I.T. professionals working in education need to understand the role and impact of the social web in learning, so that appropriate strategy, design and support can be provided to teachers and students. This presentation introduces concepts and ends with a call to action.
Organic Name Reactions for the students and aspirants of Chemistry12th.pptx
What Is The Social Web
1. What is the Social Web? …and why should I care? A message for I.T. professionals working in education. CindySeibel http://tech4learning.ca http://slideshare.net/rdrunner
Who are the icons and how did thy come to be? Dubbed “the explainer” Dr. Michael Wesch hit the airwaves a mere two years ago (he’s about 34 years old) when his research intersected with the online revolution.As he studies what makes “viral” his own work has gone viral. Let’s look at his more technical perspective of how the essence of Web 2.0 has been supported by the technology changes around us.
Yes how do all these survive? Every day there are new services available to support the social web. These are only a smapling. Some you can guess by the name. Others may be gone by the time you have a chance to explore them.Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stabilo-boss/93136022/
It’s enough to make your head hurt.Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/calitomshots/3047760682/
A new report by Josh Bernoff of Forrester Research states that usage of social technologies increased markedly in 2008: three in four US online adults now use social tools to connect with each, up from 56% in 2007. According to the report, the largest growth came from ratings and reviews, "voting" on websites, and user-generated video. Blogging and tagging were also popular.http://www.forrester.com/Research/Document/Excerpt/0,7211,44907,00.htmlBusinesses are figuring out how to make money from user-generated content. It’s a new business model. Charge the publishers, not the Spectators. So on Flickr you can post some content free, but if you want more you pay. That’s the same for most wiki sites too.Advertising remains a revenue stream. How many of you have a gmail account? Next time you log on, open a message and the check the advertising stream down the right hand side. You’ll see the content matches the content of your email message. Now we know this is done with bots combing your email – there’s no army of google employees doing this – but have we considered what is being done with this info about us? That is one of the challenges of the semantic web.http://www.slideshare.net/reynolds/web-20-business-models-presentationPhoto credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/franz_photo_gallery/1194939773/
I’ve been a Twitter user since early 2008 – about a year and a half ago.It’s been fascinating to watch my followers and network grow. Recently I’ve noticed a significant uptick in businesses on Twitter. It’s moved – at least in my circle – from academic/social to business followers and announcements. Twitter was a key player in the recent Bell/Twitter fiasco. When Bell offered and then retracted free texting for Tweets there was such an uproar on Twitter that it was re-offered in an effort to quel the publicity nightmare.Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hubspot/3196650975/
Pew Internet & American Life ProjectAs of December 2008, 11% of online American adults said they used a service like Twitter or another service that allowed them to share updates about themselves or to see the updates of others. Twitter and similar services have been most avidly embraced by young adults. Nearly one in five (19%) online adults ages 18 and 24 have ever used Twitter and its ilk, as have 20% of online adults 25 to 34. Use of these services drops off steadily after age 35 with 10% of 35 to 44 year olds and 5% of 45 to 54 year olds using Twitter. The decline is even more stark among older internet users; 4% of 55-64 year olds and 2% of those 65 and older use Twitter. http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/Twitter-and-status-updating.aspxThe share of adult internet users who have a profile on an online social network site has more than quadrupled in the past four years -- from 8% in 2005 to 35% now,http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/Adults-and-Social-Network-Websites.aspxWorld Statistics – March 31, 2009:Africa – 5.6%Asia – 17.4%Europe – 48.9%Middle East – 23.3%North America – 74.4%Latin America/Caribbean – 29.9%Oceania/Australia – 60.4%In North America:Bermuda – 72.1%Canada – 84.3%Greenland - 92.3%St. Pierre & Miquelon – 0%U.S. – 72.5%http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htmPhoto credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/luc/1824234195/
And here is yet another example of where the social web has hit the mainstream.http://www.youtube.com/v/SMTLFkwgFRY
Beyond business.Beyond just social.What does it look like in our classrooms?Not this.Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/82312837@N00/466722575
Getting to this.Teachers are tipping their practice just as the technology enters mainstream education.Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/olpc/2606362543/
http://blip.tv/file/1262079Listen to one teacher’s perspective of what is happening in our classrooms
This is what teachers are learning.This is what teachers are challenged to do in their classrooms today.
This is what teachers are being offered.SimpleEasyEffectiveWho is using google apps in their school district?http://www.google.com/apps/
Instead this is often our response.And in some cases that’s justified.I want to talk for a moment about appropriateness, safety and the IT mandate.
The important point is that appropriateness is not IT’s decision. Filtering is an education decision. Pedagogy and curriculum is an education decision. What the technical solution looks like is IT’s decision.Photo credit: http://www.socialsignal.com/image/baby-bathwater
Identity theftPredatory activitiesFraudCyberbullyingMalicious threatsPhishingPharmingSafety wears many hats. In IT, we need to consider both the safety of the users and the safety of the network. Part of learning in this space is learning how to learn here.The research is demonstrating that these are not new threats, but rather threats in a different context. So, for example, the young teen at risk for a predator in the virtual world was already at risk in the real world. I’m not suggesting that we shouldn’t be careful online. I am saying we need to be watching out for children at risk wherever they are.Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/95713476@N00/5602167
In IT we have a clear mandate: offer technology solutions that are reliable, sustainable, scalable and secure. Our challenge is to balance these mandates with the open, social, connected that learning now requires. Locking everything down tightly no longer fulfills our mandate.To do this, we must become learners ourselves. To explore and understand the social web both as a participant learner and as a technical professional. The latter is both a leg up and an albatross. Fearless navigators go where they do not know better – sometimes we know more than we care to!Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/windley/3311609206/
So what does the social web mean for you? Your work?http://www.flickr.com/photos/fotinakisii/2535188191/
One way is to think of your social network as your online help line. You can create connections to others with the same interests or issues. There are lots of resources to help you.Here is one link. And there are others to get you started in the diigo list I’ve put together for this presentation (coming up on the resource slide).http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/07/24/9-ways-to-build-your-own-social-network/
So take charge of the next steps.You probably know more than you may think about the social web. Here’s my recipe:Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/joeshlabotnik/397080364/
You will best learn about this world by immersing yourself in it. Learn the beauty, the richness of conversation, the risks, and the pitfalls. Be a knowledgeable consumer that can help teachers by deploying tools in a mandated way.Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/riccarducci/870077344/
Use the social web to solve problems in your work everyday. Tell people where you found the answers. Talk about the resource you found through your connections. Celebrate it.
Bring others into your network and be their guide. Help them to connect in ways that you have learned. Extend.Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/30204391@N00/1493689961