My aspirations to be a DJ...

How can I create my own radio station?
How can I be confident that I am getting the best price when I book a flight?
How do I access my favorite websites from various computers?
Where are the best spaces to create and edit information?

The answers to all of these questions lies in exploring Web 2.0 technology. I have been amazed at all of the things I can do with Web 2.0 and open source programs. This week I went and explored various sites and I have been so impressed.

I can officially say that I am addicted to Pandora: www.pandora.com. On this website one can create their own radio station. It is so user friendly and entertaining. The amount of music the site has is impressive. I can't wait to create a global music station that I can use in my Human Geography class.

I always experience a level of anxiety when I book a flight. Now that I know about www.farecast.com I don't think that I will be as worried. This sites compares all the major sites, but the most impressive feature was how the computer predicts if prices will go up, stay the same, or go down. This isn't necessarily related to education, but I think it highlights the scope and magnitude of web 2.0 sites available for our use.

www.delicious.com is a great tool for students and educators. I hate it when I add a really great websites to my favorites at home and then get to school and can't find the site. Delicious eliminates this problem. Once I tag the site with delicious it is stored in on online database that I can access from any computer. The great thing is that I can also set up groups. I could collaborate with my colleagues and share sites that are useful in the classroom and we can all access the sites. Students could work with children from different schools and collaborate on projects using this site. It is a great tool to organize the vast amount of information we find on the web.

I want to develop a class wiki where my students create a book of the course content. I thought it would be a great way for the students to evaluate and summarize what they thought was the most important in each unit. There are so many wiki sites out there. The one I really liked, after a little perusing was www.wetpaint.com. I felt that this site was very easy to use and the design was superior to the other sites I looked at. I look forward to trying it out in my classes.

These are just a few of the Web 2.0 sites I looked at. I didn't even discuss sites such as facebook, zoho, or youtube. The web 2.0 resources I am finding online are extremly valuable and useful. I feel I have been opened up to a whole other world and the possibilities are endless!

Second Life as Real Life???

After reading the articles about Web 2.0, I have been thinking about all of the implications for my classroom. Mainly, I am interested in Second Life or programs like it. I think it could be so valuable in my Human Geography classroom. I imagine my students constructing an understanding of the world around them through creating their own world. They could study culture through creating people who practice different religions, dress in unique ways, speak various languages, or live in a different government. As their world grew they would begin to see first hand the population implications and how resources are limited. Politics and economics would also be very interesting in this context, because the student would be able to set it up and see how it played out. The final area that would be very interesting to study is environmental implications of human actions. It would be great to have students implement different types of pollution or live a certain type of lifestyle and see what happened to the world around them. These are pie in the sky ideas...at least I think they are.

Ultimately, I do not know what is possible. I know programs like this are expensive. So I will overlook that for a second. I wonder how I could assess the learning in my classroom. What constitutes understanding culture, politics, economics, or any other topic in geography? I am hopeful that much more information is to come and that the advances we are making in this area will continue to expand and improve. I do believe this type of activity would greatly increase meaningfulness and help the students connect abstract ideas to their own experiences. In turn, this should increase learning.

I think, therefore I know?

The Internet is changing the way the people attain information and learn. In our society gaining a diploma or degree is how we show that we are qualified to do a particular job. In the past this was necessary. You could not go on-line and learn the information on your own. With the growing use of the Internet this is definitely changing. Berkeley has decided to put many of their lectures on YouTube so that the community as a whole has access to the information ( http://youtube.com/ucberkeley ). They are interested in sharing knowledge. So what does this mean for the current state of education? At what point do companies or people hire someone, because they can demonstrate knowledge previously not attainable without a higher degree? Will this practice ever change? Will what having a higher degree means change? The ability to home school your child is completely different than it was 20 years ago. The curriculum and information available online is incredible; everything from itunes university podcasts to sites like http://www.curriki.org/. I am not sure, but I do believe that things have to change with the times. International schools are going to become much more appealing to those who want to become knowledgeable about the global world in which we live. The advances made in Web 2.0 are making this kind of interaction much more accessible and effective. We do not have to read a book about the culture in a particular region of the world. We can talk to someone from the region and they can tell us. Better yet we can virtually travel there and be submersed in a different culture, all without leaving the house. Could you argue that it’s different than actually going there, could you argue that it’s not “real”? Of course you could, but be careful because we are also in the midst of redefining the word “real”.

