What is web 2.0?
The first generation of the Internet was passive. Developers built pages and users looked at them. There was no, or very little, interaction on web pages. In 2004 Tim O'Reilly looked at the emerging ability to interact with content and each other on the Internet and said that we were entering a new age of the Internet. He called it Web 2.0, or the second generation of the World Wide Web, one where we could post our own content, comment on others' content, tag, and interact in a variety of ways.
It is a useful metaphor. It is based on software releases. We start with version 1, move to version 2, or get updates to existing versions such as version 2.2. But beyond being a useful metaphor, it doesn't have any real meaning. The Internet evolves daily. It isn't released on particular dates. And while the term Web 2.0 does help us describe what happens on "today's" Internet, we don't really expect there to be a formal change from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0.
What Web 2.0 really means is "read write web." It means that we don't just look at information, we build our own. And it means that the applications we use aren't necessarily on our computer, but rather they are on the Internet. Google Drive (http://drive.google.com) offers a full suite of productivity tools that are web based. FotoFlexer (http://fotoflexer.com) is an excellent online image editor. It is powerful, but easy to use. Here are some examples of Web 2.0 tools that you probably use often:
Many Web 2.0 tools are free, but some do charge a fee. Many Web 2.0 tools will offer a free version and a subscription version. An example of this is the Web 2.0 tool I used to build this website, http://weebly.com. It is an excellent tool for building your own websites. It offers the ability to post text, images, videos and just about any kind of content you can imagine. It has features to allow you to create polls for your users, and to create blogs and other interactive features. And it has a free version and a variety of subscription versions. There are, literally, thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of Web 2.0 tools available. The hard part is finding the right ones for your needs. The section below should help you.
It is a useful metaphor. It is based on software releases. We start with version 1, move to version 2, or get updates to existing versions such as version 2.2. But beyond being a useful metaphor, it doesn't have any real meaning. The Internet evolves daily. It isn't released on particular dates. And while the term Web 2.0 does help us describe what happens on "today's" Internet, we don't really expect there to be a formal change from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0.
What Web 2.0 really means is "read write web." It means that we don't just look at information, we build our own. And it means that the applications we use aren't necessarily on our computer, but rather they are on the Internet. Google Drive (http://drive.google.com) offers a full suite of productivity tools that are web based. FotoFlexer (http://fotoflexer.com) is an excellent online image editor. It is powerful, but easy to use. Here are some examples of Web 2.0 tools that you probably use often:
- http://www.facebook.com. We post, comment and interact with our friends in a variety of ways.
- http://twitter.com. This micro blogging site allows us to post our thoughts, share others' thoughts and follow people we are interested in.
- http://wikipedia.com. Users can post, edit, and comment on the content in this user managed encyclopedia.
Many Web 2.0 tools are free, but some do charge a fee. Many Web 2.0 tools will offer a free version and a subscription version. An example of this is the Web 2.0 tool I used to build this website, http://weebly.com. It is an excellent tool for building your own websites. It offers the ability to post text, images, videos and just about any kind of content you can imagine. It has features to allow you to create polls for your users, and to create blogs and other interactive features. And it has a free version and a variety of subscription versions. There are, literally, thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of Web 2.0 tools available. The hard part is finding the right ones for your needs. The section below should help you.
Finding the right web 2.0 tools for you
I find one of the most useful things on the Internet are the sites where smart people help to organize information for me. They will review tools, post links, put them into categories, and allow me to search in a meaningful way. There are a lot of places that do this. The list below provides some of my favorite places.
Building your own network of professionals you know, trust, and share information with is a crucial part of teaching today. And your network should include lots of people. People you work with daily. People you know through extended work, like times at conferences or other professional meetings. But your network can, and should I think, include people you don't know personally, or at least don't know in your daily life. Twitter (http://twitter.com) is an excellent way to do that. It took me a long time to appreciate Twitter and the power it can have for helping me stay current. I Tweet some, but I read a lot. If you are thinking about joining Twitter, this is an excellent piece on advise for teachers who are new to Twitter.
http://smartblogs.com/education/2012/11/06/three-tips-teachers-new-twitter. And by the way, Twitter is a Web 2.0 application.
- http://www.go2web20.net. This site has a seemingly endless supply of Web 2.0 tools listed. I have been using it for years, and it is constantly growing. It is interesting to watch. Some tools that I really liked two or three years ago don't exist anymore. Companies are formed, but may not succeed. This site does a good job of removing inactive Web 2.0 sites. It is an excellent place to search for specific tools.
- http://www.goedonline.com/101-web-tools-for-teachers. GoEd is an online education store. They sell education products. But they also provide useful information through their blog posts. This blog post provide 101 tools that teachers should know about. It is an excellent post. It provides the name of the tool, the link to the tool, and a description of what it does. It was posted in March 2012, so its usefulness may be limited as time goes on.
- http://edtechtoolbox.blogspot.com. Greg Swanson is an Australian Educational Technologist and blogger who shares his remarkable list of Web 2.0 tools on a Web 2.0 tool http://blogger.com. His lists are well managed and categorized in a number of useful ways.
- http://web20guru.wikispaces.com/Web+2.0+Resources. Cheryl Capozzoli is an Instructional Technologist from the USA who maintains a wiki (another excellent Web 2.0 tool) called: http://web20guru.wikispaces.com. Here she maintains an updated list of tools related to technology and learning.
- http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com. Lenva Shearing is a teacher from New Zealand who has put together an excellent wiki that categorizes Web 2.0 tools by their use in a classroom.
