Making Heads Or Tails Of Web 2 0[1]

Welcome to the California League of High Schools/ National High School Association 2009 Annual Conference Monterey, California

Making Heads or Tails of Web 2.0 – for School Administrators Ellen Faden is a former Senior Technical Writer and current Substitute Teacher seeking a District Chinese Dragon Image Courtesy of Newton Public Schools Internship in English at the Middle/High School Newton, Massachusetts level in California. Please call (415) 342-1552 Copyright 2009 Marin Documentation Group www.marindocgroup.com

Goals  To be able to make beneficial suggestions to your staff;  To begin considering a new direction in the adoption of state of the art software in your District; and  To tame the Web 2.0 dragon! Copyright 2009 Marin Documentation Group www.marindocgroup.com

Overview What is Web 2.0 – from an Administrator’s Point of View?  A collection of software tools, such as Blogs, Wikis, Websites, Document Sharing and Content/Learning Management Systems that enhance student learning and reduce costs in your District; or, a group of programs that foster collaboration and revolutionize the way you do business;  Most programs are free;  They do not have to be adopted all at once;  Recommending the tools or products discussed in this presentation will not leave you in the lurch because they will not become obsolete;  And, over the long-run, the offset in costs from adopting Web 2.0 tools will be significant. The scenario is in reducing costs of technology while hiring a technical project manager or consultant who can lead your District in the efficient use of these tools. So, how can your District move towards effectively implementing the promise of Web 2.0? Copyright 2009 Marin Documentation Group www.marindocgroup.com

Accessing Web 2.0 Applications Many Web 2.0 applications are freely downloadable from the Internet, unblocked by District servers. Others, such as MySpace™, are restricted, based on your District’s Acceptable Use Policy. Web 2.0 client programs are so easy to use that they do not require helpdesk support; instead, they are maintained on the manufacturer’s server. Because some students and teachers are already familiar with downloading, you may find a variety of them already in use in your District. This is OK because they serve the ultimate purpose of interaction and collaboration, and cost nothing to maintain. Copyright 2009 Marin Documentation Group www.marindocgroup.com

The Magic of Web Browsers Web Browsers provide links from a computer to Internet web pages. Internet Explorer™, the first browser, is still used on most District servers. Mozilla Firefox™ and Google Chrome™ are two recent Browsers. Whether your teachers use IE, Firefox, or Chrome is of no consequence. Once again, the resulting access to information is the goal of this tool. Copyright 2009 Marin Documentation Group www.marindocgroup.com

Web 2.0 Programs Browsers enable you to find the collaborative Web 2.0 programs Websites that are out there in cyberspace. You might type something like Blogs “teaching websites,” or “academic wikis” into the Google™ Search Wikis Engine to find some of them. Recommendations are found at Content Management the end of this slideshow. Systems Copyright 2009 Marin Documentation Group www.marindocgroup.com

California League of High Schools/National Web 2.0 Programs High School Association Annual Conference - 2009 A classroom teacher may have a Website, Blog, Wiki, or any Websites combination thereof. Some Wiki development Blogs –“Diaries” that programs (and others) present information also provide Blogs, by date demonstrating how the functions of Web 2.0 Wikis – Encyclopedic” tools overlap. So, content repositories whether a teacher uses a particular Blog or a Wiki Development Content/Learning Program doesn’t really Management Systems matter…until such time May replace district records, as your District enacts assessments, and more standard usage policies. Copyright 2009 Marin Documentation Group www.marindocgroup.com

Websites Many staff have already begun to create Websites with Web 2.0 tools. As an Administrator: Familiarize yourself with your District’s Website and those of its individual schools;  Suggest Website Development Programs to begin developing standards in your District. Suggestions are listed at the end of this presentation. Samples: New York City Los Angeles Berkeley College Park High School, Pleasant Hill, CA Copyright 2009 Marin Documentation Group www.marindocgroup.com

Website Development Programs To establish a common learning curve for students, you may eventually want to suggest one Website Development Program to your teachers. If some teachers are already using one, have them discuss its pros and cons at a staff meeting or in a Learning Community. Free Website Development Programs can slay computer costs. Adobe® Dreamweaver® costs $399, while Google Sites is free. “We use Dreamweaver primarily with some Flash and Fireworks thrown in. I used a third-party vendor for the drop-down menu…I update daily as necessary. I have one Further recommendations are on the student helper who was in the web design class last year final slide. and so has the required skills to make edits. He does the flash banner on the front page among other special effects.” - High School Webmaster Copyright 2009 Marin Documentation Group www.marindocgroup.com

Blogs A Blog (a contraction of the words “web log”) is a dated diary maintained by its owner that focuses on topics of interest to its subscribers. Subscribers may also add comments, images, etc. With a classroom Blog, students read information, add commentary, describe events, and upload graphics or videos. A teacher usually has either a Website or a Blog. Recommendations are provided at A blog created by “Cordle” the end. Copyright 2009 Marin Documentation Group www.marindocgroup.com

Wikis Wikis provide information by topic, like an encyclopedia. Wikipedia, the most famous wiki is not citable, as anyone may contribute at any time. Once a subscriber receives a log- in id to a classroom wiki, they can freely contribute to it. Teachers and student teams can monitor content for relevance and accuracy, and edit their classroom wiki over time. Wikis are a great application for subjects such as journalism and history. Copyright 2009 Marin Documentation Group www.marindocgroup.com

Wiki Development Programs Wikispaces (for educators) and Mediawiki are two wonderful programs. It would be difficult to recommend one over the other! Copyright 2009 Marin Documentation Group www.marindocgroup.com

