Post 10: WordPress blogs

A blog is essentially a diary of thoughts, it can be formal and informal, people can add comments to a blog or pose questions to the author of the blog. Blogs are useful in putting ideas across in an easy and simple to understand way. Their use in education is important, it is yet another way teachers can present ideas to students and get feedback from the students. By students making their own blog the teacher is able to see what it is the student understands as well as the students being able to put some creativity into their blog and making it interesting as well as providing points or ideas that the teacher may not have thought about. It allows students to build on the knowledge taught in the class by them being able to think about the concept by themselves and then put their ideas down. Other students may also be able to view and comment on their classmates’ work.

Post 9 – Wikis

 

A Wiki is an online discussion board that allows a certain number of people to edit and change and add information to discuss on a particular issue. Wikis need to be formatted and structured properly for them to be effective. Wikis are sort of like blogs but can be edited by a number of people providing they know the password. Other users can add comments to it and ask questions. Wikis are particularly useful in the classroom because they enable groups to come up with ideas independently, post these and then other people in the group can change or offer suggestions to these posts, they can also add points that they think are important. I think that Wikis are good however; they are hard to structure, without really thinking about the appropriate headings, they are just a jumble of posts by a group of people.

Post 8 – myspace

 

Myspace is much like facebook, it is an online application that allows users to create their own social network, commenting on friends’ profiles, talking to friends, adding videos, music and photos to their profiles. To a certain extent, myspace is not a private and secure as facebook. In facebook users have to know the person for them to speak to them or view their profile. Myspace allows users to set their profile to private although this action is not as secure as facebook. The advantage of myspace is that it allows users to embed videos and music into their profile. This can be done in facebook also. Facebook is better than myspace because there is more of an emphasis on the social networking ability. Users can invite other friends to join their network and talk about things related to that network. Myspace does not allow this to happen. Therefore myspace is not as socially aware as facebook.

Post 7 – Flickr

Flickr is an application that allows users to upload photos, share them with their friends or people that they approve, they are also able to be viewed by anyone in the Flickr network if the users chooses that option. Users can organise their photos into albums online, allowing users to add multiple photos from different times and places. This is particularly useful if, say, a class went on an overseas excursion, they could, when they get back upload their photos and look at each others’ on the internet. Flickr also allows you to create a world map and point out where the uploaded photos were taken, this is useful when searching for photos for places you may be looking to visit. It also allows you to make stuff such as cards, photo books and calendars. Flickr is therefore useful in education because it appeals to the visual intelligence while maintaining a social network at the same time.

 

Post 6 – Facebook

 

Facebook is an online social networking utility, it allows users to create a personal profile, talk/comment on others’, join and create networks that they are a part of. This tool would be particularly useful in education, a teacher could set up a network for their students to join and be included in. Facebook allows students to work in a collaborative environment; it is kind of like a discussion board. By creating their very own network they can talk about their assignments/projects freely without feeling self conscious about anyone they don’t want seeing it.It would bring the students in your particular class closer together; they would feel part of a group and would not want to add students that are not from their class. They could still add their friends outside of the class, but wouldn’t want their friends to see their classroom work. This would add to their deeper learning because they feel comfortable in this type of environment.

This program allows the teacher to pose questions to the group or for students to discuss present assignments or projects that they are working on. It also has the ability for photos to be uploaded, so the teacher could take a photo of the class while they are at school and when they logged on at home they would feel included in the group that they belong to.

Post 5

Web 2.0 is a huge range of programs/software that help people to learn, it includes sound, video, photo, written and many more. This pays particular attention to Howard Gardner’s idea of multiple intelligences. The use of video in particular allows students to learn without realising that they are learning. Students are able to become more engaged in the activity and it creates healthy competition between classmates.