Building your own network of professionals you know, trust, and share information with is a crucial part of teaching today. And your network should include lots of people. People you work with daily. People you know through extended work, like times at conferences or other professional meetings. But your network can, and should I think, include people you don't know personally, or at least don't know in your daily life. Twitter (http://twitter.com) is an excellent way to do that. It took me a long time to appreciate Twitter and the power it can have for helping me stay current. I Tweet some, but I read a lot. If you are thinking about joining Twitter, this is an excellent piece on advise for teachers who are new to Twitter.
http://smartblogs.com/education/2012/11/06/three-tips-teachers-new-twitter. And by the way, Twitter is a Web 2.0 application.
Some web 2.0 tools I like
There is no such thing as the perfect Web 2.0 tool. The right tool for you will depend on what your needs are, who your learners are, and a variety of other factors. Here is a list of some of the tools that I like and why I like them.
Web Development
http://weebly.com. It is the tool I used to build this site. I've used and taught a variety of development tools. Dreamweaver, Microsoft Front Page, Expression Web and a host of others. Knowing web development is useful, but Weebly is fast, easy, and can make anybody look like a seasoned web designer. If you can read and click, you can build a web site.
Photo Editing
http://fotoflexer.com. This is free, online, and allows me to do just about anything I want to do with an image. I can crop, resize, add special effects and much more.
Online Flyers
http://www.smore.com. Smore lets you create a flyer for an event and post it online. Like an advertisement you might see in a school or on the side of a building. You post it online and promote it on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. What is nice is that it provides you with great data on how many times it was looked at, where the people are coming from and a lot of other useful analytics.
Online Newspapers/Newsletters.
http://www.scoop.it and http://paper.li. Both of these tools will allow you to create online newsletters. They are similar to blogs, but they have excellent tools for posting your stories and information from other sites.
Learning Management Systems
Word Clouds
http://www.wordle.net. With Wordle, you can copy a large block of text, paste it into the create tool, and it will do a frequency count of all the words in the text. The words that are used most often show up larger. It is a useful way to teach vocabulary and to do a certain limited kind of analysis of text.
Screencasting
http://screencast-o-matic.com. You can record what happens on your computer screen and narrate it. So it is an easy way to create tutorials for students. You can also record a PowerPoint presentation and narrate it, making http://screencast-o-matic.coman easy way to create content to share with your students, and a way for students to create examples of what they know.
Interactive Timelines
http://www.tiki-toki.com. Tiki-Toki allows you to build timelines of any event. You can share them online. It is an excellent tool for social studies classrooms.
Learning Analytics
http://www.alwaysprepped.com. This is a new tool, and one that I haven't used yet. I include it here because if it does what it is trying to do, it will be incredibly useful. It will allow you to gather assessment data from a variety of places that your students might use. So data from Edmodo, Khan Academy, TedEd and other OERs will be gathered into a single place allowing you to get a complete look at the various assessments your students are doing.
Web Development
http://weebly.com. It is the tool I used to build this site. I've used and taught a variety of development tools. Dreamweaver, Microsoft Front Page, Expression Web and a host of others. Knowing web development is useful, but Weebly is fast, easy, and can make anybody look like a seasoned web designer. If you can read and click, you can build a web site.
Photo Editing
http://fotoflexer.com. This is free, online, and allows me to do just about anything I want to do with an image. I can crop, resize, add special effects and much more.
Online Flyers
http://www.smore.com. Smore lets you create a flyer for an event and post it online. Like an advertisement you might see in a school or on the side of a building. You post it online and promote it on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. What is nice is that it provides you with great data on how many times it was looked at, where the people are coming from and a lot of other useful analytics.
Online Newspapers/Newsletters.
http://www.scoop.it and http://paper.li. Both of these tools will allow you to create online newsletters. They are similar to blogs, but they have excellent tools for posting your stories and information from other sites.
Learning Management Systems
- http://edmodo.com. Edmodo looks a lot like Facebook. In fact, it is thought of as a social media tool for schools. It has the same color blue as Facebook, and has a "wall" for you to post information. But use is restricted to people that you invite, and it has a wealth of tools that are useful for classes. You can create quizzes, have students turn in assignments, and manage their learning online.
- http://www.mentormob.com. MentorMob is new to me, but it is very interesting. It allows you to create learning playlists. Much like music playlists, you can select information from the Internet and put them in an order that would be useful for learners. It is an excellent way to organize OERs into useful lessons.
Word Clouds
http://www.wordle.net. With Wordle, you can copy a large block of text, paste it into the create tool, and it will do a frequency count of all the words in the text. The words that are used most often show up larger. It is a useful way to teach vocabulary and to do a certain limited kind of analysis of text.
Screencasting
http://screencast-o-matic.com. You can record what happens on your computer screen and narrate it. So it is an easy way to create tutorials for students. You can also record a PowerPoint presentation and narrate it, making http://screencast-o-matic.coman easy way to create content to share with your students, and a way for students to create examples of what they know.
Interactive Timelines
http://www.tiki-toki.com. Tiki-Toki allows you to build timelines of any event. You can share them online. It is an excellent tool for social studies classrooms.
Learning Analytics
http://www.alwaysprepped.com. This is a new tool, and one that I haven't used yet. I include it here because if it does what it is trying to do, it will be incredibly useful. It will allow you to gather assessment data from a variety of places that your students might use. So data from Edmodo, Khan Academy, TedEd and other OERs will be gathered into a single place allowing you to get a complete look at the various assessments your students are doing.
12/02/2012
Marshall G. Jones
Marshall G. Jones