Document Sharing Programs Document Sharing Programs are fantastic collaborative tools for project-based learning and writing. They enable users to access a document, spreadsheet, or presentation at school or at home, and to update it at any time. One English/History team used Document Sharing to -- Discuss: Lotus Notes™ story? develop National Geographic- type brochures about California cities. Copyright 2009 Marin Documentation Group www.marindocgroup.com

Content/Learning Management Systems LMS or CMS’s are the crowning jewel of Web 2.0 programs. Open Source, or peer-developed software, is created by sophisticated users to meet particular needs, and to share their programming prowess freely with others. Many Open Source programs provide equal functionality (if not greater) than very expensive ones. For example, Moodle is “designed using sound pedagogical principles, to help educators create effective online learning communities. It can be downloaded and used on any computer and it can scale from a single- teacher site to a University with 200,000 students.” – Moodle Website --- and, it is free. The main expense in implementing Open Source Software in your District is paying the salary of the person who will manage the project. Investing in technical project management will, over the long run, be more fruitful than investing in expensive, outdated products. Copyright 2009 Marin Documentation Group www.marindocgroup.com

Resources I. Access the links to all of these sources from Slideshare on individual computers. Website, Blog, and Wiki Development Programs: Content/Learning Management Systems: Google Moodle is a Course Management System (CMS), also known as a Learning Management System, (LMS), or a Weebly Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). It's a free Open ClassTell Source web application designed to help educators create effective online learning sites. Wix Samples: MediaWiki http://moodle.sandi.net/ Wikispaces http://imoodle.imgsoftware.com/worcester/ Document Sharing Programs: http://roseburg.eduhost.org/ Google Docs™ provides a program suite similar to Microsoft Office™. The documents reside on Google’s http://moodle.howeschools.org/moodle18/ server, making them accessible and sharable by http://westerly.k12.ri.us/moodle/ registered users. They can be downloaded to client devices in Microsoft (and other) formats. Users log in to http://bhs.berkeley.net/index.php?page=moodle Google and access documents from anywhere: at home, Ms. Faden is a Moodle Consultant in school, or on a trip. Google Docs is highly recommended for teachers and students, because it The first and only strategic solution for connecting K-12 effects collaboration and saves time and lots of paper! communities: (not Open Source) More importantly Google Docs eliminates the Schoolwires (Alameda County) dependency on paying to upgrade Microsoft applications Copyright 2009 Marin Documentation Group www.marindocgroup.com

Resources II. Google for Educators Technology in Education: http://www.cited.org/webinars.html Clear and Understandable Applications for For Teachers: Students, Educators, and Administrators Online Magazines: AVG Personal Antivirus Education Week School Technology Funding: Important News regarding Campus Technology and Technology Grant News and Index Security Marin Documentation Group Resources: T.H.E. Journal is dedicated to informing and educating K-12 senior-level district and school Website administrators, technologists, and tech-savvy Wiki educators within districts, schools, and classrooms Ellen Faden Resume to improve and advance the learning process through the use of technology. Web Browsers: http://www.thejournal.com/ Associations: Firefox Chrome California Educational Technology Professionals SeaMonkey Association Advanced K-12 Technology Leadership PBS for Teachers Copyright 2009 Marin Documentation Group www.marindocgroup.com

Resources III. Non-Academic Content Management System School and church Web sites Personal or family homepages Joomla Information Who uses Joomla? Joomla is an award-winning content management system (CMS), which enables you to build Web sites and powerful online View these Joomla sites to understand the “look and feel” of Web 2.0 applications. Many aspects, including its ease-of-use and programs: extensibility, have made Joomla the most popular Web site software United Nations (Governmental organization) - http://www.unric.org available. Best of all, Joomla is an open source solution that is freely available to everyone. MTV Networks Quizilla (Social networking) - http://www.quizilla.com What's a content management system (CMS)?A content L.A. Weekly (Online publication) - http://www.laweekly.com management system is software that keeps track of every piece of content on your Web site, much like your local public library keeps IHOP (Restaurant chain) - http://www.ihop.com track of books and stores them. Content can be simple text, photos, music, video, documents, or just about anything you can think of. A Harvard University (Educational) - http://gsas.harvard.edu major advantage of using a CMS is that it requires almost no technical skill or knowledge to manage. Since the CMS manages all Citibank (Financial institution intranet) - Not publicly accessible your content, you don't have to. The Green Maven (Eco-resources) - http://www.greenmaven.com What are some real world examples of what Joomla! can do? Joomla is used all over the world to power Web sites of all shapes Outdoor Photographer (Magazine) - and sizes. For example: http://www.outdoorphotographer.com Corporate Web sites or portals PlayShakespeare.com (Cultural) - http://www.playshakespeare.com Corporate intranets and extranets Online magazines, newspapers, and publications Senso Interiors (Furniture design) - http://www.sensointeriors.co.za E-commerce and online reservations Government applications More examples of companies using Joomla can be found in the Small business Web sites Joomla Site Showcase Forum. Non-profit and organizational Web sites Community-based portals Copyright 2009 Marin Documentation Group www.marindocgroup.com

Conclusion I hope this presentation has pointed you in the successful direction of Making Heads or Tails of Web 2.0! Ellen Faden (415) 342-1552 Marin Documentation Group Image Courtesy of artist, Lexi Rubin, College Park High School Pleasant Hill, CA

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Making Heads Or Tails Of Web 2 0[1]

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Making Heads Or Tails Of Web 2 0[1] — Presentation Transcript