Reflections on Web 2.0...

Yes “I’m blogging this!”...literally and it seems like everyone else is too!

Before this course, I knew nothing of Web 2.0.  Hitting up good old Wikipedia helped me to get a better sense of what Web 2.0 is about.  The first sentence of the Wikipedia page on Web 2.0 is: “The term Web 2.0 is commonly associated with web applications that facilitate interactive information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design, and collaboration on the World Wide Web.”  Through my exploration of the Web 2.0 world, I have been nothing but astounded by the amount of quality information people are willing to share online today.  Web 2.0 is fostering collaboration and sharing between internet users from around the globe.  2.0 tools are becoming the norm online and more-than-ever everyday users are not only consuming, but also contributing to the information available online.  The internet and our society has been changed forever thanks to Web 2.0.

Reflections on Learning about Web 2.0

While I didn’t realise it, I was consuming Web 2.0 long before starting this course.  I would hit up YouTube, Facebook and Wikipedia on a regular basis for information and entertainment.  Google searches would bring me to Slideshare, Flickr and numerous blogs and wikis – however I didn’t always understand what I was viewing.  I didn’t understand that the information I was viewing wasn’t necessarily created by a large organization or a tech-savvy individual, but by people just like me.  Not only that, I didn’t understand the collaborative nature of these tools – their most valuable aspect and defining characteristic.  Taking this course has helped me to appreciate the collaborative nature of today’s internet and how this shift has shaped and continues to shape life as we know it.

Learning about these Web 2.0 tools was filled with highs and lows.  Like all learners, I experienced an affective response to my learning experience and had emotions of elation and frustration, often within the same week!  No one tool was more challenging than the other, however some tools I found more “inspiring” than others.  I particularly enjoyed learning to use the presentation and multimedia tools such as Prezi and Animoto as they were simple to use, yet created impressive results.  I also appreciated learning about Wikis and have employed them since learning about them - I love their ease of use and convenience.  Learning about these tools challenged me to jump in and experiment with them, something I haven’t been comfortable doing with technology in the past.  I am happy to report that exploring these tools hasn’t resulted in any long-term computer mishaps and has actually increased my confidence using online software.  Ironically, when I ran into trouble, I found myself resorting to Web 2.0 tools for guidance, often searching out YouTube for tutorials or Google’ing questions which brought me to blogs and wikis with my answers to my questions!  This course has improved my confidence in my ability to use technology as well as boosted my confidence in the internet as a whole. 

While learning about these tools has been valuable and I will take what I have learned and apply it to my teaching practice, I believe that the greatest lessons I learned though this course were lessons about learning.  Now that I am more confident working online, I will be more inclined to explore new tools as they emerge - I have had enough experience exploring new technologies to be confident exploring more.  I will remember the experience I had in the course being brand-new to most of these tools and navigating my way through them.    It’s hard to push fears aside and try new things out.  I was scared starting this course wondering if I could keep up, while I learned that I could, I had to work hard to do so.  I so much appreciated having the Trailfires to refer back to when working with each week’s tool(s).  The Trailfires offered a sort of scaffolding, I was able to use them to get started and/or when I needed support.  As a teacher/TL I need to remember to offer this kind of support to my students when they are working with new technologies (or anything new for that matter).  Because the Trailfire was there for those of us who wanted to refer to it, but not required for us to use, it was a necessary support for independent learning.  Another important lesson I learned through this course is that changing thinking and altering routines takes time and is a process – even when you’re trying really hard!  Students need to be given time to adopt new tools and ways of thinking.  Learning new things and working with new technologies is time consuming and tiring.  Students need to be given the opportunity to “play” with these tools before we expect them to use them for learning.  I am happy I had the opportunity to try out and reflect on these tools in this course before employing them in my own teaching and learning.

Reflections on Web 2.0, My Personal Life & Learning

I look forward to employing Web 2.0 in my personal life and learning.  That being said, I don’t really have a choice in the matter as Web 2.0 is the way the world is going!  Internet users are not only consuming but increasingly contributing to the information available online.  As an individual and a student, I would be doing myself a disservice by not incorporating Web 2.0 tools into my life.  As I mentioned earlier, it will take time for me to fully adopt Web 2.0 into my routines and thinking, however I am dedicated and motivated to do so.  With Web 2.0, grass-roots movements have been created and promoted and dialogue between people from around the world has become the norm.  Web 2.0 is changing the way we obtain and assess information.

