Activity 1.2 – Web-based Applications

Read: Alexander, B. 2006, Web2.0: A new wave of Innovation and Teaching and Learning?, Educause, March/April, pp.33-44 http://connect.educause.edu/apps/er/erm06/erm0621.asp

Re-read (from e-Learning Experiences): e-Learn 2.0 from Stephen Downes 2005 http://www.elearnmag.org/subpage.cfm?section=articles&article=29-1

Honestly, this section of the module annoys me as it is revision of previous work which I would prefer done through class discussion, rather than individual readings and answers. The reading I found was quite tedious hence why I am disgruntled with this activity and why I am trying to work around it by pulling up previous posts and just including my own reflection on the question.

Refer to previous work http://tdinh86.edublogs.org/2007/08/28/activity-11-defining-e-learning/

What is meant by web-based application?

Web-based learning entails content in a Web browser and actual learning materials delivered in Web format. Web browsing is the key feature of Web-based learning. Web-based applications would refer to those materials or programs that are delivered in Web format. These applications are necessary to carry out the activities that are necessary in web-based learning. Examples of web-based applications include blogging sites, wikispaces, bookmarking sites and so on.

What is Web2.0?

Web 2.0 is a platform in which content was created, shared, remixed, repurposed and passed along. Web 2.0 is not a technological revolution but rather a social revolution.

What is its relevance to learning?

In my opinion, Web 2.0 is relevant to learning as the value of knowledge is increasingly rising and accessing this knowledge in order to build one’s own knowledge base is an important learning process. Nowadays, we can’t just depend on being fed information to dictate our judgements and behaviours and so on. At our fingertips is an abundance of information and what web 2.0 provides is this concept of social learning hence we can access information from a number of sources and not just in formal contexts but informally. We can never know everything but web 2.0 connects us with other people so that we can at least gain different perspectives on particular issues. Furthermore, we have the opportunity of sharing our own knowledge with others, which engages us in dialogues which criticize our work so that our learning is improved. We need to become involved in our education to fully embrace learning and I think web 2.0 enables this. We are also becoming more technologically savvy and dependent, which is something that educators need to consider in their approaches to teaching as traditional methods gradually become dated. Well that’s just my view. I can’t say that I’ve remembered everything I’ve ever been taught but this is the knowledge that I have gained from my experience on web 2.0.

List web-based applications you are familiar with:

• Email
• Weblogs
• Wikis
• Chat
• Podcasting
• RSS & aggregation
• Social Networking
• e-Portfolios
• Virtual worlds
• Vodcasting

List web-based applications you would like to explore further:

I’m not too familiar with podcasting/vodcasting and virtual worlds as yet so I would like to explore them further. Web conferencing is also something I would like to engage in.

What is RSS?How does it work?

How can RSS be used in this subject?

What is aggregation of information referring to?

How does it work?

How could aggregation be used in this subject?

Refer to previous work http://tdinh86.edublogs.org/2007/08/30/activity-15-bookmarking-and-aggregation/

However the answer below is derived from viewing the video, CommonCraft “RSS in Plain English” http://www.commoncraft.com/rss_plain_english, and is essentially an explanation of how RSS and aggregation work.

Technorati says that there are over 50 million blogs that are continually increasing. Two ways in keeping up with what is happening on the web – the old slow way and the new fast way – the old way requires you to check your favourite blogs and sites for updates individually whereas the new way reverses this and sends updates to you using a single website (your reader) that becomes your home for reading all the new stuff that comes from your favourite websites. Firstly you need to sign up to a reader, then set up a connection between your reader and your favourite sites, what is called subscribing. To subscribe you need to find the rss icon and then click on it. You can either click to add it to your reader or may be required to copy and paste a link into your reader via an add subscription or add feed option.

List self-publishing applications you are familiar with:

blogspot.com, wikispaces.com, edublogs.com, youtube.com

These videos we were advised to watch are great in explaining blogs and wikis!

Watch: CommonCraft “Blogs in Plain English” http://www.commoncraft.com/blogs

Watch: CommonCraft “Wikis in Plain English” http://www.commoncraft.com/video-wikis-plain-english

Consider your use of self-publishing in e-Learning Experiences. What impact did this have on your learning?

Self-publishing in e-Learning Experiences was challenging for me as I’m a very lazy person and to be required to blog frequently was a task I didn’t look forward to. However it did made me think about what I was learning and how relevant it was to me. Then being able to document this on a website allowed me to return to my thoughts and to revisit information that I had collected prior. Working with a group in wikispaces was a bit more difficult as we each had varied degrees of confidence in using the technology. In the end however we didn’t really utilize it much. This semester however, I have found that we are trying to make use of more of the tools such as the discussion board tool to relay short messages and updates.

Can you identify examples where you have used social sharing in a learning context? del.icio.us

These videos we were advised to watch are great in explaining social bookmarking and photosharing!

Watch: CommonCraft ” Social Bookmarking in Plain English” http://www.commoncraft.com/bookmarking-plain-english

Watch: CommonCraft ” Online Photosharing in Plain English” http://www.commoncraft.com/photosharing

What impact can this have on your learning?

It has a positive impact in that it keeps a record of all the resources (in a website as opposed to on one computer) you use and because it is a record you can return to it (from any location). Being able to tag these resources also categorizes them and assigns keywords or descriptions to them so they can be easily located and judged for relevance. The option of sharing these resources, because it is in a public arena, also gives other people access to what we find as well as to what they have found.