These games are known as ‘edutainment’ an effort to make learning fun.

http://davidwarlick.com/wiki/pmwiki.php?n=Main.VideoGamesAsLearningEngines

Post 4

 

Many schools are using blogs and other parts of Web 2.0 to communicate between parents/teachers and students . This is particularly useful when classes go on overnight excursions or overseas trips.

http://education.guardian.co.uk/elearning/story/0,,1801086,00.html

We all know that you learn better and more efficiently when you are in a group. Web 2.0 allows a small or a large group to communicate and help each other. This point is particularly important in education and how Web 2.0 is useful for teachers and students. By creating an online community students feel that their voice and ideas are valued. It also gives students who may be shy in the classroom to put their ideas forward, without the chance of being ridiculed or laughed at. Teachers can also ask students questions in the form of a discussion board, this makes sure that everyone is participating and that everyone understands the concepts being taught. Students have the opportunity to ask the teacher questions anonymously. This is extremely important because it is widely know that it is easier to write things down than to say them to people, this means that even the shy and quiet students in the class will feel comfortable asking questions, because they are not doing it face to face, they also do not have the ridicule from classmates online.

Post no 3

Web 2.0 has opened up a whole new world to teachers in relation to incorporating ICT into their lessons, teachers now have numerous avenues to explore or present their lessons to their class. Use of things such as Podcasts are helpful for students who miss lessons or cannot take notes well. Podcasts allow the student to listen to what the teacher had to say a) in their own time b) at home c) at their own pace; they can stop and start it when they are ready. This is particularly useful in universities when the majority of class time is taken up by lectures.

An example of a podcast and one that has been used to display the importance and relevance of web 2.0 is here. This is a blog on issues that this man, Tim O’reilly, an influential leader on web 2.0, has found in web 2.0 and its influence on education. This is important because he highlights the use of web 2.0 and how teachers can bridge their technology gap with their students, by learning web 2.0 they are able to be on the same page as their students. Teaching with technology that is both influential in the classroom and which is familiar to the students.

Post no 2

Web 2.0 is the ‘new internet’, it allows users to create a better learning environment and learn collectively. Use of sites such as facebook, myspace, blogger, wordpress and flickr all allow the user to connect to others’ computers around the world. The basis of Web 2.0 is that it allows a more creative and collaborative form of speaking to people. Digital Chalkie is an example of the way in which web 2.0 can be used.

This site looks at the different features of Web 2.0 and how they can be used in teaching. It is an online Blog where people can discuss problems or experiences in using features of the web 2.0 and share it with others, the toolbar down the left hand side allows the viewer to see the different programs available to use for their own integration of ICT in their lessons. It allows for the sharing of different teachers’ experiences in using technology that is part of Web 2.0. this resource/site is a valuable resource for all teachers in trying to learn more about web 2.0, it is designed particularly for teachers and how teachers can use different programs and software for their particular classes.

Post no 1 – Web 2.0

Overview of Web 2.0

Web 2.0 is essentially an increasing range of software that supports a variety of technologies for open and collaborative communication, learning and creativity.

It consists of

1. A Platform
This is browser based – e.g. Internet Explorer or Firefox. (Firefox is preferred because it is free and open software in a constant state of development (Web 2.0), whereas Explorer is owned and comes out in a fixed form and then has updates and upgrades on an irregular basis (Web 1.0))
It operates on open and collaborative principles
Communications are the key applications

2. Social Networking
Personalised and open collaborative knowledge spaces
Access people as well as knowledge
Copyright issues exist and have to be dealt with and replaced with a Creative Commons culture
This is beyond the normal formalities of the classroom and can take place anywhere at any time

For example: Myspace and Facebook

3. Read/Write Web
People are consumers of content and services
People and publishers of content and services
Such people are called Producers

4. What makes Web 2.0
Blogs
Wikis -
Social Tagging – bookmarking, Tag Clouds e.g. Del.icio.us
Sharing sites
Podcasts
Mashups
Aggregators
Ubiquitous connectivity

 

(Original content from http:// ndnetworked.pbwiki.com/ED2033-Web-2)

By knowing information about Web 2.0 we can see what advantages we, as teachers and educators will have in the classroom and how our students can create their own learning. Using web 2.0 gives students an insight into the future and the future of education in general, it offers a number of different programs that enable students to learn through a variety of different means. e.g video, audio.

The following programs/applications are all examples of web 2.0. many are not known even by computer savvy people today, this shows us that there is a whole new world out there in regards to web 2.0 and the future of the internet and learning.