The Read/Write Web:
Before 1989, the internet was not much more than a small network of people communicating behind closed doors. It was used mostly by researchers, and government officials who communicated using text and data. Tim Berners-Lee was the inventor of the internet. He started development of the internet, also called the world wide web in 1989, but it wasn’t until 1993 that his dream to expand the internet become reality when he developed the first Mosaic Web Browser. Web 2.0 is the "new" modern internet. It wasn’t until then, when the internet became more than just a bunch of codes and numbers. It became a space where colors and graphics of information were made accessible to the world.
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| My 4 year old son playing an online educational learning game that I downloaded for himon my itouch |
Today, everybody has the ability to contribute their piece-their opinions, their ideas, and their feelings, and so on for the world to see. Everybody in our world is living in what author Douglas Rushkoff calls a “society of authorship”. We all have the opportunity to showcase our talents, whether it’s in writing stories, poetry, writing music, etc. I believe we have been given this amazing opportunity to really show the world who we are, and to live in unity, as one, by contributing our own information and knowledge for the world to access, and in real time.
The use of the read/write web has no doubt expanded the ways in which our children gain their education.
Ways which include:
· Weblogs (blogs)
· Wiki’s
· RSS (aggregators)
· Social Websites (facebook, ning, etc.)
· Flickr
· Podcasting
To name a few… and all of which, I will go more into detail about later on.
The internet is to me (metaphorically) a box full of opportunity. It is filled with online tools made available to students and educators, as well as others. It is filled with ideas, knowledge, passion, and talent. The internet is a digital instructor, who specializes in whatever you decide to type into search engines such as google.
But, along with the long list of pros that come with the internet, there are cons to it as well. Learning to keep yourself, and (when using it for educational purposes) your students safe online is to me, the most important factor to take into serious consideration. With the development and growth of the internet came the development and growth of online scammers/predators. Each person using the internet must know what measures to take in order to keep him or herself safe online. Acts such as the Child Internet Protection Act (CIPA) is required by schools and libraries, and helps to filter content that is accessible through the internet. Acts such as the CIPA aid in keeping our students safe online.
Weblogs:
A weblog is a website that is made available to the entire world via the internet. It is easily accessible, easily updateable, and is create-able by just about anybody.
Blog-writing comes with many benefits. It allows students to think more in-depth into what they are writing, and what they are reading; adding their own critique to whatever it is they are reading. It also allows the students to take into account their use of grammar, punctuation, and their sentence structure, knowing that they will be writing for an “audience”. Blog-writing, in other words, promotes critical and analytical thinking, as well promotes deeper thoughts into connecting with others. It also encourages comparative thinking. “Blogging” allows for the combination of both solitary reflection, and social interaction. In a way, bloggers are spending their evenings, enjoying some “me” time, all the while, engaging with others at the same time.
There are many ways that blogs can be useful when integrated into the class program.
To name a few:
· Blogs can be used as a class portal. A place where teachers can publish class information, and students have a place to continuously access the information, as well as post his or her assignments and so on
· Blogs can also be used as an online filing cabinet. Students have a place to archive their work, which also means students can never misplace their work. All of their work is organized into one place.
· Blogs can be used as an e-portfolio. A place to archive and highlight notable information about the student’s successes, interests, and so on. Having an online portfolio allows for more creativity because it gives the student the option of including videos, podcasts and so on.
· Weblogs are also a space where students can collaborate with others around the world. This opens up many doors for new information to come in.
I think that blog-use is an excellent way to expand one’s learning. It is a new and modern style of learning that comes with many benefits. It opens the walls of the classroom.
Wikis:
A wiki is a website where anyone can edit online information, anytime they want. There are several ways that a wiki can be integrated into the school system, and like a weblog, wikis can be used to create an online text for a curriculum that both students and teachers can contribute to. Wikis also allow for further collaboration with other’s outside of their environment, as well, also allow students to be creative. Because wikis are create-able by anybody, they give the students the feeling of “owning” a site.
Wikipedia.org is an online encyclopaedia that anybody, anywhere with an internet connection can edit, and add to. It is probably the most important site on the web. It is described as the website that is attempting to store the “sum of all human knowledge”. Sounds pretty powerful if I must say so myself.
I think that wikis are a great way to keep new information/knowledge flowing. The following website; Educational Wikis provides examples of different wikis that are used educationally. My personal favourite was the wiki that teaches Spanish to anybody who may want to learn the basics of speaking Spanish. Another wiki that caught my eye was David Spencer's Canadian Inukshuk; an informational wiki about Canadian’s and Canada. It includes information about anything from individual provinces to individual people, and even to Canadian symbols. What an great way to expand on our information and knowledge.
