Monthly Archives: June 2009

Web 2.0- A Synthetically Organic Nomenclature

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I’m of the conviction that the term “Web 2.0″ is inherently problematic.  There are many who maintain that the nomenclature provides a needed context for the changing nature of the web.  I would maintain it does much more to deter understanding than provide any functional enlightenment.

Proponents of the term state that the nature of the web has evolved in an organic fashion, and thus, we must qualify that new nature.  The web is now interactive, collaborative, and dynamic instead of static, nonreciprocal, and isolated.  While I certainly acknowledge the fact that the web has evolved over the past ten years, it remains, at its very core, still the web.  The addition of the 2.0 on the term only serves to confuse.

I heard, on quite a few occasions, teachers at a recent technology conference utter their confusion at the term.  One teacher asked where the url was for the web 2.0.  Another teacher stopped a panel discussion focused entirely on “Web 2.0″ tools to ask “what in the world” the term meant.  I think that is the rule, rather than the exception in the circles of general educators.  It’s a problem that the term immediately confuses and alienates the very people who would be best served to make use of the tools and concepts the new nature of the web presents.  If we used terminology that is exponentially more clear from the outset, such as “Interactive Web” or “Social Learning Web”, we would effectively make more headway and likely allow more students access to these experiences in their everyday learning opportunities.

I think the naming is likened to the naming conventions of cars.  Hear me out on this.  Cars have changed dramatically over the last 100+ years they’ve been around, yet they remain, at their very nature, still cars.  If at every iteration of change, we added the requisite 2.0, 3.0, and so on, what number would we be up to today?  When I’m going to go out and get something out of my car, I seldom yell out to my wife, “I’m going to run out to the mid-sized Japanese import car 10.0 and get the baby’s blanket.”  I just say car.  Because that’s what it is.  Yes, there are different kinds of cars.  There are Fords, Chevys, Hondas, Toyotas, Bugattis, and hosts of others.  There are even different types of cars beyond a manufacturer’s name.  We have SUVs, hybirds, pickup trucks, sports cars, minivans, and the like, but those naming conventions make sense.  They call the cars what they are.  We already have the equivalent in our web naming structure.  We have blogs, wikis, content management sites, social networking, learning networks, and so on.  All of these, at their nature, remain aspects of the web- a changing web, yes, but still simply the web.

A term like web 2.0 begets the notion that there will imminently be a 3.0, 4.0, and beyond.  The convention serves those within a specific group much more than it does those who need to understand the concept the most.  The term serves as a layer- an immediately unnecessary layer at that.  The convention allows those inside the realm of understanding to point to those outside and express how much the outsiders need the insiders in order to understand and be enlightened.  I’d rather we just all moved forward together in a way that makes sense and promotes progress rather than bifurcates.

And I really don’t take this issue as another instance of “let’s fight over the name of something” as much as that might appear what this post is all about.  Okay, so maybe it sort of is, but it isn’t just about the name.  It’s about what happens as a result of the name.  The web is, in my opinion, the greatest development in modern history.  And unfortunately, too many aren’t using it as such.

I know this one post won’t serve to change the way most people use the Web 2.0 term, but I hope it will give cause for some consideration.  The English language is a precise language.  I truly believe if we used it as such here, we would see one roadblock removed from the progress we should be making in engaging our students in dynamic learning.  And I’m entirely in favor of doing that which removes roadblocks and moves progress forward.

And now I’m stating such- on the web.

Thanks to xxxtoff for the use of the Flickr image.

Getting All Oriented

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*This is a reflection post for my JHU program.  If you’d rather pass on this one and catch up with me in the future, I’ll understand completely.

As part of the JHU-ISTE leadership program, we are required to take a two week online orientation course.  The purpose of the course is to get us acclimated and prepared to be successful with the format of an online learning environment.  Overall, I think the course was a nice way to get people comfortable with the layout and for me, it was a chance to remember what it’s like to be a student in a structured system again.  I’ve grown rather comfortable with writing what I want to write and discussing things I want to discuss, and those things change a bit when you go back into a classroom, be it online or of a more traditional ilk.

In order to complete the orientation, I have to answer the following questions.

Now that you have a good sense of the types of online activities and the rhythms of an active participant, what steps will you take to be successful in this program?

I will say that being part of an online learning program takes great discipline.  Even when there are deadlines posted for work to be completed, there still remains a much more fluid feeling to the completion of the work.  If time isn’t allocated throughout the week to keep up on the reading, discussion forums, formal writing pieces, assessments, etc., the task of completing that which needs to be completed becomes nearly overwhelming.  For myself, I know I must dedicate a specific set of time blocks each week in which I will complete my work.

How will you be a contributing member of your team? How will team activities impact your time management?

This portion of the course will prove to be both rewarding and challenging as working with others is an excellent opportunity for personal growth while remaining a source of challenge for time management.  If the other members of the team have a schedule that doesn’t coincide one with the others, it may prove difficult to accomplish the learning goals for a specific project.  I will strive to remain flexible and always willing to share my thoughts and ideas with the group.

