EXPLORING Web 2.0

CEI- UFMG

Task 8 - Group 3Caroline Amaral

Luciana Maia

Luciano Valadares

Mauricio Horto

 

Reference: Exploring Web 2.0:: Second Generation Interactive Tools - Blogs, Podcasts, Wikis, Networking, Virtual Words, And More Ann Bell

1.What is Revolution Web 2.0 ( pronounced web two

point Oh) ?• It’s a change in the way people in general ,

( and groups such as business people, students and teachers) are using the Internet nowadays.

• The Web is becoming a “programming platform that allows casual computers users to create software applications of their own.”

 

2. When did the concept of Web 2.0 begin?

It began with Tim O´Reilly and Medialive International in 2004.

“The phrase Web 2.0 came to refer to a perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosted services aimed to facilitate collaboration and sharing between users….”

3. What are the main features?

• Many of its service are based on the OpenSource format (Which enables anyone to make changes or remix a program);

• Users no longer need to be concerned about expensive licensing agreements;

3. What are the main features?

Web users with no programming skills can use their online creations.

 

Web is viewed as a “microcontent”, which is “the content blocks can be saved, summarized, addressed, copied, quoted and built into new projects.” (Alexander33)

4. The best definition of Web 2.0 is given by Tim O´Reilly:

 “Web 2.0 is the network as platform, spanning all

connected devices: Web 2.0 applications are those that make the most of the intrinsic advantages of that platform: delivering software as a continually updated service that gets better the more people use it, consuming and remixing data from multiple sources, including individual users, while providing their own data and services in a form that allows remixing by others, creating network effects through an “architecture of participation” and going beyond the page metaphor of Web 1.0 to deliver rich user experiences”

• (http://radar.orell.com/archives/2005/10/web-20-compact-definition.html)

6. Services involved in Web 2.0:It all revolves around Data

• Technology Stream: Underlying infrastructure. Includes service-oriented architectures (SOA) such as feeds, RSS, Web Services, and Mashups.

• Application Stream includes Rich Internet Applications (RIA), which are desktop-like services and applications that are used on the Internet. Applications will be more and more delivered as a service through the web.

• The socialization stream: User participation and contribution on the web. The social web includes tagging, Wikis, podcasting, vodcasting and blogging.

IMPACT OF WEB 2.0

The new trend is affecting all users:

. Easier navigation;

. More precision for your search queries;

. Seamless navigation, without interruptions of your activity;

. Customization according to your preferences and needs;

. Easier communication with colleagues, professional organizations, friends, etc.;

. Co-authoring contents and putting your knowledge to use.

EXPLORING Web 2.0

SPEED OF READING INCREASED

Reading on the internet requires two skills:

1. Quick analysis to find what is worth reading (key words, subheading, etc..)

2. Slow analysis which is a deeper analysis into the importance of information that has been retrieved

 DEVELOP HIGHER ORDER

THINKING SKILLS

• (1956): Bloom’s taxonomy divided thinking skills into lower-order and higher-order knowledge.

• (1990´s): Lorin Anderson : Bloom´s concept was updated reflecting relevance to 21st century

DEVELOP HIGHER ORDER THINKING SKILLS

“ The use of Web 2.0 applications can be excellent instructional tools to assist learners in moving up the ladder toward higher-order thinking skills from remembering, to understanding, to applying, to analyzing, to evaluating, to finally creating, the ultimate strength and purpose of the newer applications.” (pg 7, Exploring web 2.0)

INCREASED PARTICIPATION AND CREATIVITY

Interactivity is the main feature of most new online tools allowing users to use participation and creativity;

CURRENT RETRIEVAL UPDATED

Web 2.0 services are organized in reverse chronological order, orientating users to the present moment and at the same time allowing for further searches;

KEEPING STUDENTS SAFE

• Students and parents have the challenge of balancing safety of the child with the benefits offered online.

• Safety has to do with responsibility, appropriateness and common sense.

• Teachers role is to instruct and teach what is acceptable and what is not.

• At the same time schools need to evaluate sites in order to make decisions about their appropriateness or not, define who is the audience and set the correct parameters to avoid unexpected privacy and issues.

Blogging

Chapter 6

What is a blog?

• A blog is a Web site in which items are posted on a regular basis and displayed in reverse chronological order (the last posts appear first).

• It consists of - text, hypertext, images, links (to other Web pages, to video, audio, etc.)

• WEB + LOG = BLOG

What is a blog?

Read-only Web Sites Blogs

 

Built on static chunks Not static / Commenting features

(readers interact with the blogger)

Types or genres of blog:

• Personal diary• News blog• Activist blogs• Political blogs• Education blogs• Technology blogs• Corporate and industry blogs• Celebrities and gossip blogs• Hobby blogs

Anatomy of a blog

Common characteristics:

• A subject or header• A body or content section• A comment section• A time and date stamp

Other features:

• Trackbacks – if you enable posts to receive trackbacks, you are going to be notified whenever someone talks about your blog.

• Permalink – it’s a permanent URL that is generated by the blogging system and is applied to each individual post.

• Blogroll – a list of links to other blogs that a particular blogger likes of finds useful.

Locating Blogs

A number of search engines specialize strictly in locating information on blogs. Examples:

• http://blogsearch.google.com - blogserach.google• http://www.ysearchblog.com - Yahoo! Blog Search • http://www.icerocket.com - IceRocket • http://samepoint.com - SamePoint• http://technorati.com - Thecnorati

The last one (Technorati) is probably the most powerful (You can filter search results for posts with “a lot of authority”, “some authority”, or “a little authority).

