Innovations2009 Part One

Engage Your Students With

Free Web 2.0 Tools

Britt Watwood, Ed.D.Virginia Commonwealth University

Welcome !

Some initial thoughts on instructional technology…

“I believe that the motion picture is destined to revolutionize our education system and that in a few years it will supplant largely, if not entirely, the use of textbooks.”

~Thomas Edison (1922))

"New technologies are always used to do old tasks--until some driving force causes them to be used in new ways."

~Marshall McLuhan

How Have Recent Changes on the Web Opened Up Opportunities for

Teaching and Learning?

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Today’s Web• Unprecedented access to information• Freely available web-based tools• New publishing opportunities• User generated filtering, organization &

distribution • Web experience dominated by creation,

interaction and participation…the social web

What do we know about Today’s students?

ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2008

• Fifth consecutive year of study• 27,317 Freshmen, seniors and

community college students• 98 Higher education institutions

Educause Center for Applied Research

Student ComputerInternet Activity

• Average use of electronic devices exceeds 19 hours / week

– Community College students: 14.8 hrs

• 99.9% send and read email• 98.6% write documents for course

work• 94.7% search the web &

institutional library • 91.7% create presentations

Student Computer / Internet Activity

• 86.4% online shopping• 73.8% send instant messages• 82.3 % use course management system• 85.2% online social network (Facebook)• 78.3% play computer games • 38.2% access / use wikis• 32.7% create web pages • 34.1% blogging

Student Preferences for IT use in Courses

Small

Loosely

Pieces

Joined

Who Here Saves Websites?

Favorites Bookmarks

Making Meaning From TagsWordcloud based onGettysburg Address

It’s deliciously simple!

Find WebsiteYou Like

&Click “TAG”

Add Comments

Add Tags

Suggested Tags

Your Network

Saved By 170 Other…

Note

Social Connections

Interconnections betweenGabriela

Grosseck, Eduardo Pierano,

and myself

http://twoantennas.com/projects/delicious-network-explorer/

= Organization

Who Here Reads Newspapers?

How Does One Read a Newspaper?

RSS is like reading newspaper

What is RSS?

From “Push” to “Pull”

RSS in Plain English

http://snipurl.com/1w8wi

• Need Google Account• This also gives you:

– Google Docs– Gmail (but different

account from school domain)

– Calendar– Google Apps

“My” Google Reader

133,000,000blogs

How Could Blogs Be Used Instructionally?

Blogs

Wikis

LMS Content

How Could Micro-Blogging Be Used Instructionally?

Do Small PiecesLoosely Joined

Have Instructional

Potential?

Our Website: http://innov2009freewebtools.wetpaint.com

Break