Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Social Media Classroom
Some of you might be interested in the Social Media Classroom, a project of Howard Rheingold's which is intended to bring together people interested in social media for learning and collaboration. They have a Community of Practice which you can join (blogs, wiki, discussion forum, etc.) and check out. You might be interested in the participatory media lesson plans.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I am finding it difficult to know what to use to create web 2.0. There is so much out there such as what is listed on our wiki. How does one know where to begin or what to choose? Am I missing out my using the tools that are included on my MacBook? I'm new to Mac but am finding it quite user friendly to create web 2.0.
ReplyDeleteAs an instructional designer, my inclination is to say that you should determine your objectives and media/tool should be one of your later decisions, based on finding a match between your desired information presentation/human interactions and tool capabilities (along with contextual considerations such as learner/audience preferences/needs, availability, cost, etc.)
ReplyDeleteIf you feel a tool is meeting your needs, then you're not missing out. I assume you're refering to the iWeb tools on the Mac, with the blogging capabilities, and Garage Band for podcasts, etc? Those all are fine tools. I've used iWeb for blogging. I quit when I found it a bit restrictive in terms of being able to configure my blog, but I also come at this with years of tech experience (in the 90s I worked in the gaming industry with software developers, conducted usability tests, designed and developed instructional CD-ROMs, and was a coporate webmaster, among other things) that sometimes leaves me wanting to do a bit more of the coding myself and leave a bit less to the software.
Of course, there are some things that the software that came on your Mac won't do. There's no wiki software on there. There's no social networking (those tools are web-based). And so on.
I personally think that it's fine to let your needs drive what you learn and use in terms of the tools. Think of it like an actual handyman's toolbox. You could hop on down to Lowes or Home Depot and find a lot of interesting tools. However, until you have a need to use one (and perhaps also the confidence that you can figure out that particular tool), you're less likely to actually buy the tool and start using it. If your friend has one, you might try it out a bit, but you probably won't do much with it until you have a goal in mind. This is why I own and am good with soldering tools (I had some concrete metalworking projects in mind), but have not done much with electric saws (I'm a bit intimidated, don't have easy access to experiment fruitfully with them, and they're too costly for me to buy one to experiment with). Now, actual monetary cost may not be an issue with Web 2.0 tools since they tend to be free (at some level) and widely available, but there's still the learning curve.
Second Life may be a good example here. You can get an account for free -- although you can pay for extras. If you join with no real purpose in mind, you'll probably play with it for a little while and then wander away feeling like you didn't accomplish much and you don't know what you would do with it. However, if you have a real need or desire to use it you'll probably persevere with getting oriented to the tool. Are people who don't use it missing out? Maybe. Or maybe not. They probably find other ways to do what they wanted to do.
Vanessa - Thank you so much for this response. It is very enlightening for me. Your analogy of Home Depot resonates with me. When I walk in Home Depot I always wonder how someone learns how to use all of the tools and build rooms, homes, etc. Yet, sometimes, I actually do some work around my house and am always amazed that I can change a faucet, a door lock, change the color of a room, or some other albeit minor renovation. Learning to use blackboard was a similar experience. My department chair, asked me, an adjunct professor, to start teaching online. He provided a quick overview of blackboard and away I went. After teaching for over twenty years, this was a challenge. Now five years later, I'm teaching online and earning my masters in IS. On a whim, less than a year ago, I bought a Mac and started learning about websites, garage band, and more. With your class, I am being exposed even more to web 2.0. You are correct, it is like walking into Home Depot. I'll never know what most of the stuff in there is used for but I'll continue to shop there and will try to do what I can with the tools I can become comfortable with. Thanks again, Vanessa. I've had an "A-Ha" moment because of your post. Char
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that helped. I really don't think there's any way for one person to use every tool out there and do it well nor can I see a need to do so (unless the hat one is wearing is Web 2.0 expert, which is very different from manager of X, professor of Y, or creator of Z).
ReplyDelete