Evaluating Blogs

Some hints:• Read the blog in its entirety.• Follow the links (to see if the blogger follows “interesting”

links).• Keep in mind: There are few authorities you can trust

(some of them may mislead you).• Learn to recognize whom to trust (sites that mislead you

once will likely mislead you again). • You need to check facts and ignore the appearances

(ignore flowery layouts, good appearances, etc.).• Question all statistics presented (generalizations are

often untrustworthy).

Choosing Blogging Software and Hosts

There are two primary ways of setting up blog:

1- Use an online Web-based application (the easiest way to begin blogging – requires no technical skills and is very simple to set up and maintain):

• Blogger (www.blogger.com)• WordPress.com (www.wordpress.com)• Typepad (www.typepad.com)

Example of a blog created in WordPress:

www.funglish.com.br

  This is a blog created in order to show the parents what the teacher is doing inside the classroom. Besides that, it’s an interesting space in which students can leave their comments. This site provides the opportunity to post photos, pictures and many other things too.

The maintenance of this site is very simple and easy. The own blogger can modify it in few minutes.

Choosing Blogging Software and Hosts

2- Use a more complex, but more flexible way:

Download blogging software and install it on your own server or through your own contracted service.

• Movable Type (http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype)

• WordPress.org (http://wordpress.org)

Choosing Blogging Software and Hosts

When choosing a blogging software and host, the audience of the blog site needs to be taken into account:

• Less “professional” blogs (more for young people):

LiveJournal (http://www.livejournal.com)

Xanga (http://xanga.com)• Classroom Blogging Systems (More “professional” blogs - used for

classrooms / educators):

EduBlogs (http://edublogs.org) – provides wikis, e-portfolios, collaborative class work, online journaling, discussion, problem-based learning, or social constructivist learning.

EduBlogger (http://edublogger.org/) – innovative teaching tool. Integrates blogging, education, and teacher responsibilities.

Choosing Blogging Software and Hosts

ClassBlogMeister (http://classblogmeister.com) – teacher can evaluate, comment on, and finally publish student’s blog articles in a controlled environment (this blog enables students to write for an authentic audience).

 

NovemberLearning (http://nlcommunities.com) – creates global connections across school curriculum (also gives students an opportunity to publish to an authentic audience).

Gaggle Blogs (http://www.gaggle.net) – provides teachers free filtered e-mail and blog accounts.

• Microsoft has just released a blog software:

Windows Live Writer (http://get.live.com/writer) – HTML source-code editing; web preview mode; photo publishing; map publishing.

 

Have you blogged today yet?

Professional Use of Blogs

• Blogs are not only for classroom purposes. They also are very useful to communicate internally the school.

• School committees and groups can share relevant information fast and efficiently through the blogs.

• Teachers can develop, coordinate and share lesson plans, worksheets as well as projects.

• Blogs can be used as a building block for a school website. They are easier to deal with and update.

• They can be used as FAQ page, ongoing updates about school matters.

• The outside community can have easier access and be closer to the school thought its blogs.

How to write meaningful blog entries

Basic considerations for maintaining an effective blog:• Provide a constant theme for your blog;• Choose a consistent voice. Serious and down on earth, or funny?

Only Proper grammar use, or slangs sometimes?;• Show honesty and sincerity;• Be informative and up to date;• Differentiate between facts and opinions;• Double check spelling, grammar and punctuation;• Select short keywords-rich title;• Update frequently;• Find a good maintained RSS feed;• Select tags that best reflect the purposes of the blog;• Select category labels that best describes the blog.

Advantages of blogs in the classroom

• The ability to use RSS feeds that keep educators and students up to dates. New information or content published on blogs already visited is informed automatically.

Blogs also can: • teach critical reading and writing skills;• help students become more media and information literate;• teach students about how networks function;• teach essential skill collaboration;• help pupils develop confidence, improve their self-

expression, and achieve a sense of fulfillment from publishing their work

Examples of blogs in the classroom

we are....a group of Year 7s (aged 11, 12)

from Bucklands Beach Intermediate School, in Auckland,

New Zealand. We are girls and boys that have

different opinions on different things.

We are reading Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian in our

Literature Circles.Follow our journey as we read

this emotional book about life in World War 2.

Please comment on our work and give us feedback.

http://goodnightmistertom.blogspot.com/

http://duckdiaries.edublogs.org/

The Duck Diaries won an award! It appears that we’ve been awarded the special

Edublog Star Award (Convenors choice) as part of the Annual 2006 Edublog

Awards! To check out all of the winners and nominees, go to 

http://www.incsub.org/awards/

Examples of blogs in the classroom

Blog safety

“ Educators need the freedom to provide guidance and model the proper use of blogs for their students. Our young people will live in a world where they will have access to increasingly more powerful communications tools and it is the responsibility of the schools to teach them how to manage the power of these 21st century tools.”

Ann Bell (Author)

 

Some safeguards teachers and parents need ensure to their students and children:

• no personal information will be given;• students should write what they can be proud of and

under password protection;• not linking to a site they have not read yet and do not

agree with;• that they understand copyright issues; • that they do not distort the content of copyright photos;• that they do not show disrespect to anyone in their blogs;• never publish inaccurate information;• that they clarify what is opinion and what is fact.

The Networked Teacher

Summary

• Blogs can become important tools in professional development, training, peer collaboration, sharing best practices, and communication with people in general.

• Many schools and businesses are finding blogs a more effective way to communicate as well as more cost-effective then previous online methods.