What is Web 2.0?

Web 2.0 is a departure from the experience that the average person has when they first begin using the web and are viewing information on websites from the day's news stories to movie theater timetables. With Web 2.0, almost anyone can become a provider of information and interact with sites via an assortment of web applications. The Web 2.0 includes wikis, blogs, podcasts, and RSS (really simple syndication) feeds.

What impact will it/or can it have on me as a teacher?

Like almost every other new technology or technological device, the students knew about these type of web applications before the teachers. If we aspire to meet our students where they are, we need to understand (and hopefully be able to navigate) their world. Also, as teachers, we are 'information providers' every day. Through Web 2.0, our students have a way to be interactive information providers as well.

What's a wiki and how can I possibly use it?

Wikis were created so that experts or those with considerable knowledge of a subject could share what they know. These internet users could potentially reach thousands of people without writing and publishing professional journal articles or a complete book. Wikis also allow any viewer to add, edit and publish information within the wiki. However, the very nature of the wikis' interactivity and ease of editing by anyone viewing them lends itself to misinformation, inaccuracies and intended misconceptions. The worst of these errors will over time clear themselves as newer visitors correct them, but the lesson learned is viewer beware and critical. Use the wiki as a starting point but checks the 'facts' presented with other sources.

Is there a difference between a Wiki and a Blog? Which would you be more likely to use?

Wikis and blog share interactive capabilities. Blogs use customizable templates and are created by their writer(s) with an intent to publish their views on a topic, subject or field. Blog creators invite selected visitors to view and/or edit their site. As a web log, blogs maintain comments posted by the writers and permitted visitors/editors to the blog in chronological order. Wikis are more likely to maintain an appearance of validation even if the facts they contain are unsubstantiated. Using either wikis or blogs involves understanding point of view and the limitation of each application. Wikis can provide a quick overview of a subject and can supply extensive information. This info should be verified before quoting it or using it during a research activity in school. Blogs not only report the views of the writer and permitted users, but can also provide an interactive way for teachers to communicate with students and students' families.

What's a social network? Please provide examples. Do you belong to one?

Social networking applications are RSS (really simple syndication) feeds for automatic notification between users. Social networking allows users to collaborate, network or just 'hang out' with other users online. MySpace and Facebook are examples of social networks. Some users of these networks can access the sites independently or are part of a larger group of users. Users can share information and photos. Listing owners determine the level of information that a viewer can see. The accuracy of profiles is not validated. Information in profiles can be edited although sometimes not before some of that info has been exported to other websites or software applications. I can not imagine using social networking right now, but my oldest daughter would probably suffer withdrawal symptoms if she could only access Facebook once a day!

Two things I've never heard of, Folksonomy and Software as a Service...Please define and do you do it?

Folksonomy incorporates web users into the categorizing and classifying of web sites. It is a social form of tagging and bookmarking websites by the people who are regular viewers and interactive particpants for site.

Software as a Service brings software to users through the internet without having to purchase individual software packages from a retailer. Applications are accessed and interacted with over the internet but the software is not developed or hosted on a computer's hard or removable drives. With SaaS, multiple users can work collaboratively in real time from remote locations because no one user is the host. At any given time, one user can be adding to a document and viewing another user's additions simultaneously.

Aside from using Google docs in class, I do not think I have used this type of service before. This year, however, my school plans to use a writing service (Writer's Workshop?) that checks a student's written work and reports back with grammatical corrections and suggestions for improvement. The student and teacher can work on the material at the same time. In my daughter's school, TurnItIn.com is the service that they will be using for all written work. In addition to the writing tools previously stated, this service also checks for plagiarism.

What are some of the current educational problems that technology might be able to solve?

In many ways, our students' lives and worlds have become very small and sometimes limited. I am often surprised by how few students visit museums, parks, libraries and historical landmarks. They experience so much of their lives remotely in virtual worlds. While, as teachers, we try to expand their experiences, we cannot replace all of those learning opportuntities. Technology does, however, provide with a window to these other worlds. If I cannot bringmy class to every museum, I can try to bring the museum to them. In this way, technology helps me, and the world, meet my students where they are.

Technology also can provide opportunities for our students with learning difficulties or disabilities. Assistive devices move their school experiences from frustrative to successful, expanding the depth of their experience. Additionally, software and internet applications bring the world to their doorstop.

Finally technology helps teachers connect with their students. Technology is their world. They navigate and explore technology without thinking twice about it. We need to learn their language if we are to understand them, reach them and prepare them for tomorrow.

Which of the current Web 2.0 trends do you thik has the most potential to support student's futures in your classroom? Why do you think so?

Each Web 2.0 trend has the potential to improve students' classroom experiences. Each has limitations that should be considered so that no one trend, in my opinion, far exceeds another. Wikis are good starting points for research but the information presented needs to be viewed with a critical eye. Blogs can bring information to a user and provide opportunities to respond back. Parent-Teacher-School connections take on a new dimension but then also become another communication that needs to be maintained. Social networking can keep students connected to people near and far - whether it is another student in the same town or an expert on the other side of the country. SaaS provides instant collaboration but instant, anonymos collaboration has its own potential for risk. As with all trends, teachers needs to monitor how and why these are being used. Are we simply doing the same things differently or are we doing more because of them?