ASTE 2008 --  Wikis, Blogs, Google Tools and Fun                            Back to ASTE 2009:  Breaking Through the Web (2.0) of Confusion

BLOG

What's a blog?  Some people use blogs as personal diaries.  Blogs can provide commentary on specific topics and are often the basis of larger online social networks.  Blogs can include text, images, video and sound.  Blogs can be personal reflections and they can be special places where weblinks are stored and annotated. 

The real beauty of a blog is that BLOGGING SITES provide you with access and the ability to post ideas very easily and quickly on the Internet, with little or no knowledge of HTML or web page construction. 

Blogs aren't as private as the cubicle image on the left might suggest; you can invite people to read your blog, restrict who can see it, allow people to comment about your blog.  But, they cannot alter or change your original words.  In that sense, a blog always remains the property of the editor. 

Often people get attached to a blogger, and just like getting your morning newspaper, enjoy reading the blog on a daily basis.  This is where the RSS Feeds come in, allowing a set of headlines or blogs to be delivered to your computer's web-browser on a daily basis. 

Take a minute to watch  BLOGS In Plain English (video clip with sound, you'll need a headset or speakers).

Great Educator Blogging Pages

Ideas for Using Blogs with Students

Blogger.com - go here to login to your Blog

WordPress.com - another blogging option

ASTE Blogs from our session

RSS  

What is RSS? RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. Subscribing to an RSS feed enables you to get news, blog updates, and podcasts that you frequently read or listen, delivered right to your email, your browser, or your desktop.  Basically, RSS keeps track of the changes made to your favorite websites and delivers them to you. RSS feeds are most often attached to text, images, podcasts and video.

If you are an online browser or reader, RSS saves you time!  If there are web pages you visit daily or regularly, for example headlines from the The New York Times, or a friend's weblog, RSS eliminate the need to check for updates or type in addresses.  Every time something changes on the page, it automatically comes to you. RSS always shows the most-recent changes.  [Adapted from: http://www.newsgator.com/RssLearningCenter/Default.aspx]

Take a minute to watch RSS in Plain English (video clip with sound, you'll need a headset or speakers).

RSS Resources

Ideas for Using RSS with Students

Google Reader - find your RSS feeds by logging in here.

ASTE Blogs made during our session

WIKI

Wikis are quite different from blogs.  A Wiki is a public area where people work together to build a community web page, document, or project.  Usually everyone has equal rights to create, edit and save.  Usually wikis can include the same content of blogs, text, images, video and sound.  Think "wikipedia" when you are trying to wrap your mind about what a wiki can do-- a collection of web pages that keeps growing based upon the edition and the modification of people anyplace at anytime.  Some wikis have managers or editors, others are totally open to the public or to a specific group of users.

So why use a wiki at all? Educational wikis are cropping up all the time.  These are being used to create study guides for exams, to create group projects, and to create reports that are edited and modified by multiple writers.

Take  a minute to watch Wikis in Plain English (video clip with sound, you'll need a headset or speakers).

Good WIKI Example Pages

PBWiki - find your pbwiki page here

SOCIAL BOOKMARKS

On the go?  Using more than one computer to do your work?  Finding great websites that you'd like to share with others?  Have a class project where students might share their resources?  Social bookmarking is the answer for you.  With products like del.icio.us, you can "tag" websites so that you can find them again and carry your own personal library of web links wherever you go.  You can also view the tags of other people on the Internet which could save you hours of time locating good articles and good references.  Social bookmarking is easy, fast and powerful.

Take a minute to watch Social Bookmarks in Plain English (video clip with sound, you'll need a headset or speakers).

OTHER COOL STUFF FOR EDUCATORS

So, what else is out there that's cool and useful for educators?  Let's take a look at some other tools that you might find of interest.  In this area we want to highlight some other Web2.0 tools and gadgets that are mostly free and of interest to educators.  Feel free to add to our list with any cool stuff that you've discovered.

Other Cool Web 2_0 Stuff

Safety - safety issues to consider before you post to a blog or wiki or use any type of social software.

INTERACTIVE LEARNING OBJECTS

Interactive learning objects are small "chunks" of content that a student is exposed to that requires more than just reading.  Often a learning object includes an activity, game or media that engages a student in active learning.  There are many definitions of the term learning objects.  From Wisconsin Online we get the definition of learning objects as:

• Learning objects are a new way of thinking about learning content. Traditionally, content comes in a several hour chunk.  Learning objects are much smaller units of learning, typically ranging from 2 minutes to 15 minutes. 
• Are self-contained – each learning object can be taken independently 
• Are reusable – a single learning object may be used in multiple contexts for multiple purposes
• Can be aggregated – learning objects can be grouped into larger collections of content, including traditional course structures
• Are tagged with metadata – every learning object has descriptive information allowing it to be easily found by a search

You can create your own learning objects or search the web for ready-made learning objects.  Either way, learning objects usually can live on the web embedded in web-pages, or course management systems like Blackboard and Moodle.  The next few pages will contain links to examples of learning objects, products that can help you easily create your own learning objects, and places you can look for ready made learning objects.

Learning Object Collections or Repositories  Don't have the time or expertise to create your own learning objects?  Fear not-- many others have posted theirs online for you to use. 

Products that Create Interactive Learning Objects  Didn't find exactly what you needed?  There are many products available that are easy to use to create your own learning objects.