Captain's Log, Stardate: 10/04.
This week finds me, dear reader, on an exploration of online education and Web 2.0 tools – whatever that means.
HECK! (Scratching my head:) And to think I was JUST getting used to Web 1... Ummm... ONE… POINT… something…, something…, (Something alphabetical?) One point tools. I dunno; I forget. (Lost in thought; now remembering in a brief, albeit fleeting moment of clarity:) Ohhh… That’s RIGHT! Web 1.0 tools. (Sorry; this vernacular of distance-learning is new to me.) I guess I shouldn't lament the past. (Now clearing throat:) AHEM! Let's try this again. (Brief pause.) This week finds me, dear reader, on an exploration of online education and Web 2.0 tools. (WHEW!) So, like, fasten your virtual seat belts, folks, we're BOLDLY going where no man has..., etc. YOU know the rest.
So what are Web 2.0 tools, you ask?
If you’re reading this, you probably already know. Or, if you’re reading this, you may NOT; after all, I did make this blog “public” – whatever that means. (But that’s the stuff of another post.)
Web 2.0 tools, among many things I’m told, allow a user – like you and me (but preferably “you”; it seems you’re more adept at this than I) - to make a progressive shift from being a “consumer” to a “producer” of Web content - content that is, for our collective educational intents and purposes, academic in context.
Neat! So how do they work, you ask - these Web 2.0 tools?
Well, perhaps that's best explained by way of example.
To show you these tools at work, here’s what I’ve discovered thus far (while wrestling with the aforementioned definition): an online tool that takes a social approach to education - "Schoology.com" (www.schoology.com). (Think: John Hughes as founder of facebook.)
As a Web 2.0 primer, Schoology.com, according to its website mission statement, “combines social networking and learning management to easily help its users create and share academic content” for K-12 and Higher Education, and allows teachers and administrators to sign up for a free account.
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| Schoology - YOUR Digital Classroom |
See for yourself; give it a whirl...
(I know I will.)
Live long and prosper, in this Web 2.0 galaxy.
(I know I will.)
Live long and prosper, in this Web 2.0 galaxy.
I absolutely loved this post, I have said it once, and I will most likely say it many more times, your way with words are incredible. As I was reading, you definitely kept me entertained and I really wanted to know exactly what the heck this web 2.0 thing really is! I went on Schoology’s website to learn a little more about it, it was great to see that everything from grade books to a class web page can be created using this free too. I also think it is great that if this is implemented in schools, the schools can have control over what is listed in their private social network while giving the students to have the opportunity to blog and post their own announcements for clubs or fundraisers. There are so many controversial current issues going on with student/teacher relationships via facebook and twitter, this tool can bring that to a halt being that it is controlled and moderated. This is one that I will have to bookmark for future use
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