Web base 2.0 An Editorial

I have benefitted tremendously from the experience of going through twenty-three things dealing with Web base 2.0. For one thing, I never fully realized the raison d'etre for it and now I have a greater understanding of what it is all about and in the process I have also developed an better understanding of who we are as a society as a result of the internet and how we have changed and where our emphasis lies today. When the internet was made available to the general public, it was my understanding that it was the proverbial information highway where one could go and do academic research in any field. E-mail was also introduced where one could contact another person. It was fairly milk toast and pablum . However, since the advent of the internet we have become far more sophisticated and advanced. We have shifted our emphasis and in addition to e-mail, we are now blogging, googling, twittering and textmessaging; and we've moved from googling for directions to get somewhere to GSP's that now tell us orally when to turn on a particular street or they provide grapics of what street to turn on or which lane to take on the interstate so that we arrive at our destination with only a modicum of hassle and without having to stop and ask for directions. We have also progressed to ipods and social networking sites such as FaceBook and MySpace that provide us with instant updates on other people. We no longer have to wait for a paperback edition of a best seller to come out; we only have to grab the ebook. In addition, we download movies, songs, and news. Through the advent of Facebook and MySpace, among others, we can now "unfriend" people; we can access other people's files and read them and we no longer go to coffee shops just for coffee. The one thing that all of these advancements have in common is connectivity where people are not necessarily looking for information along the information highway solo but they are looking to gain this information by establishing contact with other people in a cooperative effort to expand our effectiveness as educators.
In a sense then, it is people reaching out to other people and that is what web base 2.0 is all about. It is people reaching out to connect with other people who share common interests and expertise and as a result new information is shared, altered, extended, expanded and re-developed. Academic research, for example, is no longer an isolated, single person engaged in research in the bowels of some library or sitting in front of a computer squirreled away in a far dark corner of Calcutta, but it has become, in a sense, a collaborative effort by a group of people who are willing to share their expertise and the fruits of their own research. Information that is exchanged is immediate, instant, and "in the now moment." What makes Web 2.0 exciting is that now there has developed a global collabortive effort that expands intellectual horizons in education. The net result is that Web base 2.0 has added a new dimension to the educational process because it has given it an even greater humanistic approach to education as teachers are no longer isolated in their own efforts;they have joined hands across borders for a more universal educational experience. Students are the benefactors of this effort, and they also join in this same process as well. While their own learning experience is enhanced, they learn the entire fundamentals of Web base 2.0 and they carry that knowledge with them into the world of tomorrow. They learn not just the importance of collaborative efforts on a single project but also the importance of connectivity. When someone understands this idea clearly as a Paradigm Shift, then he will understand the diminishing role of "I" or "me" and realize a totally different picture as he morphs into a world of "we" and "us."

Week 9 #23 Queries/Finale

1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?

There a number of things that I particularly liked about this project: the RSS feeds, Rollyo,Library Thing, and the Podcasts. All of them are excellent sources of information which could be of extreme importance in the classroom I thought that flickr, theImage generators and YouTube are fun things that could be utilized to make classroom presentations more attractive and interesting. I think that students would enjoy working with these things as they do research and work with design and presentation of material.

2. How has this program assisted or affected our lifelong learning goals?

The net results of this project has made me more aware of things that are available on the web that will have more influence on my classroom performance. Also, in a subliminal way,I must continue to evolve, and expand my own intellectural horizons through the use of projects such as Web base 2.0. If not, then I, as an educator, will become stale and stagnant in the classroom.

3. Were they any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?

The revelation that I received from this project was the realization of how we as a society are moving forward as the emphasis has changed from one person flying solo on the information highway to a collaborative concept where people reach out to other people to gain insight and information from other educators on a global scale. The Web base 2.0 create a door to those opportunities to gain information from others' expertise and knowlege and interests.

4. What could we do differently to improve upon this program's format or concept?

Rather than spend time on such things as Sandbox, ebooks and audio books as well as YouTube, Podcasts, and Flickr maybe to a lesser extent, it would be better to concentrate more on real academic research possibilities. In the great scheme of things, everything can be boiled down to "substance" and "fluff." In order to improve the format or concept, I would focus less of fluff and concentrate more on substance. Although I will say that I had "fun" working with YouTube, Flickr, and Podcasts. Sandbox was a downer for me as was ebooks and audio books. I'm not particularly interested in material that comes out as an ebook or an audio book even if I think that ebook is the wave of the future as it relates to publishing.

