The Network is the Computer

July 9, 2007 · Posted in Blogging, Teaching 2.0, Web 2.0 · Comment 

When I started my investigation of Web 2.0 technologies as a part of the teaching and learning process, I was reminded of the incredible prescience of John Gage, one of the founders of Sun Microsystems. In 1984, he uttered a phrase that became Sun’s mantra: “The network is the computer.” To put that date into perspective, 1984 was the year that the first mass-market computer with a graphical interface (the Macintosh) was released. It would still be more than ten years before a graphical web browser (Mosaic) would make it’s first appearance. Networks were the province of universities and defense institutions. What was Gage thinking about?

Now, with the advent of Web 2.0 technologies and ubiquitous wifi access, it’s very clear what Gage meant. For the activities that most of us do most of the time, the network to which we have access is far more important than the device through which that access is realized. Online, we can write (and store and collaborate on) documents, build spreadsheets, store and share our photos, maintain collections of bookmarks, develop and deliver presentations, publish our own work, read the news and correspond with others with just about any device that can access a wireless network. For this kind of work, it doesn’t matter whether you’re using Mac, Windows, or some flavor of Linux–you just need a web browser. Increasingly, it doesn’t even require a computer in the connotative sense of the term–phones, pocket PCs, and even game devices can perform most of these functions.

Web 2.0 technologies have caused a major shift in my thinking about the web. In the “old days,” I saw the web as a book with a very good index. It was exciting to be able to quickly locate up to date information, but, like all books, the information there was static and one-way. I was an observer and not a participant.

Now, I see the web as a notebook–a place not only to locate information but also to store it. share it, and even participate in it’s creation and dissemination. Tools like JetEye and Google Notebook let me keep (and share) notes as I do my online research. I can add my knowledge or observations to wikis, comment on blogs, access pictures from my former students, attend meetings, and subscribe to a huge variety of interesting information via RSS. My access device might be my laptop, but it might also be my PDA or cell phone. As these devices increasingly converge in terms of functionality, it’s not difficult to image a single device–devoid of much on the way of local storage or operating system–that will do it all. Then, the network will truly be the computer.

As educators, we need to think about how we view the functionality of the web as a tool for our students. It’s common practice in K-12 education to do a “web quest”–essentially, a guided tour through some pre-selected web sites in an effort to answer some assigned questions. It’s the 21st century equivalent of “read the chapter and answer the questions” that we all suffered through in school. Many teachers think that, because students are asked to use the web to find the answers, they are “integrating technology into the classroom.” This is the “book” view of the web that I alluded to earlier. The problem is that, for most of our students, this approach is SO twentieth century. They’ve advanced way past this in their own uses of the web (think about FaceBook, MySpace, Flickr, etc.) and in their expectations of how the web should work for them. To them, the web is an interactive medium, and they are used to being participants.

We need to take a careful look at how we are using web tools with our K-12 and post-secondary students. Are we still asking them to read the chapter and answer the questions?

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Thought Bubble: Tools and Ideas

July 5, 2007 · Posted in Studies, Tools, Web 2.0 · Comment 

Today’s post highlight’s a diverse set of articles on Web 2.0 technologies and their application to teaching and learning.

Digital Life vs Life Digital: Our Inevitable Digital Future
This article by Alex Iskold makes some very interesting points about “digital life” (as expressed by virtual worlds such as Second Life) and “life digital,” the idea that digital technologies such as Google Maps are overlaying our “real” lives with additional information and visualizations. This quote intrigued me:

“Information is being unleashed and re-shuffled. We are beginning to look at information from literally a 1000 foot view. And everything is becoming increasingly more connected. This is both very exciting and a bit unnerving. We are accelerating into our digital future from all directions – pushing digital towards life and pushing life towards digital.”

Pedagogical affordances of syndication, aggregation, and mash-up of content on the Web
Barbara Dieu and Vance Stevens provide a thorough review of Web 2.0 technologies (social networks, image sharing, blogs, mapping, podcasting, video, and other related technologies and processes) with the idea of applying these technologies to teaching and learning. The first sentence should catch the interest of any educator:

“As Internet and online learning become more and more incorporated into our courses, syllabi, and teaching materials, it becomes increasingly important that the impact the Web is having on changing perceptions of literacy carries over to the way we practice teaching and learning.”

The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning
An extensive, excellent collection of studies, book reviews, and lectures on “m-learning” (mobile learning). Past issues of the IRRODL are available from the menu, and the entire site is searchable.

WikiVersity
Even regular WikiPedia users may be unaware of WikiVersity. Here is WikiVersity’s own statement of purpose and goals:

“Wikiversity is a community for the creation and use of free learning materials and activities. Wikiversity is a multidimensional social organization dedicated to learning, teaching, research and service. Its primary goals are to:

  • Create and host free content, multimedia learning materials, resources, and curricula for all age groups in all languages
  • Develop collaborative learning projects and communities around these materials”

WikiVeristy is actively seeking educators to create materials for the site, and there is already a lot of useful content available for use.

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The Read/Write Web

June 25, 2007 · Posted in Tools, Web 2.0 · Comment 

I have been thinking a lot recently about the meaning of “Web 2.0.” I think I have distilled it to this: Web 1.0–the web that we all “grew up” with–was a read-only medium. The web was a place where we went for information that was for all intents and purposes unchangeable. Web 2.0 is a read/write medium. Rather than being merely readers, users can be participants in the content of web pages by editing Wikis (I have made some edits to WikiTravel, for example), commenting on blogs, creating content for YouTube, participating in social networks, or storing your photographs in a publically accessible place like Flickr. It’s exciting to think about the collaborative possibilities for students in such a medium.