RSS (Aggregators):
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) use is an excellent way to keep up to date with new information that is posted on the web. For example, news sites throughout the world are updated every minute. RSS feeds are updated by using a type of software called an aggregator. Basically, the aggregator checks for new feeds that you have subscribed to, and collects all of the new content into one place. It is a great way to stay organized.
Listed in sites such as the RSS Specifications website, you can find many benefits to RSS feeds. Some include blog feeds, forum feeds, and even discounts/specials feeds.
Personally, I probably wouldn’t use RSS feeds too much at home, but for educational or work reasons, I definitely would because I think that it is a great way to stay informed with new information. Students could really benefit with keeping updated and organized with information they may have subscribed to when they have an upcoming project due such as an essay.
Multimedia in Education: Podcasting, Video, Screencasting, and Live Streaming:
The use of multimedia in Education has definitely increased with the development of the world wide web. Podcasters (online radio) and video (or videobloggers) have the ability to create their own amateur shows that they have the ability to distribute/showcase on the internet for the world to see and hear. As well, screencasting (recording yourself with an audio narration to go with it) and live streaming are all possible thanks to the read/write web.
Podcasting in the schools has offered several benefits to its student body. To name a few; for the majority of schools who can’t afford radio stations, they have the option of broadcasting their radio shows via podcasts. As well, podcasting gives students the opportunity to be creative and to contribute their ideas to a larger body of people. It is also an excellent way to archive past work. Podcasting could also be used to teach certain subjects, example: language. The Education Gadfly Show Podcast is a website based on education which offers a 90 second podcast three times weekly on recent education news. This is a great way to keep students and teachers from other areas involved and up to date on new information.
Here is a video podcast called; "Podcasts in the Classroom". The narrator speaks briefly about what a podcast is, as well as the benefits of podcasting in a classroom. I thougth this was a great way to introduce the basics of what a podcast is for those of us future teachers who are just learning about podcasting.
Other ways of utilizing modern media such as video editing/publishing by use of certain sites such as www.youtube.com have allowed students to expand on their learning, and their creativity.
Screencasting is a great way to teach topics in class by way of audio narration. For example, to teach computer skills, a teacher can put together a screencast which includes information about the content via audio narration, or a student can prepare a powerpoint presentation using audio. There are several ways screencasting can be used in the classroom.
Livecasting allows teachers and students the ability to create their own TV shows online. This could be used as way to educate others about certain topics by way of acting, or even just teaching to an audience.
Flickr:
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| We have access to knowledge right at our fingertips |
Another great way for students and teachers to put their creativity to use is by use of Flickr. Flickr allows people to upload pictures, search for pictures of interest to them via tags (tag a photo, and the tag you give it allows for an easier search in that area), publishing, editing. There are several ways that flickr use can be integrated into the classroom. Some examples include using it as slideshows for a presentation, document school work, and my personal favourite-teaching geography. You can also annotate the pictures in certain parts within the picture. I think this is an excellent style that can be used to teach parts of a diagram. Personally, I like the idea of Flickr use when used as a part of teaching. I think that it would is a great way to expand on a child’s communication and observatory skills, and having the ability to comment on pictures with other students would be an excellent way to expand the walls of the classroom.
Social Websites:
Social sites such as facebook, and ning are great ways to get connected with others online. There are two different reasons why students and adults join these sites. One way being “friendship-based”, and the other being “interest-based”. Friendship-based basically means that people join social sites to connect with people they know, people they are in contact with via school, work, etc. Interest-based means that people connect with others via social sites based on their interests, and not necessarily with people they are already in contact with. These are people they may not know, but share an interest with-(example-planting). With my experience with using facebook, I probably wouldn’t be up to integrating its use in my class. I find that it is “too popular” nowadays amongst people of all ages, therefore I feel that there could be too many distractions with it, even if I were to create a private group specifically for my class. Ning on the other hand is a great site, just like facebook is, but the difference being that unlike facebook, it’s not as well known by as many people, and because of the fact that I can pretty much personalize how I want my site to work gives me confidence that ning would fall more into the category of online educational tools. And just like all of the other ways of using the internet as part of teaching, social sites are great ways to expand on a child’s learning, communication skills, authorship over his or her work, as well as his or her growth.