5. If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate?

I would certainly be interested; it is one of the few ways whereby I could learn about the availability of research possibilities and learning enhancement. I like the idea of collaborative work even if it seems more like a one way street since I'm not technically working with someone on a common project. However, having said that, I am involved in collaborative project as someone else has done all the legwork to help me become a better educator if I take advantage of their own research efforts.

6. How would you describe your learning experience in ONE WORD or ONE SENTENCE, so that we could use your words to promote Classroom Learning 2.0 learning activities?

Even though the idea of Classroom Learning 2.0 is in its infancy, it, nevertheless, constitutes a catalyst for a Paradigm Shift in educational pedagogy as it moves away from stoic individualised learning to a more humanistic collaboration in preparation for a more information centered society.

Week 9 #22 ebooks and audio books

The idea of audio books have been around for a long time. Back before podcasts of books, there were even vinyl recordings of books, especially made for the blind and other people with reading disabilities. The progress made through the years allowed books to be "made to read" as these books progressed from records to tapes and now finally to podcasts among other things. The collection of audio books is quite extensive. Aside from assisting people with reading disabilities to "read" a book, the audio books have opened the door for people who are engaged in driving to and from work or who are taking a long trip, to read a book via audio. As a result, the future of the audio books virtually ensured, not just because it has been around seemingly forever, but also because it continues to be popular to a fairly large audience. The podcasts, just to mention one, continue to make the audio popular. Listening to audio books have become easier as well through the MP3 player, itunes, and even the three G smart phone. As a result one could listen to a book while exercising on a treadmill, running, or walking if one were so inclined.
The ebook also continues to grow as well. When one examines the extensive holdings that are not only available in ebook format currently but also to those books that are in the process of being converted as an ebook, the idea of both the audio book and the ebook of being around for a long time is virtually ensured.
Ebooks are certainly the wave of the future and it will have a profound effect on the literary scene as it relates to copyright and publication. I like the idea of ebook if for no other reason that it could have a major impact on the environment. I find it somewhat amusing that the old cliche has been changed from "save a tree; kill a beaver" to "save a tree; buy an ebook." Whether or not Kindle or the other ereaders will be the most popular tool to read these ebooks remain open to question. In many respects, the smart phone could possibly be the tool that will enable ebooks to continue to advance and spread in popularity. Another aspect that I find exciting about ebooks is not necessarily the total number of ebooks that are available, but also the number of ebooks that are available in a foreign language. While not every ebook is available in all foreign languages, they are available in the most popular ones. The idea of making ebooks available in all foreign languages is largely a void at this point, but the idea of making ebooks available in all languages is an admirable goal and will provide ebooks room for expansion for many years to come.

Week 9 #21 Podcasts

At the rish of sounding trite, podcasts are cool. They are certainly numerous, but they are informative and in many cases they are interesting and informative. I'm convinced one could spend his lifetime listening and viewing podcasts and still not cover all of them all. Educational formats that cover university professors' lectures to first year foreign language programs that deal with a daily word or phrase and even entire first and second year programs, including English as a second language, as well as virtually all academic endeavors represent only a small portion of what is available for the inquiring mind. Podcasts could be useful in the classroom as well since they also deal with science, the environment, physics, nature, politics, history, and global affairs and current events just to mention a few. Depending on the podcast, someone could return to the thrilling years of yesterday by listening to audio (radio) accounts of things that society can and must deal with in the future or he could listen and see a video over things that interest him the most. Podcasts can be very useful as projects for students who want to go the extra mile and create an audio or video of some event that has taken place in real or fictional life. I have often toyed around with the idea of a grammar podcast that would explain one common grammar mistake a day or a week and how to correct it. For example, lie/lay are so confused by the general public that it seems as no one knows the difference or another example of clearing up the common mistake of saying "between you and I" instead of saying "between you and me."
The main idea is that I think students would really get involved in with type of tool because they seem to enjoy working on wikis. This tool would allow them the opportunity to progress from the written word to the world of audio and video.