In my personal life I can see myself using Web 2.0 tools to share with family and friends, find information and for entertainment.  Having been enlightened to tools such as Flickr, Blogger and YouTube, I no longer have to struggle with emailing pictures and videos to my family and friends.  The convenience of such tools is a wonderful advantage to using them, and I’m sure my family and friends will appreciate my using them!  I have been fascinated by how Web 2.0 tools such as Flickr, Twitter, Facebook and Blogger have all been known to break news before the mainstream media has.  Not only that, these armature journalists are reporting from a more authentic viewpoint than mainstream journalists can. No longer does news “break” on CNN, people with camera phones are reporting on events long before CNN (or any other media organization) can dispatch a crew!  I appreciate the genuine perspective amateur journalists provide and look forward to following amateur journalism through Web 2.0 tools in the future.  In my world, Web 2.0 tools cannot be discussed without acknowledging their entertainment value.  My first experiences with Web 2.0 tools was for recreation, and I still enjoy using them for this purpose.  YouTube and Facebook remain my favourite Web 2.0 tools for recreation; however I have enjoyed reading a few blogs for leisure, on my favourite hobbies: cooking and horses.  Web 2.0 tools are diverse and thus can be used in many aspects of my personal life.  I look forward to employing Web 2.0 tools for entertainment, information and to share my life with my friends and family.

The skills that I have gained through this course are skills imperative for life-long learning in the 21^st Century.  Increasingly, internet users are contributing to the information online through Web 2.0 tools.  These tools are unique as they offer users the opportunity to collaborate, share and discuss issues and ideas.  This collaborative element of Web 2.0 has the greatest impact on learning.  As I journey through this TL-DL program, I find the resources available to me growing exponentially.  The mere fact that a blog post or Tweet can stir up numerous debates and discussions creates a opportune, yet meaningful learning environment.  Even more exciting, through Web 2.0 tools such as blogging, Twitter, YouTube, TeacherTube, LinkedIn and Del.icio.us and many others, I can learn and share my learning with others from around the world.

The Web 2.0 tools that I have found most helpful when conducting research have been varied, however I am beginning to find my favourites.  I frequently search out Del.ico.us for bookmarks on particular topics.  I find going through Del.icio.us tends to weed out most of the “virtual clutter” that’s out there and points me in the direction of the best sites.  In a more general sense, the blogs I’m following on Google Reader have been a great resource for general information and keeping me up-to-date.  I do appreciate that Google Reader allows users to search past blog entries for certain terms, which I have done weekly when working on these posts.  Twitter and LinkedIn have opened my eyes to the power of professional dialogue and what I can learn from it.  These sites give insight to the different opinions surrounding various issues.  I have used Twitter and LinkedIn mostly for building background knowledge as I try to solidify my thinking for these posts. 

Internet research isn’t something I’m new to, however using Web 2.0 tools to show my learning is.  I am excited to use tools such as Animoto, YouTube and Prezi as well as blogs, wikis and podcasts to present my assignments throughout this program.  Seeing that this program is conducted completely online, these tools are of particular convenience.  Furthermore, I have learned that these tools are not only easy to use, but produce impressive results!  Picking the right tool to showcase my learning will be the biggest challenge as there are so many tools to choose from!

Reflections on Web 2.0 in our Schools

Web 2.0 tools have a place in our schools for both staff and student uses.  2.0 tools are characterized by their collaborative nature making them an especially powerful tool for teaching, learning and professional development.  I am looking forward to integrating Web 2.0 tools into my own professional development and using them with my students.  Teachers and students alike can learn from Web 2.0 tools as well as use them to share their learning, thinking and collaborate with others. 

My exploration into these Web 2.0 tools has taught me that professional development and Web 2.0 tools go hand-in-hand.  The collaborative nature of Web 2.0 tools elevates the professional development potential in these tools as educators can communicate and collaborate with others easily and effectively.  The practicality of Web 2.0 tools is another reason they make sense to employ for Pro-D in our schools.  The article, ”Professional Learning 2.0”, published in Educational Leadership Journal reminds us that, in “using these Web 2.0 tools, any member of the learning organization can post information and resources to which everyone has access.”  Furthermore, these resources are available anywhere with internet access, enabling teachers and other staff members greater flexibility as to where they work.

