mission and environment.

A school Web site can be used to track author and book updates and can immediately notify web viewers when a new book by a particular author is released. Some schools like to share bookmarking accounts between different subject specific educators in a school in order to share resources with each other. Others like to share one account between a large number of educators across a school district that teach in diverse settings in order to create a broad and deep set of resources.

Some bookmarking sites such as FURL provide citation services that will create a bibliography on a new Web page so you can cut and paste the bibliography into your document. Users can select from MLA, APA or Chicago Style bibliography format.

The most common social bookmarking sites used in schools today include:

• del.icio.us

• CiteULike

• Digg

• Diigo

• Furl

Final call for online course:
EDUC 744 937 June 23 – August 22, 2008
http://www.uwstout.edu/soe/profdev/handhelds/index.html
3 graduate credits

In depth, interactive study of current research in effective technology-enhanced instructional practices using podcasts, eBooks, eAudio, eVideo within the curriculum to meet state and national content standards and student technology standards. Development and assessment of innovative inquiry based learning activities using an iPod® and other handheld devices. Includes developing a podcast, content choices, recording audio, and distribution.

This course is designed for classroom teachers, media specialists, technology coordinators, and curriculum coordinators to apply the mobility and flexibility of an iPod® and other handheld devices in designing learning activities that utilize instantaneous sources of media, data, and information to meet a variety of educational needs.

Register online at: http://www.uwstout.edu/soe/profdev/register.shtml. You may pay via credit card, school purchase order or invoice.

For more information, email Ann Bell bella@uwstout.edu or telephone (512) 240-5252.

Sign up now. You won’t be disappointed.

Ann Bell, Instructor and Course Developer
University of Wisconsin-Stout

Final call for online course:

EDUC 744 938 June 16 – August 15, 2008

http://www.uwstout.edu/soe/profdev/media/

3 graduate credits

This course investigates visual literacy’s impact on the learning process when integrating digital media with educational curriculum. Includes pedagogical considerations for using multimedia to stimulate inquiry, creativity, and higher order thinking.

Examines video pre-production classroom practices, video editing, video distribution methods and criteria for evaluating student work.

Discover exciting new ways to integrate digital video clips and multimedia as an integral part of the classroom and library media center curriculum.

Video production encourages student involvement in analytical thinking, script writing, performing, editing, proofreading, and using computer and television technologies in a purposeful way.

Register online at: http://www.uwstout.edu/soe/profdev/register.shtml. You may pay via credit card, school purchase order or invoice.

For more information, email Ann Bell bella@uwstout.edu  or telephone (512) 240-5252. Sign up now. You won’t be disappointed.

Ann Bell, Instructor and Course Developer
University of Wisconsin-Stout

Final call for online course:
EDUC 744 937 June 23 – August 22, 2008

http://www.uwstout.edu/soe/profdev/innovations/index.html

3 graduate credits

Web 2.0 provides critical tools to meet the demand for easier and more efficient ways of teaching and learning. Explore how to improve instruction using new technologies such as wikis, blogs, podcasts, photo sharing, virtual offices, simulation, and digital game-based learning and new emerging technologies.

This course is designed to help educators apply the current trends, research, and best practices for supporting instruction with appropriate application of recent and innovative educational technologies.

For both experienced professionals and newcomers interested in incorporating the latest technology into existing curricular units to help students achieve their educational standards and objectives. This course will help educators develop effective teaching methods and instructional strategies that capitalize on students’ interest in technology and use that familiarity to improve students’ academic performance.

Register online at: http://www.uwstout.edu/soe/profdev/register.shtml. You may pay via credit card, school purchase order or invoice.

For more information, email Ann Bell  bella@uwstout.edu  or telephone (512) 240-5252.
Sign up now. You won’t be disappointed.

Ann Bell, Instructor and Course Developer
University of Wisconsin-Stout

Using Third Party Web 2.0 Services

As a new wave of Internet services has evolved, the term Web 2.0 has come into vogue. This wave of services is based on openness, user-generated content, the power of the crowd, an amount of data in an epic proportion, combined with an architecture of participation.

Such participatory tools include wikis, blogs, podcasts, YouTube, photo sharing, and social bookmarking. The advantages of using these tools are that they require little technical effort; they encourage experimenting and testing, and applying diverse approaches to a common problem. These strengths are making Web 2.0 tools more common within the educational community.

Along with the advantages come a number of disadvantages that need to be managed.

Challenge	Management
1. Loss of Service	Investigate service before use and use only trusted services.
2. Loss of Data	Evaluate service. Test export capabilities. Keep a duplicate copy of data off-site.
3. Performance Problems	Test before using. Evaluate export capabilities. Use for non-critical information.
4. Format Changes	Use on a small-scale or plan for migration to a similar system.
5. User Issues	Gain feedback. Warn of possible dangers and invite to pilot and select services.

Educators can vacillate from embracing every new Web 2.0 tool as soon as it is available online, to being fearful to use any new online tool. However, with a realistic balance of the advantages and disadvantages and learning to manage the challenges educators and students can richly enhance their learning experiences. When is the best time for you to embrace a given innovative technology? Consider the online professional development course “Implementing Instructional Technology Innovations” from the University of Wisconsin-Stout.

New Book to Be Released

The last few months, I have been working intently on Web 2.0 in Schools: Blogging, Podcasting, Vodcasting, Wikis, Moodles, and More, which Linworth Publishing, Inc. will be releasing in the fall of 2008. I am excited about the latest, innovative changes in technology that is exploding around us and feel passionate about the potential of these tools in the K-12 environment.This book is designed to explore the potential of incorporating these new, innovative technologies into the curriculum.