Week 5 #10 Image Generators

The idea of the Image Generators is a truly fascinating site. The idea of introducing something literary and then having students generate a book jacket, magazine cover, or comic strip design in a effort to protray the basic theme of the literary work could challenge the creativity of the students. In addition, they could also create a picture that could illustrate a particular scene from the novel, the play, the short story, poem, or another genre. After all, if you can read it and imagine it, then you can illustrate it. The students could also "visualize" what the writer or poet, wanted the reader to see at the end of his work. The idea of the old cliche that a picture is worth a thousand words would certainly be appr0priate with Image Generators and The Image Generators contain a wide range of possibilities to cover any potential idea that could be illustrated. In many aspects, students could basically learn that literature can be considered as a slice of life and art, and going hand in hand with literature, art is a pictorial representation of life as well.

Week 9 #20 Discover YouTube and Sites

YouTube and the other video sites are incredible. The videos themselves consist of wide range of topics, easily accessible as a result of the search engines. Content varies from commercials to culture, politics, sports, economics, history...well, you name it and there is some material there to cover your interests.

In researching YouTube, I found two commercials that were especially intriguing, not necessarily because of the content of the commercial but because of the subliminal message that was being aired at the same time. The first was the 1984 commercial by Apple which introduced the McIntosh that year. I'm not so sure that the date wasn't intentional since it is reminiscent of the novel 1984. The year of big brother which heralded in a new wave of technology that was to replace the antiquated computer system of that day. At the beginning the user saw a large crowd looking at a giant screen which showed a person spouting forth the traditional propaganda of the establishment. As he spoke, a young woman comes in waving a sledge hammer. As she is chased by a large group of officers, she spins around and releases the sledgehammer, which obliterates the giant screen into tiny particles of glass slivers. Without revealing any information about the product, how is was designed, what it was supposed to do, the voice simply announces that Apple will introduce MacIntosh in 1984. In a sense, YouTube and the others are in the process of revolutionizing the spectrum of computer uses as well as redefining the purpose of the internet. I find it ironic in a sense that the 1984 commercial would be as appropriate and as futuristic today as it was twenty-five years ago.




The other YouTube commercial dealt with the talking baby advertising E-Trade. Once again, it was was not the content of the commercial so much as it was all about the subliminal message. The commercial shows a baby wearing a golf sun visor in a men's locker room at some country club. The baby, who is in the forefront of the commerical, is talking to an older golfer in the background. It is obvious that the baby has just defeated the older gentleman in a game of "skins" on the golf course. The subliminal message, which is quite clear, in a not so subtle way that the new generation has arrived on the scene and is in the process of taking over. Although the elder gentleman complains about the baby moving his golf ball, the baby curtly tells the man to "read the rules." Once again the message is clear: the new generation (i.e., web 2.0) has played by the rules and in the process is changing the landscape, pushing the envelope, and in the process will dramatically change the face and the character of the internet. Both commericals in a rather arrogant way seem to serve notice to the establishment that they are the new boy on the block and as a result, the old order will vaporize. In essence it will redesign and rejuvenate the old establishment which has become somewhat stale.

Week 8 #19 Library Thing

Library Thing is not something I would be interested in, especially since I don't care anything at all about cataloging books and I am not thrilled at the idea of social networking about books in general. While Library Thing could be of use for small libraries where each library catalogs its holdings so that other libraries would know what those holdings are, there is no reason for me to list the holdings in my own personal library. I am surrounded by those books that I am extremely interested in every time I enter my computer room; I don't need a list to remind what I have. In addition, I'm not particularly interested in social networking with other people who might share similiar interests in books that I like to read. In addition, I seriously doubt that anyone could get freshmen in high school to catalog any books they may have in their personal library, nor do I suspect that they would be remotely interested in sharing ideas about those books using the Library Thing format. This idea would be least attractive to them since they would more than likely use some other social networking tool such as Facebook or MySpace, etc.
While there may be some useful academic purpose in Library Thing, I'm not convinced that one could not find that same academic information using another source. However, the main reason for Library Thing doesn't appear to be academic per se; it seems to be a tool whereby one can get his library holdings cataloged so that anyone else may see what is in his library while at the same time affording that person the opportunity to get in touch with someone else with similar interests. That way anyone could read about books that someone else has already read and decide for himself whether or not he would want to check out another book that deals with that subject.