The bottom line is that our ability to attain information and learn in different ways is growing exponentially. This change is not a change for the few, it is a change that provides opportunity to the masses. You no longer have to live somewhere to get a feel for the town, get a job from a company in that town, or learn from the professors that work at the University in that town. The way information is presented is changing as much as the way we are seeking information. The question is, is how we turn information into knowledge changing? Does it need to?

PowerPoint as a Mindtool

As I sit and listen to my administrator process through the second PowerPoint of the morning, I can't help but think of the article "PowerPoint is Evil". Here I am at a professional development session being lectured about how we need to take an interactive approach to engaging our students, all the while watching a linear, traditional PowerPoint. Boring! The wheels start turning and I begin to imagine what it is like to be a student, watching PowerPoint after PowerPoint...and I can see how PowerPoint can be evil, but it doesn't have to be. It has the potential to be so much more.

Ever since I read the article my perception of PowerPoint has changed. I never used to question its effectiveness and I assumed because everyone used it, that it was great. Don't get me wrong, I see the value in PowerPoint, however recently I have begun to can see how not to utilize it. Creating a nonlinear PowerPoint has helped me see how interesting and engaging PowerPoint can be. The key is to being creative with its use and not just using it as a presentation tool. The students can use it to construct their own understanding of the content. They can embed video, sound, and images. If the PowerPoint is non-linear it could be used as a sort of website or tool to create a portfolio of their work. The possibilities are endless. They key is to be non-linear and think outside of the box. To all the concrete sequential folks this may seem like a nightmare, but I think if we could focus more on the process and less on the presentation that everyone would benefit.

Tangible Engagement

To me, there is something to be said about holding something in your hands. Whether it is a photograph, a book, or the artwork from a CD. I am more engaged and it feels more meaningful when it is 'real'. When I have conversations with my friends they concur. They gripe about teachers who put all of the readings online, complaining that they would rather pay the $20 to pick them up at Copies Plus. They explain that they can't read online and that it's too hard to get engaged with the text if they can't hold it and write on it. I nod my head and agree. I too, like to sit down, hold the text in my hands, and doodle my thoughts in the margins. We lament over the end of printed materials...the day when all of our books are electronic. I mention, "it just won't feel the same", and then I begin to feel like my parents talking about 'The Good Ole' Days'. I begin to wonder if I will be part of the last generation that feels this way.

I did not grow up with technology and it is not second nature to be 'connected', but my students did. They have been reading text online for years. So, I wonder, is it just as easy for them to get engaged with something online as it is with a piece of paper? Maybe it is even more engaging online, because like me and my tangible items, it is what they are used to.

I mention these rantings, because they highlight a question I have about agency. As I meander through the computer lab I am well aware that my students are very engaged when they are constructing an understanding online. They seem empowered and interested in what they are doing. I think that this is partially due to the fact that they get to decide what they are looking at. In addition, I wonder if they are engaged, because they are so used to doing it. When I think of my mom doing the same thing. She would not be engaged; she would be lost. I imagine her frustrated and bored. She would not be using the computer to construct an understanding, she would feel controlled and used by the computer. In this case, all sense of agency is lost. Her story reminds me of all of my students who do not have access to computers. Students who get in the computer lab and are disengaged. I think it is important to think about how much of the engagement we see with our students (or teachers) is due to accessibility and comfort with technology? In addition, how do we gauge computer literacy in order to help our students succeed in the 21st century?