The Read/Write Web is a blog devoted to the concept of the web as a participatory medium. The authors do a fine job of keeping abreast of developments in the Web 2.0 space, particularly in the education field. They have a nice RSS feed and subscribing is highly recommended.

Two recent posts are particularly significant for educators. In Web 2.0 Backpack: Web Apps for Students, Josh Catone cataogs a wealth of web-based applications for…ummm…students. Especially interesting are the links to mind-mapping software–on-line, collaborative applications that allow participants to brainstorm in real time. Think Inspiration as a web application and you’ll get the idea. The same article lists a huge variety of on-line notetaking tools, bookmarking utilities, study guides, calendars, and other useful productivity tools.

Another article to watch is Keeping Tabs on Web 2.0. This article tracks a variety of topics related to Web 2.0 development and implementation.

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Hyperwords: Best Web Tool Around

June 23, 2007 · Posted in Tools, Web 2.0 · Comment 

Once in a while, an application comes along that makes you wonder why things didn’t always work that way. iMovie was one of those; so was Mosaic. So were MacDraw and MacPaint, for those of you old enough to remember them. And how about VisiCalc?

The latest application to knock my socks off is Hyperwords, a Firefox extension that adds an incredible array of useful tools to a single menu available by simply selecting a word or group of words on a web page. Suddenly, every word on the page is searchable, every numeric value can be converted, every paragraph can be translated to another language, and maps and weather and even shopping are instantly available. Yes, you can do all those things in other ways, but Hyperwords puts it all a simple click away. It’s going to be one of the greatest research tools that we could place in the hands of students.

It’s too much to explain, Watch the video, install it, and start web browsing in a whole new context.

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Having a Second Life in Teaching

June 7, 2007 · Posted in Teaching 2.0, Tools, Web 2.0 · Comment 

The more I explore the virtual communities of blogs, wikis, Del.icio.us, Flickr, and other social networking resources, the more I become convinced that university-level teaching can be greatly enhanced by using these technologies with students. In part that’s because so many of our students come to us already conversant in these technologies. In fact, most of them have developed their learning habits and learning preferences by sharing, exploring, and collaborating in such environments. They’re used to the immediacy and connectedness of social networking. If their brick-and-mortar university environments do not reflect these learning opportunities, will they be as involved in learning as they should be? We may not know the answer to that for a few more years as students may (or may not) begin making their enrollment decisions based on the kinds of learning opportunities available at their target institutions, and that’s probably fodder for a future blog entry.

Social networking is an interesting and engaging concept, but much of it is still text-based and–chat rooms not withstanding–asynchronous. When I write a blog entry, I have to wait until someone reads it and (hopefully) comments on it. When I update my Del.icio.us bookmarks, it takes a while for my subscribers to discover and investigate them. What if I could interact virtually in real time with folks from all over?

As it turns out, it’s not only possible but it’s a wildly popular pastime in which more than 7 million people worldwide participate on a daily basis–sometimes obsessively so. It’s called Second Life–an on-line 3D virtual world where you assume an identity, choose an avatar (your virtual representative), explore, and interact with other avatars in real time. I recently acquired an avatar (named Elwood Vella) and have begun shuffling around to see what happens. So far, I’ve actually been avoiding other “people” that I run across until I feel a bit more comfortable with the environment. Instead, I enter various locations and read the help files. (I’m not much more interesting than that in real life, either…)

The interesting thing about Second Life, however, is that I did not arrive at it through the “normal” social channels. I arrived at it because I was reading the e-Learning and Instructional Support web site from Oakland University. This fascinating site is a guide to learning activities through Second Life. It seems that many universities have devoted considerable time and effort to develop “virtual campuses” where students (or potential students) can explore, take classes, chat with other students, watch videos, and generally go to school through their Second Life avatar. Many videos of these sites–from institutions like Ohio University and Texas State (click here for a complete list)–are available that will give you the experience of what it’s like to visit a virtual campus. You can also find out how to obtain a free Second Life account.

While walking around in a virtual environment may not be your cup of tea, I’d argue that educators should become familiar with them at the very minimum to get a sense of the kinds of experiences that our students may be having, and further to see the possibilities that virtual classrooms and campuses may have for our own students and institutions.

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Can 6 and 7 year olds blog?

June 2, 2007 · Posted in Blogging, Video, Web 2.0 · Comment 

I though this kind of spoke for itself…

Getting Started with a Wiki

May 31, 2007 · Posted in Web 2.0, wikis · Comment 

Essentially, wikis are web pages that allow users to edit page content collaboratively. The changes are viewable by all visitors to the site. The editing tools are simple–usually resembling tools available in a standard word processor–and require no knowledge of HTML authoring to use. An excellent example of the collaborative power of a wiki can be found in WikiTravel, a free world-wide travel guide capable of being edited and updated by people who have actually experienced travel in various locations. For example, I have edited and added several elements to the section on Florence, Italy, based on my travel there last summer. The result is an up-to-date guide with information contributed by people who have actually been there.

Wikis are excellent tools for educators as well. They provide an easy method to capture content of class discussions from a variety of perspectives and to preserve it for future classes or to post and edit a collaborative document.

A nice illustration of the power of collaboration based on wiki use is available from YouTube.

When to Blog and When to Wiki

All content on a wiki can be edited by any visitor to the site. The best use of wikis is to provide a shared, single-location environment for collaboration and group editing. For example, I use wikis to make notes on class discussions and ask my students to edit or add to the notes in order to capture some of the important topics we discuss. These notes are available for review later or as an information source for future classes.

Content on blogs cannot be edited by anyone other than the author. Blogs also typically feature active comment areas for readers to post comments and answer questions about blog content. Observations posted on blogs are not intended to be edited, but they are intended to engender discussions and questions through reader comments.

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