Changes made by Web 2.0 technology could have a definite effect on our lives. When you think about the first video in the assignment the first words that appear are "text is linear" but "digital text is different."
This reminds me of the first experiences I had with the internet in the 1990's, where some basic HTML coding changed the way that I looked at things altogether, and waiting 10 minutes for a page of text to load information about movies, baseball, or politics was something that was just cool.
However, as the second video pointed out, web 2.0 allows us to do many of these same things but only now with personalization or flash and pizzaz. We can add video or sound content and link the data across the world on blogs, wikis, and podcasts. We are seeing the dawn of the creative internet in web 2.0.
Tim Berhners-Lee (http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/podcast/dwi/cm-int082206txt.html) talks of the web 2.0 technology being nothing more that "what the web was meant to be anyway" and I think that is what the appeal is with the amount of user driven content...we have progressed from the World Wide Web being something that no one owned to Web 2.0 making the intenet into something that we can all stake a claim to...the internet has become ours...and for a change we have a clue what to do with it.
if you look at the types of technology that are in play- between podcasts, blogs, wikis, social networking sites, and other content driven delivery you can see where there is potential for massive change in the educational system as well. One of the largest criticisms of the current educational system is that "cookie cutter" approach to where lessons and ideas are taught from the top down...with little input from the students. We have students learning lessons which are often times less and less relevant to their situations.
I believe the oportunity of web 2.0 is that the technologies position themselves to support and encourage critical thinking and understanding of issues and ideas. Web based podcasts and videos can show and inspire creative thinking about ideas and spur the type of question and response that simple debate without stimulus cannot. I think that this technology allows us to expand not only our grasp of educatonal topics...but the depth of them as well.
We are indeed beginning, as the video states, to practice new and creative ways to be free and equal human beings. In my eyes, this is the reason for education in the first place. If web 2.0 technology can spur that for all people...I am all for it.
More to come...Russ
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2 comments:
It's all about empowerment, isn't it, Russ? I mean, the idea that students can add to curriculum by the way of collaborating and contributing to online work is a great opportunity, I think.
I'm glad you added that link by Tim Berners-Lee. After all, he did start all this, right?? :) I recently read a proceeding of his on the future of the web. It was an interesting talk and not filled with out-of-touch gibberish that I have found with some future thinkers.
I, too, am all for using Web 2.0 technologies, but only with proper training in how best to implement the technologies into curriculum. We seem to have a lot of the same interests and thoughts in common! :)
~Lisa
Russ,
I am definitely not familiar with Tim Berners-Lee. Could you take a minute to tell me more about him?
This is the first time I have looked at your blog, and I was amused by your title. It is similar to mine in tone.
I appreciated your point that using web technology fosters critical thinking. I can see where this would really be true, but I also agree with Lisa that teacher-training is essential.
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