What have you learned about your communication style? How will this impact you as an online learner?

While I absolutely love to write on most occasions, using something like an online classroom certainly makes me miss certain aspects of face to face communication.  I believe as we continue to advance the way we engage learning online, there will eventually come a day when video conferencing or visual chatting will become more prevalent.  There is simply something about hearing a person’s voice and seeing their nonverbal communications that writing can’t replicate.  I will look for opportunities in this program to utilize, or perhaps even introduce where appropriate, such an experience.

Where do you still need additional support?

At this point, I can only pray for the stamina to make it through this next year.  I’m looking forward to the learning, and for those of you who actually read this post, I look forward to sharing what I’ve learned with all of you.

Thanks to retro traveler for the use of the Flickr image.

A Program Begins

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I’m going to try an experiment here.  I recently began my work in the Johns Hopkins University, ISTE leadership program, and as part of the course work, I’m required to maintain a blog for reflection.  I pondered setting up a second blog specific for that experience, but something gave me reason to pause.  What is one of the more powerful outcomes of reflection?  I believe it is giving change the opportunity to take root in the practice being reflected upon.  I have received tremendous feedback in the past nine months from many of you in this space, and I’d be remiss to deny myself the opportunity to have you all potentially work through some of the thoughts and ideas that I’m sure I will be writing about due to this required portion of my work.  So, I’m going make my reflections very public and transparent.  And I’m going to hope that reflection sparks conversation that will cause change in my own practice, and hopefully, if all goes as it could, yours as well.

The first question of my first reflection won’t likely be of any interest to most of you.  JHU has developed its own LMS, and my first question is to state how comfortable I am with the system.  Overall, the system seems to be quite functional.  There are all the basic attributes present in most LMS, and there isn’t anything woefully dreadful or game changingly new.  It’s functional, I’m comfortable with it, and I guess that’s all I can really ask for.  Like with almost all online learning experiences, it’s the people and ideas in the system that really make the greatest difference.

The second question may be of more interest.  The question asks, “What, if any, concerns do you have about online learning?” Now that is quite a question.  This is the kind of question some writers could devote books to, and if I were one of those types, I’d imagine I could do the same.  I do, in fact, have all kinds of concerns about online learning.  For the sake of brevity, I’ll try to be concise and focus on only two.

My first concern is with the idea that many seem to espouse about online learning being a panacea for monolithic teaching.  In many places, advocates are saying that we can completely change the way we educate by moving to an online format that accommodates a greater variety of choice.  The issue I see with this is what if students don’t learn well in an online environment?  In the classroom, a teacher can immediately adjust the way a student engages learning based on the individual needs of a student.  In most present iterations of online learning, the course work and path is set.  If a student is a struggling reader, there isn’t much chance for success as the majority of online classes are incredibly text heavy.  So, I have to wonder if we aren’t taking a monolithic means of teaching, and by potentially moving the majority of classes online as many are predicting will happen, we’re simply serving to change the method of the monolith.

My second concern is one of greater practicality.  I’m somewhat bothered by the nature of a discussion board as it is most often utilized in an online course.  When I participated in my program at Walden University, I clearly recall my frustration with the discussion forums.  The sheer amount of information being created by those in the class comes so quickly and furiously that it is truly hard to keep up with it all.  You typically have somewhere near 30 people posting great insights and thoughts on an issue, and reading all of those initial posts on a weekly basis can be a challenge.  Then, add in at least two comments from everyone on other’s original posts, and the noise becomes cacophonous.  That alone is a challenge, but then add in the flat nature of text, and the issue gets even more difficult to deal with.  I’d love to see a discussion board present the option to create a quick video response to a question in the future.  Personally, I’d be much more interested in watching someone’s nonverbal cues as they explain a point, not to mention hear their inflection and personality through their words, than I would be in always reading their thoughts in text.  Of the blogs that I read regularly, I find I am most invested in those of people I’ve met in person.  I naturally find myself reading their posts in their own voice, giving their life to the words they penned, er, I mean typed.

The ironic part of my dislike for discussion forums is that I required the participation in them from the grad students I taught last fall.  Looking back, I’m really not sure why I did such.  For some reason, I forgot about my experience, and I was taken in by the idea and potential I thought a discussion forum held.  Interestingly, in the final class evaluations, the one part of the course many suggested changing was the use of such a forum.

I know there are a good number of individuals who very much enjoy the experience to be had on a discussion board.  Perhaps it’s just something I’m not that equipped to enjoy.  I’m not entirely sure, but I do think we should reevaluate the way we are presently utilizing such forums to see if they are as effective as we might think they are.

Thanks for sticking in here for this post for those of you who managed to do so.  Of course, I’d love to hear your comments and feedback on my issues with online learning.  I hope my posting of my reflections here doesn’t prove to increase the noise too much for you, and I hope you can find value in these conversations.

Thanks to aaronbeekay for the Flickr image.

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