The concept of Web 2.0 has definitely taken hold in society and the application of Web 2.0 tools into the educational environment has great potential in not only helping students meet their current educational objectives and standards, but also in preparing them for the 21^st century job market. These innovative tools are helping educators move from the rote repetition and “presentation-delivered” information delivery system towards a project-based learning system in which students collaborate via interactive approaches that enable a deeper understanding and problem-solving ability of all subject matter both within and outside the school environment.

While many educators feel limited as to the availability of technology resources, most of the Web 2.0 tools are free of charge or have a minimal subscription fee. The availability of new resources opens an entirely new arena for teachers to consider. Web 2.0 in Schools: Blogging, Podcasting, Vodcasting, Wikis, Moodles, and More will help educators locate these latest tools and apply them to the curriculum. The book also covers the legal and safety issues of using Web 2.0 tools with minor.

Advantages of Social Cataloging

Social bookmarking has added a great deal to how information users share their online resources, however LibraryThing has taken social bookmarking and networking to an entirely new level. LibraryThing at http://www.librarything.com/ is a social network of bibliophiles. It is a Web site to help people catalog their own books, as well as connects people with the same books, and comes up with suggestions for what to read next. Its primary feature is the automatic cataloging of books by importing data from booksellers and libraries through Z39.50 (Z39.50 is a client server protocol for searching and retrieving information from remote computer databases).

Users (informally known as thingamabrarians) can catalog personal collections, keep reading lists, and meet other users who have the same books. While it is possible to keep a library catalog private, most people choose to make their catalogs public, which makes it possible to find others with similar tastes. Thingamabrarians can browse the entire database by searching titles, authors, or tags generated by users as they enter books into their libraries.

Users of LibraryThing can import information from over 80 libraries including the Library of Congress, and the Canadian National Catalogue. Once the correct book and edition has been located, a simple click adds it to their own catalog. They can also add books from another member’s catalog or by searching on LibraryThing itself. Assuming the book is found (and most will be), each time a user adds a book, LibraryThing automatically posts an image of its front cover, its date of publication, its ISBN (International Standard Book Number), a list of other editions. It may even suggest where a person can buy new copies online. If the user desires, they can add other information, including tags, a star rating, a Dewey decimal number, the date they acquired the book, the day they started reading, and the date they finished reading it. Users can add comments to the database and even post reviews. If the correct book or edition is not available in the available databases, users can add it manually or edit the record later.

Although LibraryThing provides cataloging data from the Library of Congress, it encourages its users to tag the books included in their collective collections. LibraryThing, like many other folksonomy applications, incorporates a tag cloud into the “Social Information” page created for each book. The tag cloud enlarges the tags visually when they constitute a high percentage of use.

When a book is tagged, you can view when other users or books use that tag. “Members with your books” shows the 50 most similar libraries from other members. When viewing another member’s profile or library, the system shows how many (and which) books you share with that other member. If desired, you can leave a (public or private) comment on their profile. You can also add the member as a friend, to your private watch list, or as an interesting library.

The LibraryThing Web site does not use advertising, but receives referral fees from online bookstores that supply book cover images. Individual users can sign up for free and register up to 200 books. Beyond that limit and/or for commercial or group use, a subscription fee is charged. You can browse for free can post up to 200 books free of charge. You can also access your virtual library from my cell phone while standing in a bookshop by pointing your cell phone’s browser to <http://www.librarything.com/m>. Beyond that, you have to pay either $10 for a yearly membership or $25 for a lifetime account.

Danbury Public Library, Danbury, Connecticut was the first library to add the LibraryThing widgets to its catalog. The LibraryThing data is integrated almost seamlessly into the record display. Tags and the tag browsers bring the cataloging efforts of LibraryThing’s thousands of users into the local OPAC (online public access catalog). Users merely click on a tag associated with a book and the tag browser opens and provides a list of all the other books in the library with that same tag. The tag browser also provides a tag search engine, which has created an entirely new way to navigate our catalog.

Follow the link to a biography of Benjamin Franklin in the Danbury Library <http://cat.danburylibrary.org/record=1263103>. Notice the LibraryThing tag cloud at the end of the record. It provides more links to related OPAC resources than the traditional Library of Congress or Sears Subject Headings.

Using LibraryThing.com, readers, authors, librarians, and researchers can now multiply their resources by sharing libraries and network with those with similar interests and information needs.

WHY USE RSS FEEDS?

Many people are interested in Web sites such as news sites, community and religious organization information pages, product information pages, medical websites, and weblogs whose content changes on an unpredictable schedule. Repeatedly checking each Web site to see if there is any new content can be very tedious. Before RSS Feeds were available, users would have to go to each page, load it, remember how it is formatted, and find where they last left off in the list.

Email notification of changes was an early solution to this problem. Unfortunately, when you receive email notifications from multiple websites they are usually disorganized and can get overwhelming, and are often mistaken for spam.

RSS is a better way to be notified of new and changed content. Notifications of changes to multiple websites are handled easily, and the results are presented to you well organized and distinct from email. The feed your aggregator checks is virus free and you know that everything in your aggregator is something you want to read because you subscribed to it. There are no ads, no spam; just new content from the sources you read. You can scan the headlines, read the entire post, click through to the actual Web site, and file the information away for later retrieval.

Another feature of RSS is that it contains strictly content from web sites; it removes the eye candy that encompasses many Web sites today. You will not see Web site templates downloaded within an RSS feed, only the content that the web site is providing. A nice feature of some aggregator is the ability to create your own template and pull the Web site content from your feeds into it. This is often called web content customizability. You can see how this is literally changing the face of the World Wide Web.