The challenge of getting our school staffs on-board with using Web 2.0 tools lies in getting them comfortable these tools.  I believe that as school leaders, teachers/TLs need to start by modelling the use of Web 2.0 tools for professional development.  An easy way for school leaders to expose colleagues to the value in Web 2.0 tools would be to create a wiki with links to interesting YouTube videos, blogs, professional social networking sites (i.e. LinkedIn) and podcasts offering professional resources useful to teachers in the school.  In doing so, our colleagues would gain exposure to useful internet resources and begin to understand the collaborative nature of Web 2.0.  As colleagues become comfortable using the wiki, they could begin to add their comments, links and ideas to it.   

Over time, school staffs will become more comfortable with using Web 2.0 and hopefully some of these tools would become part of the school’s communication routines.  At this point, these tools could be employed to collaborate with others educators at the district, community, national and international level.  This is the most powerful aspect of these tools.  I believe that many teachers would find the informal professional development offered by Web 2.0 tools to be useful, of surprising depth and fun to participate in.  The best tools I found for professional development were education-related blogs, LinkedIn and Twitter.  All of these tools require minimal time to keep up with and offer great opportunities for professional sharing and collaboration.  I look forward to employing Web 2.0 tools into my own professional development and inspiring other teachers to use it in theirs.

Once school staffs understand the potential of Web 2.0 and are familiar with using it, they can begin to incorporate it into their teaching.  Most students are comfortable and most engaged when working with technology and thus welcome Web 2.0 tools into their classrooms.  According to the article “Using Web 2.0 to Support the Active Learning Experience” in the Journal of Information Systems Education, research indicates that because using technology is so second-nature to today’s children, they actually think and express themselves differently than children from a generation ago - kids today work better with technology than without it.  Using these tech tools for teaching and learning is not only engaging but also very comfortable for today’s kids.  In allowing them to learn from and express themselves through the use of Web 2.0 tools, we are setting our students up for success.

All of the Web 2.0 tools we learned about have potential for students at the middle and high school levels to use and learn from.  Tools such as Twitter and Social Bookmarking are useful for students grade 6-10, however aren’t useful for younger students as they are too complicated.  Blogging, Podcasting, Social Networking, Photo Sharing, Video Sharing and Presentation/Multimedia tools are all engaging tools that students at all levels can use successfully (younger children with support).  These tools can be used to learn and to demonstrate learning.

Blogging is the tool I see myself using most with my students in the future.  Blogging is especially useful because the blogosphere is so vast.  Students can not only create blogs (very easily!), but also learn from the millions of blogs out there.  In the article, “3 for 3” published in T.H.E., Web 2.0’er Steve Hargadon champions blogs and blogging as they have made it easy to have conversations on the web through simple technology that allows for privacy settings, making them very practical for use in our schools.  He also mentions that because many people (parents and students included) are familiar with blogging it makes for an easy adoption and integration of this tool. 

Life is changing rapidly with the advances in technology and thus, the skills our students need in to be successful in the 21^st Century are different than those a decade ago.  It is our job as educators to ensure we are doing our best to prepare our students for the future.  On one of his blog posts on, “e-learning & distance education resources”, Tony Bates lists the skills and competencies he believes are paramount for 21^st Century learning and working:

-good communication skills (reading, writing, speaking, listening)

-ability to learn independently

-social skills (ethics, positive attitude, responsibility)

-teamwork skills, collaborative learning, networking

-ability to adapt to changing circumstances

-thinking skills (problem-solving; critical, logical, numerical skills)

-knowledge navigation

-entrepreneurship (taking initiative, seeing opportunities)

-digital literacy

Bates is "bang-on" with his list however, I have often thought about this notion of 21^st Century skills and reflected on the fact that much of our curriculum, doesn’t emphasise these skills.  Web 2.0 can be used to teach the curriculum simultaneous to these essential skills.  The very collaborative and global nature of Web 2.0 fosters teamwork, problem solving, worldwide awareness and social skills.  Web 2.0 tools can be used to expose the world to our students, while giving them a vehicle for expressing their thoughts and ideas to the world.  Empowering our students through Web 2.0 is not only engaging, but also very effective in maximizing student learning and success...