Musings: Web2.0 includes???? (May#7)
So what prompted these musings? There is a school I work with in Sydney, St John Bosco College, that runs a wonderful day for their Year 11 students and I came across something in their booklet that make me think.
First, I run a study skills session with the group. Then they break into smaller groups for the school’s GROW program (Glossary Research Organised Writing) where they work on writing styles, identifying key terms, marking criteria, supporting evidence, using scaffolds for writing, and advanced research skills. It is a really impressive program and takes into account the sort of navigation literacy skills that students need.
While waiting Year 11 to arrive, I was flicking through their booklet and came across a section ‘How Web 2.0 Savvy are you’. I quickly jotted down a few points to see whether I was savvy as the Year 11 students:
Am I comfortable using the Internet. Yes.- Do I have a web page. Yes.
- Do I read blogs. Yes.
- Do I write a blog. Yes.
- Do I have a Myspace etc page. No. Doh!
- Do I use YouTube. Yes.
- Do I use podcasts/vodcasts. Yes.
- Do I subscribe to RSS Feeds. Yes.
- Do I use Flickr or similar. Yes.
- Do I read/write wikis. Yes.
So I felt pretty good about how I would compare to a web savvy student. Mind you, 6 months ago prior to this subject for uni I would have only been able to answer yes to 3 of these!
But I started thinking - what else should be on this list? What else do we expect a Web 2.0 afficiado to be comfortable with?
I would probably add:
- Do you use a aggregator? (Mainly cause know I know that is what it is called - check out NetVibes as an example).
- Are you aware of the educational value to be found in Second Life? (Mainly cause I used to think it was just an advanced Dungeons and Dragons type thing but now am realizing there are great educational experiences taking place).
- Do you Skype? (or similar)
- Do you Twitter?
And why doesn’t the list talk about MSN/Chat programs: do we just assume all students are using them?
So then I started to think a bit more about the definition of Web 2.0 and this is what I found on a quick search:
Definitions of Web 2.0 on the Web:
- A term often applied to a perceived ongoing transition of the World Wide Web from a collection of websites to a full-fledged computing platform …
www.2020systems.com/internet-ad-glossary-r-z.html - Web 2.0 is a perceived or proposed second generation of the web. This is were the web has evolved and improved over time and now offers better and more up to date services like blogs, wiki’s, social networking sites etc
germworks.net/blog/2007/02/11/web-jargon-explained/ - a term introduced in 2004 to characterize design patterns in a constellation of new generation Web applications which may provide an infrastructure for more dynamic user participation, social interaction and collaboration.
www.csa.com/discoveryguides/scholarship/gloss.php - The second phase of architecture and application development for the web. Web 2.0 applications often use a combination of techniques devised in the late 1990s, including public web service APIs (dating from 1998), Ajax (1998), and web syndication (1997).
www.aardvarkmedia.co.uk/glossary.html - Web 2.0 is an expression which was used for the first time in 2004 and referred to the second generation of Internet. The main characteristics of new era in Internet is connected with its constant development and delivering services tailored to the needs of each user.
www.share.uni-koeln.de/ - Web 2.0, a phrase coined by O’Reilly Media in 2004, refers to a perceived second-generation of Web-based services-such as social networking sites, wikis, communication tools, and folksonomies-that emphasize online collaboration and sharing among users.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web 2.0
I think I like the wikipedia one best (although I have no idea what folksonomies are).
So what’s your definition of Web2.0 and are there other technologies that should be on a Web2.0 list? Suggestions welcome.
on May 28th, 2008 at 4:22 am
That is a very interesting list that you came across. I would be really interested to see what the majority of responses were. I am also in a similar situation to you also in that I wouldn’t have answered yes to all of these questions prior to starting this subject. I am also interested in seeing how my students would respond if presented with a similar set of questions.
Trent
on May 29th, 2008 at 12:21 am
I would add one about tagging - del.icio.us style
Maybe one about understanding text speak - UR L8 type of thing. (that’s the only one I understand, but even that is a great leap forward.
Have you transferred a video from your mobile phone to YouTube (no I haven’t) would also cre8 a hurdle
On a more practical level
- how long since you’ve been into a bank branch, or
- how long since you’ve used a street directory instead of a whereis printout, or
- How long since you’ve looked up a phone number in a phone book? (probably 10 years for me), so pre web2, but what the heck.
Also one about spell checking. (I just checked thsi post using Google)
Keep it up
John
on May 29th, 2008 at 2:21 am
Just saw your query about the meaning of folksonomy. This gives my next characteristic of a web2 devotee: Uses on-line dictionaries when they find a new word.
Folksonomy (according to One-look , my favourite online dictionary, because it offers meanings from a large number of other dictionaries) means a type of classification system for online content, created by an individual user who tags information with freely chosen keywords; also, the cooperation of a group of people to create such a classification system
So an example would be del.icio.us tagging.
Rather a cute word actually, taxonomy means arrangement, mainly of plants, but nowadays any categorization system.
Folks adds the sense of ordinary people doing the classifying.
John
on May 29th, 2008 at 5:03 am
Heh yeah lots of good suggestions there - I will have to put this list together properly I think. Thanks also for looking up folksonomy - I was being lazy!